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An essay on priesthood
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and sacrament. The Council issued a second decree on Instructions and Sacrament, in line with Scholastic (Thomist) understanding of this relationship; it taught that the Eucharist forms the center of priestly activity, and preaching is only a remote preparation for this. Regarding the individual major and minor orders, the Council Fathers in Canon two reaffirmed these orders by anathemizing anyone who says that besides the priesthood there are in the Catholic Church no other Orders, major and minor, by which one advances towards priesthood. In chapter two of its doctrinal and pastoral decree on Orders, the Council states as follows:
But since the ministry of so holy a priesthood is something divine, that it might be exercised in a more worthy
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Rather, it deemed scholastic understanding of priesthood as narrow, in need of modification, and enrichment. The Council gave a new perspective to the views of Trent on the priesthood. A new perspective that helped to give a more balanced picture of presbyteral ministry that we have in the church today. The main document of the Second Vatican Council that deals with ministerial priesthood is the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis, on the ministry and life of priests, which was approved on December 7th 1965. Understanding this document means situating it within the context of two other great documents that deal directly with the mission and ministry of the church. The documents are: The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium, Nov. 21, 1964) and the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes, Dec. 7, 1965). In Lumen Gentium, which deals with the inner nature of the church, the Council Fathers stated that the church exists as a mystery of communion. This view of the church challenges the hierarchical model in the ecclesiology of the Counter-Reformation and prepares the ground for an enlarged theology of the priesthood witnessed at the Second Vatican Council. This constitution brought about a change in ecclesiological conception. It placed emphasis on understanding the church as a people of God, an understanding that brought about a revision of the …show more content…
One group is represented by some traditional theologians who proposed an understanding of the church according to the Counter-Reformation theological principles and practices. The other group is represented by theologians who adopted a more progressive stand in terms of understanding the church from a more historical perspective with emphasis on local church, collegiality and dialogue with the modern world. When the Council ended, the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church reflected the views of these two groups of theologians. As stated above, the council fathers articulated the ecclesiological basis of ministry, first by applying its reflection of the tria munera on the whole people of God, and then by applying it to the specific ministry of the ordained. This model of church structure laid the foundation for ministry in today's church. It also represents Vatican II`s understanding of ecclesial structure, as well as the relationship between ordained and lay ministry.
2.7.3. The Church as the People of
With the hindsight of the 1960s, it is easy for us to view how influencers of the era have reformed and revitalised the Christian tradition to a great extent. Because of this hindsight of the 1960s, an era in which the zeitgeist was full of intellectuals, poets, musicians and authors, we can see the traditions of Christianity were considered to be backward to a world that was changing in terms of beliefs and ethics as society embraced these social reforms. The statement then clearly reflects Pope John XXIII and his impacts on Catholicism. Pope John XXIII recognized these changes and through his leadership, the impacts he had on Christianity had a substantially large influence over the Catholic Church as he ultimately altered the Christian tradition by creating the Vatican II. By doing so, he adjusted traditional Church Scriptures (ressourcement), involved himself with promoting ecumenicalism and also interfaith-dialogue as well as becoming engaged in the modern world (aggiornamento), therefore meeting the needs of the evolving society by revitalising the old traditions.
highlights the importance of the sacraments and the clergy, can be seen as a response on
Through the close study of two of the aspects shown in the diagram, their contributions allow Christianity to be considered a living religious tradition. The significant contributions of Pope John XXIII, during both his papal and Pre-papal life have had everlasting effects on not only Catholicism, but Christianity as a whole and lead to the sense of Christianity being a living religious tradition. His works include two Papal encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris, along with his work being Apostolic Delegate of Greece and Turkey. Moreover, The significant practice of Baptism has further contributed to Christian being considered a living religious tradition as it accounts for the premise of most Christian beliefs to be initiated, especially in terms of salvation and affirming the beliefs in the trinity and following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
More particularly, it recognizes the authority of the ecumenical councils at which East and West were represented together. These were the councils of Nicaea I (325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus(431), Chalcedon(451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680), and Nicaea II (787) (Encarta 1996). The power of teaching and guiding the community is bestowed on certain ministries, particularly that of the bishop of each diocese or is directed through certain institutions, such as councils...
US Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Complete Edition ed. N.p.: US. Catholic Church, n.d. Print.
Klein, Franz. "John Paul II Priests." Commonweal 132.14 (2005): 23-25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2014.
It is acknowledged that at this time the Church community has not yet reached its highest potential and is faced with the limitations of human shortcomings and temporal constrictions. With an understanding of its abilities and its boundaries, the Church seeks to work with the world community to come closer to the life to which God calls the world." As this quote from one of the Documents in Vatican II states, the Church needs to have a relationship with the "outside world" as the Church itself is comprised of humans. And that the Church has a good relationship with the outside world is necessary for the Church to reach its highest potential. These are some of the changes that took place in Vatican II and naming all of them would not be necessary. The modern Church is the way it is because of most of what happened in Vatican II.
With this in mind, the objective of this essay is to focus on the main ideas of each theologian, and discuss how each theologian’s ideas are compensatory to the other. This is important because even though each theologian’s writings were inspired by the harsh realities of the societies, and also by the effect each writer experienced in their moment in history, their critiques specifically of Christian institutions remain a consistent amongst all three writings. Furthermore, not only are their critiques consistent, but their goals for providing new frameworks for the future of the Church and Christian discipleship are consistent as well.
The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, took place between 1962 and 1965. Dei Verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Devine Revelation was published on the 18th of November 1965. It was the Council’s 11th document and questions the purpose and nature of Devine Revelation. The first Vatican Council took place in 1870, Vatican II was much more Trinitarian, Christocentric and related to the individual believer. It is true to say that Dei Verbum explores the dynamic relationship that exists between Scripture and Tradition and life of faith experienced by an individual believer by focusing on Divine Revelation and what it means.
The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups. First there were the ordinary believers, the citizens of the kingdom who followed the Christian faith. Then there was the clergy, the members who devoted their lives to the church. Each group of the clergy was assigned specific functions by the clergy nobles to help run the Church competently. Amongst all the clergy associates, the Pope was at the top, he had the equivalent if not more power than the ruling monarch and was in charge of all political affairs and administered the clergy. He was able to dictate political laws and even comment on the Monarch’s decisions. Under the Pope, there were the bishops. The bishops directed church courts and managed cases correlated to the public such as marriage, wills and other public predicaments. Priests held religious services that consisted of sacraments, baptisms and the usual Sabbath services. The monks and nuns received manual labour that required helping clean the monasteries and assist the needy. Educated monks copied manuscripts of medieval and ancient knowledge in the Scriptorium. Finally...
The doctrine of the church is ecclesiology, which comes from the greek word church - human beings who are like Christ. This doctrine is a doctrine for the universal church. We sometimes enter a singular way of talking about our culture when the bible speaks in plurality. Ecclesiology gives us the basis of our belief and marks of the church which gives us clarity of what it means to be “one holy catholic and apostolic.” The church bears four marks: Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, and Apostolicity. These four marks are the truth about the church. We must act in Unity because the church is one, 1 Corinthians 12:12 say “Just as the body is one and as many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” The Holiness is a inheritance given to us by Christ. However we can not achieve that alone. As we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He actualizes that for us. Catholicity is the universality and wholeness the church, making room for people to enter the body of Christ. Lastly is apostolicity which is about the authority and truth, and the authority of the apostles is in their eyewitness testimony of Jesus (2 Peter 1:16). The church teaches about the apostles truth that is true to the gospel of Jesus
One of the most important reasons that led to the creation of the church was the essential need of the early church to have a document which listed the basic beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church. This was created by the authority of the church, the apostles appointed by Christ to lead the church. They had to find a way to spread the church of God, and these creeds provided a method to complete this task. None of the churches at the time had all books tha...
McNally, Robert E., S.J. The Council of Trent, the Spiritual Exercises and the Catholic Reform. Church History, Vol. 34, No. 1. (Mar., 1965), pp. 36-49. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00096407%28196503%2934%3A1%3C36%3ATCOTTS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q Accessed: 08 March 2011.
Turner, William. (March 1, 1907) The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I, online edition. Retrieved February 2, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01713a.htm