Saints Light
The Sacraments · Lesson 7 of 9

Why Does the Church Have Priests?

Christ chose some men to act in his person, to offer the Mass and forgive sins. Holy Orders makes them bishops, priests or deacons through the laying on of hands, handed down from the apostles.

This is a summary of Lesson 7 of The Seven Sacraments. The full lesson takes about 3 minutes in the Saints Light app.

The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece, a painting by Rogier van der Weyden
The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1440-1450

What this lesson teaches

  • All the baptized share Christ's priesthood, but ordained ministers act in the person of Christ the Head.
  • Holy Orders has three degrees: bishop, priest and deacon, conferred by the laying on of hands.
  • Only a baptized man can be validly ordained; celibacy is a discipline of the Latin Church, not a doctrine.
  • Ordination leaves a permanent character and continues the apostles' mission through apostolic succession.

Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites

  • CCC 1536
  • CCC 1546-1548
  • CCC 1554
  • CCC 1577-1580
  • CCC 1581-1583

CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.

Scripture read in this lesson: Hebrews 5:1; 1 Timothy 4:14; Luke 22:19.

A sample question from this lesson

What can a deacon NOT do?

  1. Proclaim the Gospel at Mass
  2. Baptize
  3. Witness a marriage
  4. Consecrate the Eucharist or absolve sins
Show the answer

Consecrate the Eucharist or absolve sins. Deacons are ordained for service: they preach, baptize and witness marriages, but only priests and bishops consecrate the Eucharist and absolve.

The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.

Words to know

Apostolic succession
The unbroken handing on of the apostles' authority through bishops ordaining bishops.
In persona Christi
Latin for "in the person of Christ": the ordained minister acts with Christ's own authority in the sacraments.

More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.

Read the full lesson in the app

"Why Does the Church Have Priests?" is lesson 7 of The Seven Sacraments. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.

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