What is a priest called in the Catholic Church? “I couldn’t stay in the church with the worship service distorted

In Catholicism everything is much more complicated and stricter. Mandatory celibacy for pastors was elevated to the rank of law under Pope Gregory (7th century). Celibacy was then recognized as an absolutely necessary measure. It is believed that only an unmarried man is not distracted by worldly affairs and completely devotes himself to God. He does not divide his love between the Lord and the woman.

Celibacy is not just a ban on marriage and having children. This is a complete refusal of any sexual contact. A Catholic pastor has no right to have a romantic relationship or look lustfully at a woman. An applicant who was previously married will not receive priestly rank.

The 16th point of the Vatican Council, which took place in 1962-1965, is entirely devoted to the issue of celibacy. It is interesting that before the legalization of celibacy, minor ranks (deacons, etc.) of the Catholic Church were allowed to marry, but practically no one did this, because any such rank is just one of the steps on the path to ordination to the pastorate. In Catholicism, not only spiritual self-improvement is important, but also a certain “career” growth of priests.

In the 20th century, the institute of so-called “permanent deacons” was established. They can enter into marriage, but cannot be ordained a priest. In very rare cases, a married pastor who converted to Catholicism from Protestantism may be ordained. In recent decades, the issue of the need for celibacy has been actively discussed, but there have been no changes in church laws yet.

Yes, yes, we know, another calendar. But it's not just another one. With the New Year approaching, we couldn’t help but remember the best calendar in the entire existence of the site. Although it is from last year, the photographs have not lost their uniqueness and attractiveness.

In the heart of Rome, the Vatican State, a black and white calendar is published every year under the unremarkable name Calendario Romano. Only recently it became clear that a real treasure was hidden in its pages: photographs of young sexy Italians who became priests. Do you think this is nothing special? See our photo gallery.

(Total 16 photos)

This young Vatican priest graced the cover of the Calendario Romano.

The calendar is freely sold throughout Rome.

One of the priests posed with a cat in his hands, which only increased the emotion of millions of Internet users around the world.

Some priests posed against the backdrop of Vatican sights, but the attention of the female part of Internet users who saw these pictures clearly does not focus on the architectural beauties.

Priesthood is one of three orders in the Catholic Church, including ordained priests or presbyters. The other two orders are bishops and deacons. Only men can receive holy orders, and the church does not allow any transgender people to do so. Church doctrine also sometimes refers to all baptized Catholics as a "common priesthood".

The Church has different rules for priests in the Latin Church - the largest Catholic concrete church - and in the 23. It should be noted that priests in the Latin Church must take a vow of celibacy, while most Eastern Catholic churches allow married people to be ordained. Deacons are male and generally belong to the diocesan clergy, but, unlike almost all Latin Rite (Western Catholic) priests and all bishops from Eastern or Western Catholicism, they can marry as laymen prior to their ordination to the clergy. The Catholic Church teaches that when a person participates in the priesthood after receiving Communion from the Priesthood, he is acting in the person of Christy Capitis, representing the person of Christ.

Unlike usage in English, "Latin words Sacerdos And sacerdotium are used to refer generally to the priesthood divided by bishops and presbyters. Words presbyter , Presbytery And presbyteratus refer to priests in English usage of the word or presbyters." According to Annuario Pontificio 2016, as of December 31, 2014, there were 415,792 Catholic priests worldwide, including both diocesan priests and priests in religious orders. A priest from the regular clergy was usually addressed with the title "Father" (abbreviated Frome, in the Catholic and some other Christian churches).

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Catholic priests are ordained by bishops through the sacrament of ordination. The Catholic Church maintains that Catholic bishops were ordained in an unbroken line of apostolic succession back to the Twelve Apostles, depicted in the Catholic Bible. The ceremony of the Eucharist, which Catholics believe can only be performed by priests, is particularly derived from the story of the Last Supper, when Jesus Christ distributed bread and wine in the presence of the Twelve Apostles, in some versions of the Gospel of Luke commanding them to "do this in memory of me" " (Some Protestant critics have questioned the historical accuracy of the unbroken sequence claim.)

Catholic tradition says that the apostles in turn chose other people to succeed them as bishops ( episkopoi, Greek for "controllers") of the Christian communities with which the elders were associated ( presbyteroi, Greek for "elders") and deacons ( diakonoi, Greek for "servants of the people"). As communities multiplied and grew in size, bishops appointed more and more presbyters to preside over the Eucharist in the bishop's place in several communities in each region. The diaconate became the bishop's liturgical assistants and his delegate to administer church funds and programs for the poor. Today, the title "presbyter" is usually what one thinks of as a priest, although the Church Catechism views both bishop and presbyter as "priests".

Various churches that split from the Catholic Church make the same claim to apostolic succession, including the Church of the East (divided in 424), the Eastern Orthodoxy (schism in 451) and the Eastern Orthodox Church (schism with the East-West schism in 1054). During the Reformation, Martin Luther and Tyndale advocated the priesthood of all believers, the idea that all baptized Christians are priests. This was not generally accepted, which contributed to the split between the various Protestant churches. The doctrine is interpreted differently by various Protestant denominations, with some discarding apostolic succession and holy orders as a sacrament, as well as various requirements that can celebrate the rite of the Eucharist. Through the principle of ecclesiastical economics, the Catholic Church recognizes as valid the ordination of priests in denominations with unbroken apostolic succession, for example in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the National Polish Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, but not other Lutheran churches. Recognition of the ordination of Anglican church priests was denied in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII through a bull Apostolicae curae, due to a dispute over the edition of the Anglican commissioning ceremony in the 1500s.

