Cathal Barry
Holy Orders is the sacrament of apostolic ministry, writes Cathal Barry
Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
As such, the Church teaches that “it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry”.
It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate and diaconate.
The Catechism notes that the word order in Roman antiquity designated an established civil body, especially a governing body. Ordinatio means incorporation into an ordo. In the Church there are established bodies which Tradition, not without a basis in Sacred Scripture, has since ancient times called ordines. And so the liturgy speaks of the ordo episcoporum, the ordo presbyterorum, the ordo diaconorum. Other groups also receive this name of ordo: catechumens, virgins, spouses and widows.
Integration into one of these bodies in the Church, according to the Catechism, was accomplished by a rite called ordinatio, a religious and liturgical act which was a consecration, a blessing or a sacrament.
Today the word “ordination” is reserved for the sacramental act which integrates a man into the order of bishops, presbyters or deacons and goes beyond a simple election, designation, delegation or institution by the community, for it confers a gift of the Holy Spirit that permits the exercise of a “sacred power” (sacra potestas) which can come only from Christ himself through his Church.
Ordination is also called consecratio, according to the Catechism, as it is a setting apart and an investiture by Christ himself for his Church. The laying on of hands by the bishop, with the consecratory prayer, constitutes the visible sign of this ordination.
Holy nation
The Catechism notes that the chosen people was constituted by God as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. However, “within the people of Israel, God chose one of the 12 tribes, that of Levi, and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance”. “A special rite consecrated the beginnings of the priesthood of the Old Covenant,” the document states. The priests are “appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Mal 2:7-9).
Instituted to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with God by sacrifices and prayer, according to the Catechism, “this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to bring about salvation, needing to repeat its sacrifices ceaselessly and being unable to achieve a definitive sanctification, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish”.
