Holy Orders Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Holy Orders - Research Paper Example According to the Catholic Church, Christ instituted some of the Seven Sacraments during his ministry. The evidence of these seven sacraments is written and oral both in the tradition, to which the Catholics refer to as the deposits of faith. In addition, the use and presence of all the seven sacraments in the early years of the church are both, documented and present in writings of the Church fathers and as well as the Christian historians. Christ believed that these sacraments were instituted so that the human beings could see a sign of the spiritual effect that they often wish to receive. It was Christ’s way of showing that the spiritual reality is transpired1. Episcopates or bishops are those individuals that are chosen in the Catholic Churches from among the priests. As in the Eastern Catholic Churches married priests are permitted, bishops should be the ones who are widowers, unmarried or those who agree to have no sexual contact with their wives. At times a common miscon ception is seen in all the bishops that they come from the religious orders. This cannot be taken as the absolute reality while it is partially true. The bishops in the Catholic churches should usually be the leaders of the territorial units that are called dioceses. The bishops alone hold the validity to administer the Sacrament of Holy Orders in the churches. Moreover, only bishops are lawfully allowed to administer the sacrament of confirmation in the Catholic churches. In case an ordinary priest administers the sacrament illegally, it is considered to be valid in the condition so that the person who is confirmed may not be confirmed again either by a bishop or by any other. Special permission can be given to the Latin rite priests who have special permission to lawfully administer confirmation. In fact every Catholic priest must administer confirmation with or without confirmation to the children who are in danger of death. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the confirmation is a dministered by priests who have the rite and this is usually administered to both babies and adults immediately after their baptism2. The ordained priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church and the common priesthood are different and operate in different functions and essence. The Catholic priesthood is the ministerial priesthood of the Catholic priests and bishops. This ministerial priesthood is however, servicing at the priesthood of all believers. This involves the direct consecration of a man towards Christ with the sacrament of orders. This is so that the person can act as the person of Christ to be for the sake of the Christian faithful in being able to dispense the sacraments. In the long history, it was understood that this begun at the Last Supper when Jesus Christ was seen instituting the Eucharist in the mighty presence of all the Twelve Apostles. Christ had commanded them to do it in his memory. However, the Catholic priesthood is considered to be a share of the priesthood of Christ and it traces its origins seen in the history to the historic appointment of the Twelve Apostles by Jesus Christ. What makes someone a priest is that he should already be a deacon and a minister of the Holy Orders being an ordained bishop? This is the Rite of Ordination. The duties of the Catholic priests would be divided into three main parts; these include the