The leadership of the Church
is in three ‘orders’: Bishops, Priest and Deacons. Everyone ordained priest
must already be a deacon, and each bishop must already be a priest.
A bishop is in charge of an
area called a Diocese, which contains many parishes. In England a Diocese covers
two or three counties, on average. The bishop ordains and appoints priests,
takes confirmations, and is the chief teacher and leader of faith in the
Diocese.
A priest is ordained by the
bishop. Most priests are in charge of parishes, but some are chaplains or have
other jobs. Priests can say mass, take confession, the sacrament of the sick,
marriages, baptisms, funerals. He has many responsibilities in his parish, and
is in overall charge of running the parish.
A deacon is also ordained by
the bishop. At one time, men served as deacons for only a short time before
being ordained priest, but nowadays there are also permanent deacons. Deacons
assist the bishop and the priest at mass. They can baptise and conduct weddings
and funerals, but cannot say mass or hear confessions. Some deacons have been
put in charge of parishes.
By long tradition Catholic
bishops, priests and deacons are not allowed to marry. However married men can
be ordained deacon, and in rare cases, permission can be given for married men
to be ordained priest. Most priests, however, have to make a commitment to celibacy
before they are ordained, that is, they promise never to marry.
The reasons for this
include: a priest is married to his parish, so can devote himself to caring for
people; he can be sent anywhere by the bishop at very short notice; he can work
in very rough or difficult areas without having to worry about children’s
schools or his wife’s job; he can live on a very low income; he is not free to
marry or have relationships, so he can be impartial with people in the parish.
Reasons against include:
priests get lonely and may suffer from depression; many good priests have left
the priesthood to get married; many more people would come forward for
ordination if they could be married; it is not natural to forbid someone from
marrying; married men might have a better understanding of people’s problems.
Only
men can be ordained to holy orders. In other Christians bodies (e.g. Church of
England) there are women ministers. Women have always been able to become nuns
or religious sisters in the Catholic Church, and some have a lot of
responsibility, but they cannot be priests.
Reasons in favour of this
teaching are: it is a tradition that goes back to the very first Christians –
there have never been women priests or bishops; Jesus had many women followers,
but chose 12 apostles who were all men; a priest represents Christ (a man) when
he stands at the altar.
Reasons in favour of
ordaining women include: other traditions have changed; this rule is sexist, it
keeps women out of the leadership of the Church; a woman can just as easily
represent Jesus; women would bring a lot to the priesthood; some people might
prefer to speak confidentially to a woman.
Some Christians choose to
follow God by joining a Religious order or Congregation, there are two main
types of religious life: The Apostolic and the Contemplative. Think of them as
outdoors(apostolic) and indoors (contemplative).
They lead a life away from
society. They are enclosed orders
They lead a life of PRAYER
and WORK
Examples:Carmelites, Poor
Clares - for women
Carthusians, Cistercians -
for men
They will lead a life of prayer
but they live in society.
They
lead a life in the community, working for
those in need: Poor Sick Elderly and Teaching.
Examples:
Sisters of Mercy- for women; Christian
brothers - for men
Religious
men and women are consecrated to God by three vows. They are not considered
commands but gifts
POVERTY
- all personal possessions are available for the use of the church, they are not
tied
down
so that they are free to go where ever they may be needed in the world
CHASTITY
- a person is free to serve anyone, anywhere at anytime as they are not responsible
for a family
OBEDIENCE
- obedience to God by being dedicated
to the work of their congregation
At
first these vows are made for a limited period (E.g. 1 year) after this if a
person is sure a final profession is
made, and this time the vows are made for life.
 |
A lay person is a catholic
who is not a bishop, priest or deacon nor a member of a holy order (monk or
nun). The vast majoirity of Catholics (more than 90%) are lay people.
Lay people do many things
because of their commitment to the Church. In Church they do jobs like read at
mass, or be Eucharistic Minister, or serve at the altar; outside of church they
can do many other things: by helping people, giving to charity, praying, living
a good life and trying to bring up their children in the faith. Traditionally
there are seven ‘corporal works of mercy’ which Christians can do: feed the
hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to the
homeless, visit the sick, visit those in prison and bury the dead.
The Catholic Church teaches
that ‘Work honours the creator’s gifts and the talents received from him.’
(Catechism) This means that human beings have both a right and a duty
to work, and that work should be both honest, and fairly rewarded. The Church
teaches that it is right for workers to organise into unions and even to go on
strike if there is no other alternative.
Christians have a
responsibility to work for the good of others and not to
choose a job that deliberately hurts.
Many Christians are against
Sunday trading, because it goes against one of the ten commandments; it makes
going to church on a Sunday difficult; does not give a family a day together;
and so Sunday becomes like any other day of the week
So Christian work should
involve:
Putting others first; Never
exploiting others; Respect for the rights of other people; Never hurting others
by greed; Respect for the whole of creation.
Give definitions of these
words: Poverty, Chastity, Celibacy, Ordination, Apostolic, Contemplative,
Deacon, Diocese, lay, Holy Orders, Religious Orders, Vocation.
Draw a table to show the
different roles of bishops, priest and deacons.
List the reasons for and
against (a) celibacy and (b) the ordinatioin of women.
1. Explain why some Christians are against people
working on Sundays. (3)
2. “Christians
can no longer let their beliefs and values affect their choice of job.”
Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer showing
that you have considered more than one point of view. (4)
3. Explain the meaning of the word vocation (2)
4. Priests have many different kinds of duties to
perform.
Give three examples of the duties which show the
importance of priests in the Roman catholic church. (3)
5. “Roman
Catholic priests should not marry.”
Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer showing
that you have considered more than one point of view. (5)
6. Members of religious orders take three vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience.
(i)
Explain what each of these three vows means.
(ii)
Show how they help members of these religious
orders to live their religious lives. (8)