The Catholic church sees its priesthood as both a reflection of the ancient temple priesthood of the Jews and the person of Christ. The liturgy? of ordination recalls the the Old Testament priesthood and the priesthood of Christ. In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, "Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a prefiguration of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ" [Summa Theologica III, 22, 4c]. |
The Catholic church sees its priesthood as both a reflection of the ancient temple priesthood of the Jews and the person of Christ. The liturgy? of ordination recalls the the Old Testament priesthood and the priesthood of Christ. In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, "Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a prefiguration of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ" [Summa Theologica III, 22, 4c]. |
The Sacrament of Holy Orders in the modern Catholic Church includes 3 degrees:
After a year or more as a transitional deacon a man will be ordained to the priesthood. Priests are able to preach, perform baptisms, witness marriages, hear confessions and give absolutions, and celebrate the Eucharist or the Mass.
Bishops are chosen from among the priests, and are the leaders of territorial units called dioceses?. To the bishops are reserved the sacraments of confirmation and holy orders.
There are cases of permanent deacons who, left widowed by the death of a wife, have been ordained to the priesthood. There have been some situations in which men previously married and ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Church have been admitted to the Catholic priesthood and allowed to function much as an Eastern Rite priest but in a Latin Rite setting.