Priest, Presbyterate

PRIEST, PRESBYTERATE. - Greek term (πρεσβύτερος: elder) by which the second degree (priest) of the hierarchy of Order (v.) is designated.

I. ORIGIN

In the New Testament the πρεσβύτεροι of the various Churches are mentioned several times: at Jerusalem they take an active part in the administration of the Church, alongside St. James, the Lord's brother (Acts 11:30; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 21:18). In the Churches founded by St. Paul a college of presbyters is regularly established by the Apostle himself for the spiritual government of the Christian community (Acts 14:22; 20:17; 1 Tim. 5:17; Tit. 1:5). Since St. Paul also gives them the name of ἐπίσκοποι (Acts 20:28; Tit. 1:7), from the earliest centuries there has been lively discussion about the distinction, in the apostolic age, of the two grades (cf. L. Marchal, Evêque, in DBs, II, coll. 1298-1318). Whatever judgment one may wish to give on this difficult question, it is beyond doubt that at the beginning of the 2nd century, in the Churches of Asia Minor, under the influence of the apostle St. John, the presbyters, united almost into a single body (presbyterium), appear as sacerdotes secundi ordinis, subordinate to the bishop, who alone holds the supreme direction of the Church over which he is placed (monarchical episcopate). Numerous and precise are the testimonies of St. Ignatius the martyr for the Churches of Ephesus (2, 2; 4, 1; 20, 2), of Magnesia (3, 1-2; 6, 1; 13, 2), of Tralles (2, 1-3), of Philippi (4; 7, 1-2), of Smyrna (8, 1-2; 9, 1; cf. A. Casamassa, I Padri Apostolici, Rome 1938, pp. 185-89). The same Ignatius moreover makes explicit affirmations (Smirn. 8, 1; Eph. 6, 1; Magn. 6, 1; Trall. 3, 1; Phil. 7, 12) on the divine origin of the presbyterium as of the diaconate and of the monarchical episcopate (the three grades of the hierarchy of Order). Such a conviction, in a direct disciple of the Apostles, presupposes an oral communication of what Jesus Christ had established, concerning the constitution of the Church, during the forty days in which he spoke with the Apostles about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Rightly, therefore, the Council of Trent defined: «Si quis dixerit in Ecclesia Catholica non esse hierarchiam, divina ordinatione institutam, quae constat ex episcopis, presbyteris et ministris, anathema sit» (sess. XXIII, can. 6; cf. cap. 4; Denz-U, 966 and 960).

II. FUNCTIONS

From the very beginning, presbyters assist and aid the bishop: they "are the council of God and the assembly of the Apostles" (St. Ignatius, Trall., 3, 1), who surround Jesus Christ, represented by the bishop (ibid.); they are to be honored as the Apostles; they are the counselors of the bishop and the crown of the Church (Didascalia, 2, 28, 4). Liturgically, they celebrate together with the bishop and consecrate the Eucharist (Canones Hippolyti, 20; Constitutiones Apostolicae, VIII, 12, 4); together with him they impose hands in the ordination of other presbyters (St. Hippolytus, Traditio apostolica, 8) and in the reconciliation of penitents (St. Cyprian, Epist. 16, 2; Epist., 17, 2). Authorized by the bishop, they also confer Baptism on their own (Tertullian, De Baptismo, 17); they furthermore administer the Sacrament of Extreme Unction (Jas. 5, 12-15). They also exercise the function of catechists and teachers: St. Paul alludes (1 Tim. 5, 17) to presbyters, probably sacerdotes secundi gradus, who "labor in the word and in teaching"; in the Passio sanctae Perpetuae, 13, a presbyter doctor is mentioned; moreover it is well known that Tertullian, Hippolytus and Origen taught as true διδάσκαλοι while being simple presbyters.

With the organization of the tituli (or parishes), at the beginning of the 2nd century, the presbyters acquired particular importance and their juridical figure emerges more clearly. By the 4th century in the great metropolises of Rome, Carthage, and Milan the presbyters already exercise all the functions (cf. V. Monachino, La cura pastorale a Milano, Cartagine, Roma nel sec. IV, Rome 1947, pp. 20, 158, 199, 328, 329, 330) that are attributed to them in the Roman Pontifical. On the sacramental character: v. ORDINE; on the rite of Ordination: v. SACERDOZIO.

Antonio Piolanti

III. LITURGY OF ORDINATION

In Rome the ordination of priests took place publicly on the Saturdays of the Ember Days, especially of Advent.

The rite was simple: oath (Monday), presentation to the people (Wednesday or Friday). The ordination took place before the singing of the Alleluia. Having laid aside the dalmatic, the candidate received the chasuble from the archdeacon; there followed the rites of the invitation, the litanies, the imposition of hands by all the priests and the consecratory formula. The kiss of peace closed the rite. At the Offertory, the newly ordained priests offered before the others.