Theology of the Priesthood

Easter and Christ

The theology of the Catholic clergy is rooted in the priesthood of Christ and to some extent the shares of elements of the ancient Hebrew priesthood as well. The priest is the one who presides over the sacrifice and offers this sacrifice and prayer to God on behalf of the believers. The Jewish clergy who functioned in the Temple in Jerusalem made animal sacrifices at various times throughout the year for various reasons.

In Christian theology, Jesus is the Lamb provided by God himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Before His death on the cross, Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples (the Last Supper) and offered blessings over bread and wine, respectively, saying: "Take and eat this is my body" And " Drink from this, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the remission of sins.". (Matthew 26:26-28 Jerusalem Bible). The next day, Christ's body and blood were clearly sacrificed on the cross.

Catholics believe that it is the same body that was sacrificed on the cross and rose again on the third day and united with Christ in divinity, soul and blood, which is made present in the offering of every Eucharistic sacrifice, which is called the Eucharist. However, Catholicism does not believe that transubstantiation and the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist involve a change in material in “accidental” functions: i.e. Under normal conditions, scientific analysis of the Eucharistic elements will indicate the physical-material properties of wine and bread.

Thus, Catholic priests, in the Eucharist, will unite each offering of the Eucharistic elements in union with the sacrifice of Christ. Through their celebration of the Holy Eucharist, they do represent Christ's one eternal sacrifice on the cross.

Catholicism does not teach that Christ is sacrificed again and again, but it is " The Sacrifice of Christ and the Sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single victim ." Instead, the Catholic Church has a Jewish concept of a memorial in which "... a memorial is not just a memory of past events... these events become in some way present and real." and thus “... Christ offered the sacrifice once and for all on the cross remains always present." As a matter of fact, in Catholic theology, as expressed by Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Christ alone is the true priest, the rest are only their ministers." Thus, Catholics share the clergy in one, unique, Priesthood of Christ.

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After the Great Schism

During the century of the Great Schism of 1054, the churches of East and West arrived in different disciplines to abstain from sexual intercourse during marriage. In the East, candidates for the priesthood could be married with permission to have regular sexual relations with their wives, but were required to abstain before receiving the Eucharist. An unmarried person, once ordained, could not marry. In addition, the Christian East demanded that, before becoming a bishop, a priest separately from his wife (she was allowed to the object), with her, as a rule, becomes a nun. In the East, more usually, bishops are chosen from among those priests who are monks and are therefore unmarried.

In the West, the law of celibacy became mandatory by Pope Gregory VII in the Roman Synod of 1074. This law stipulated that in order to become a candidate for ordination, a person cannot marry. The law remains in force in the Latin Church, although not for those priests of the Eastern Catholic Churches, who remain under their own discipline. (These churches either remained or returned to full communion with Rome after the schism, unlike, for example, the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is now completely separate). The issue of compulsory celibacy in the Latin Church continues to be discussed.

Duties of a Catholic Priest

Bishops, priests and deacons who wish to become priests are also required to recite the major and minor offices of the Liturgy of the Hours daily, a practice that is also followed by non-ordained people in some religious orders.

The priest, who is the pastor, is responsible for the administration of a Catholic parish, usually with a single church building dedicated to worship (and usually nearby residence), and for seeing to the spiritual needs of the Catholics belonging to the parish. This involves performing ceremonies of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, and counseling people. He may assist other diocesan priests and deacons, and serves under the local diocesan bishop, who is responsible for many parishes within the territory of a diocese or diocese. In some cases, due to a shortage of priests and the expense of a full-time priest for depopulating parishes, a team of priests in solidarity may participate in the management of several parishes.

According to Catholic teaching, a priest or bishop is necessary in order to perform the ceremony of the Eucharist, receive confession and perform the Blessing of Anointings. Catholic deacons and laymen may receive Holy Communion after the priest or bishop has blessed the bread and wine. Priests and deacons usually perform baptisms, but any Catholic may baptize in emergency circumstances. In cases where a person dies before a baptism ceremony is performed, the Catholic Church also recognizes baptism of desire, when a person desired to be baptized, and baptism of blood, when a person was martyred for his faith. According to church teaching, a priest or bishop usually performs Holy Matrimony, and a deacon or layperson may be delegated if this is not practical, and in an emergency, the couple may perform the ceremonies themselves as long as there are two witnesses. (Church doctrine says that this is actually a couple assigning marriage to each other, with the priest only helping that it be done correctly.)

Eastern Catholic Churches

The Catholic Church has different rules for the priesthood in the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches than in the Latin Church. The main difference is that most Eastern Catholic churches ordain married men, while the Latin Church imposes compulsory clerical celibacy. This issue has caused tension among Catholics in some situations where Eastern churches established parishes in countries with established Latin Catholic populations. In the Americas and Australia, this tension led to bans on married Eastern Catholic priests, all of which were lifted by Francis in 2014.

Demography

Worldwide, the number of priests has remained relatively constant since 1970, declining to around 5,000. This stagnation is due to the balance of large increases in Africa and Asia and significant declines in North America and Europe.

Registration of priests around the world

Year	Priests	±%
1970	419728	-
1975	404783	-3,6%
1980	413600	+ 2,2%
1985	403480	-2,4%

Year	Priests	±%
1990	403173	-0,1%
1995	404750	+ 0,4%
2000	405178	+ 0,1%
2005	406411	+ 0,3%