Apr 11 Sat
Why are there priests and bishops in the Church?
All baptized persons (the faithful) are equally called to the fullness of sanctity and apostolate—this call is their unity or principle of equality.
Because of this radical unity of God’s people, all the faithful share in the mission that Christ passed on to his Church. They all share in Christ’s priesthood: the common (or royal) priesthood of all the faithful.
Furthermore, “to shepherd the People of God and to increase its members without cease, Christ the Lord set up in his Church a variety of offices, which aim at the good of the whole body.” In the Church, there is a diversity of ministries sharing in the same mission. Among these, the hierarchical ministry stands on top.
Christ founded the Church. He made it clear that the Church was to be a visible institution with a hierarchical structure. Thus, He prayed to the Father, “and called to him those whom He desired.… And He appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach.”
Thus, the hierarchical dimension is not a later element or an addition to the People of God, but rather has accompanied the community of the redeemed from its very beginning. The Apostles were simultaneously “the seed of the new Israel and the origin of the sacred hierarchy.”
So, the hierarchical structure is not a human construct, something functional merely, but a divine institution destined to perpetuate the mission given by Christ to the Apostles until the end of time. It is Christ’s will for the Church to have a hierarchy—to teach, rule, and sanctify. Christ endowed the hierarchy with the power and mission to teach doctrine, guard the deposit of the faith, govern the life of the Church, and administer the sacraments. This embodies the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of those who have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
The episcopate, the priesthood, and the diaconate are degrees of the one sacrament of Holy Orders.
The ministerial priest, by the sacred power that he has, forms and rules the priestly people; in the person of Christ, he effects the eucharistic sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the people. The faithful indeed, by virtue of their royal priesthood, participate in the offering of the Eucharist. They exercise that priesthood, too, by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, self-denial, and active charity.
The hierarchy is “a reality born of the charity of Christ, to fulfill, spread, and guarantee the complete and fruitful transmission of the treasure of faith, examples, precepts, and charisms left by Christ to his Church.”
The ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood to develop the baptismal grace of all Christians; it is one of the means by which Christ builds and guides his Church.
“Let us pray to the Lord that He may send to His Church ministers who are ardent with evangelical charity, dedicated to the good of all the baptized, and courageous missionaries in every part of the world.”