In Rome these simple rites were held until the 10th century. In Gaul, on the other hand, the rites and prayers were much more developed (Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua [6th century], Missale Francorum, ancient Gelasian). The principal additions are: a) the special instruction on the correlative powers and duties; b) the handing over of the sacred objects with imperative words: Accipe (for the deacon the book of the Gospels, for the priest the chalice with wine and the paten with the host, for the bishop the insignia); perhaps in imitation and as a consequence of the administration of the minor orders in the Gallican Church. There especially came into use: 1) the anointing (from the 8th century for Gaul, England, Germany); 2) the handing over of the sacred instruments and the solemn investiture, proper to each order, which was done under the influence of Germanic feudalism, pervaded with ceremonies indicating feudal investitures. With these successive accretions the rites became more grandiose. In the 10th and 11th centuries, through the influence of the Ottonians and the German popes, they were introduced also in Rome and ended by becoming the rites of today.

Now in the presbyterate the rite, more complex than the diaconal one, unfolds in the preparatory part like the diaconal one. In the principal part, both hands of the consecrator and of all the priests present are imposed; there is added, as a rite proper to it, after the handing over of the vestments, the anointing of the hands with the oil of the catechumens, preceded by the singing of the Veni Creator. In the handing over of the sacred vestments the stole is adjusted in the priestly manner; the back part of the chasuble is kept folded over the shoulders; the anointing of the hands follows, then into the anointed hands are delivered the chalice with the wine and the paten with the host. From the 13th century the new priests concelebrate with the bishop. After Communion there is a second imposition of hands to confer symbolically the power of absolution (the rear part of the chasuble is unfolded); the rite ends with the homage of obedience.

Pietro Siffrin

IV. ARCHAEOLOGY

There are numerous ancient inscriptions of p. in the early Church. In Rome, where in the middle of the 3rd century the p. numbered 46 (letter of Pope Cornelius to Fabius of Antioch [Eusebius, Hist. eccl., 6, 43, 11]), ancient inscriptions of p. were found by G. B. de Rossi in the cemetery of Callixtus, such as the Greek ones of ΜΑΖΕΙΜΟC πρεσβύτερος) and of a Dionysius, a physician (G. B. de Rossi, Roma sotterranea, I, Rome 1864, pls. 19, 5 and 21, 9); and of a Fl. Ptolemy in Domitilla. They also occur in other cemeteries, such as in Praetextatus, St. Lawrence, St. Agnes, etc., though without the indication of the title, which appears much later in undated inscriptions and in those dated only to 491, a few years before the subscriptions of the titular p. at the Synod of 499. In the first half of the 6th century (521-25) the presbiter prior is distinguished in the tituli from the secundus, tertius and quartus, as in the well-known epigraph of St. Pancras (A. Silvagni, Inscriptiones christianae, nova series, II, Rome 1935, no. 4279). Notable is the series of p. who scratched their names near the sanctuaries of the martyrs (G. B. De Rossi, op. cit., I, pp. 285-86; II, Rome 1867, p. 387; O. Marucchi, La cripta storica dei SS. Pietro e Marcellino recentemente scoperta sulla via Lubicana, in Nuovo bull. di arch. crist., 4 [1898], pp. 164-66; E. Josi, Il cimitero di Panfilo, in Riv. di arch. crist., 1 [1924], pp. 79-81; 93-96; B. Bagatti, Il cimitero di Commodilla, Città del Vaticano 1936, p. 115 ff.), abbreviating their dignity with PRB or PBR and only later with PRST, as in St. Sebastian (M. Colagrossi, Di un monumento recentemente scoperto presso il monumento apostolico dell'Appia, in Nuovo bull. di arch. christ., 15 [1909], p. 53).

Outside Rome, inscriptions of p. are known from Ficulca, Velletri, Veroli, Amiternum, Capua, Nola, Mirabella Eclano, Tropea, Ravenna, Voghera, Como, Biella, Vercelli, Milan, Tortona, from the Gauls, from Salona, from Spain, from Roman Africa, from Philippi, etc. Characteristic are the expressions used to indicate the duration of the presbyterate: «sedit presbyterio» (G. B. De Rossi, Inscrip. chr., I, Rome 1857-61, no. 879); «cuius anni fuerunt in presbyterio» (loc. cit., no. 1351); «ministravit in presbyterio», in epigraphs from Spain (E. Diehl, Inscrip. lat. christ. veteres, Berlin 1924-31, nos. 1175, 3265, 3274); «vixit in presbyterio», in African epigraphs (CIL, VIII, 23563-64); out of humility a p. calls himself «indignus» (CIL, XI, 326); while others are given the title of «vir venerabilis» (Notizie degli Scavi, 1918, p. 169; CIL, V, 5204, 5219, 5405, 5426; XIII, 11211). The expression «famulus Dei» is also sometimes found used (E. Diehl, op. cit., nos. 1175 a and b, in Spain; 1175 d, in Portugal); a p. of Como is called «Sanctae Comensis Ecclesiae» (CIL, V, 5219), as is one of Rome who died in Spain (E. Diehl, op. cit., no. 1176).

Enrico Josi