Going hand in hand with our love of the Eucharist is the respect we catholics have for our ordained clergy. (This does not mean that we think they are better than the laity. Members of the clergy are mortal, fallible, sinful human beings, every one of them. And some of them have been downright evil. Yet they are able to serve as imperfect channels of God’s perfect grace. Throughout the scriptures we learned that our all-powerful God can use bad people to accomplish good ends. He is still doing it.)
Yes, we are all a royal priesthood. But we believe that our ordained clergy have been set apart by God for special ministries. Jesus gave special powers to his apostles. He gave them the power to forgive sins in his name. And he commanded them to carry on the Eucharistic feast in remembrance of him.
In the Book of Acts we read how the apostles drew straws to see who would replace Judas. The lot fell to Matthias, and they laid hands on him and he became one of them. As the church expanded, they laid hands on others to preside over churches in different towns. These bishops in turn laid hands on others to take their place or start churches of their own. For most of the history of the church, the people elected their bishop. But they always had to get other bishops to lay hands on him and pass on what we now call the Apostolic Succession.
The New Testament relates how deacons were ordained to assist the bishops. Their first task seems to have been to wait on tables and see that the widows didn’t go hungry. Most catholic churches also have priests. They came about some time after the writing of the New Testament was completed, so there is no mention of Christian priests in the Bible. So if a church doesn’t want to have priests, that doesn’t mean they’re not catholic. Remember our very first rule: don’t require belief in anything not supported in scripture. But there is no excuse for anyone not believing in bishops and deacons. A priest is sort of an assistant bishop anyway. So there’s no reason a church can’t get by with just bishops and deacons, as long as they have enough of them.
For the first three centuries of the church’s existence, the Eucharist was celebrated mostly in homes. The presider was sometimes the bishop, if he was available. But often it was the head of the house — quite often a woman. There is abundant archeological evidence that there were women priests in the early church. In a basilica in Rome there is a mosaic of a woman. The inscription reads “Theodora Episcopa” which means “Bishop Theodora” and the word for “bishop” is in the feminine gender. Does this mean that it is an essential of the catholic faith that women should be ordained to all levels of the clergy? No. From our primary source, the scriptures, there is only clear evidence of women being ordained to the diaconate (Definition). Though there are tangential references in the New Testament that seem to refer to women presiding at the Eucharist, there is no clear proof in scripture that women in apostolic times were ordained beyond deacon. Of course, at the same time there is absolutely no biblical evidence that they were not. A papal commission appointed to study this issue found no scriptural basis for denying ordination to women. So, like many other issues, we must allow diversity and act with charity.
Though the United Catholic Church allows ordination of women to all levels of ministry, we do not require it. What we do require, however, is that all member churches and denominations accept and respect the clergy ordained by sister churches — regardless of their gender or marital status. Regulatory rules may be imposed by a church on its own members, but they may not be imposed on members of other jurisdictions. Until it becomes universal, the ordination of women will continue to be controversial, especially within those denominations which do not allow it. But it should not be a source of divisiveness between churches.
Another issue which has caused ill feeling between denominations is recognition of the validity of each other’s line of apostolic succession. This has been especially painful between the Roman Catholic and Anglican communions. The Vatican has refused to recognize the apostolic succession of Anglican and Episcopal bishops, and therefore has called into question the validity of the ordinations of all their clergy. This in turn has cast suspicion on the sacraments administered by priests of the worldwide Anglican communion. We catholics of all denominations believe that apostolic succession matters. But we do not believe that, because of legalistic problems four centuries ago, God would deny the grace signified by the sacraments to millions of people who in good faith believed they were receiving them. “In all things, charity” requires that other catholic churches respect the validity of Anglican apostolicity. The Orthodox, Old Catholic, Roman Catholic, and United Catholic churches all recognize the unquestioned validity of the apostolic succession, ordinations, and sacraments of each other. It is a start. Some of us also recognize the Anglican succession (as noted above). After a period of transition, the Lutheran church will be gaining similar recognition. To those, like the Methodists, who have purposely separated themselves from the apostolic line, we offer consecration into the apostolic family for the sake of unity. (My own apostolic succession includes Old Catholic and Roman Catholic bishops, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, and patriarchs of the Greek, Syrian, Byzantine, Jacobite, and Antiochean churches ... and some Anglicans as well.)
Many Evangelical Protestants have come to believe in the catholic faith as outlined in this document and have sought consecration into the apostolic line. It is my personal belief that we should be receptive and should welcome those qualified with great joy as God heals old divisions and unifies his church. The apostolic succession should be a sign of unity, not a source of division.
What is distinctively catholic about our belief in Holy Orders is this: We believe that the sacrament not only sets those ordained apart for special ministries, but also conveys God’s grace to help them accomplish God’s purpose for those ministries. We believe that the successors of the apostles have inherited the special privileges given to them by Christ of conveying God’s grace to his people through the sacraments.
Those who argue that the powers and privileges of the apostles died with them and were not passed on to their successors point to the fact that our bishops do not do miracles of healing, and most of us do not speak in tongues. And that is true. Those gifts seem to have been for a very specific time in the church’s life, its infancy. But our Lord never commanded the apostles to continue performing miracles or speaking in tongues. He did, however, command them to baptise, to forgive sins, and to perform the Lord’s Supper (the Eucharist) in remembrance of him. The need to follow those commands did not die out with the apostles. And therefore, we believe, neither did the powers of ordination.
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