336. With what authority is the priestly ministry exercised? (part 3)
(Comp
336 repetition) Ordained priests in the exercise of their sacred
ministry speak and act not on their own authority, nor even by mandate or
delegation of the community, but rather in the Person of Christ the Head and in
the name of the Church. Therefore, the ministerial priesthood differs
essentially and not just in degree from the priesthood common to all the
faithful for whose service Christ instituted it.
"In brief"
(CCC 1536) 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: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry.
It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1552) The ministerial priesthood has the task not only
of representing Christ - Head of the Church - before the assembly of the
faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to
God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic
sacrifice (Cf. SC 33N; LG 10).
Reflection
(CCC 1553) "In the name of the whole Church" does not mean that priests are the delegates of
the community. The prayer and offering of the Church are inseparable from the
prayer and offering of Christ, her head; it is always the case that Christ
worships in and through his Church. The whole Church, the Body of Christ, prays
and offers herself "through him, with him, in him," in the unity of
the Holy Spirit, to God the Father. The whole Body, caput et membra, prays and offers itself, and therefore those who
in the Body are especially his ministers are called ministers not only of
Christ, but also of the Church. It is because the ministerial priesthood
represents Christ that it can represent the Church. [END]
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