BLOG 7/12/15. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PRIESTS? AND WHAT ARE THEY?
The pageantry of the visit by Pope Francis in Santa Cruz, Paraguay this past week was fascinating. The adulation of that huge crowd of the Catholic faithful for this unique pope was a sight to behold. At the same time it raises significant questions. This was the first ever visit by a pope to this small and somewhat impoverished nation. There is also a diminishing number of priests in all of those Latin American nations. That means that the vast majority of those Catholic faithful will never, or seldom have access to a priest.
This is not intended to be a snarky blog. There is something awesome about Roman Catholic pageantry, what with all of the robes and processions, and air of reverence. I have been in Rome and have been a guest of some of the Curia, as well as participant in a large papal audience. All very moving. I found so many wonderful Christian brothers within the Vatican staff, and we spent time together is prayer and discussions, as well a con-celebrating the mass. Mine is not to question the sincerity of that Catholic persuasion. But the life of the people of God is lived in the rough and tumble, the “stink and stuff” of daily life, not in a rarified ecclesiastical ethos.
At the same time, it raises in my mind the previous question: What is the purpose of a priest, and where are priests mandated in the New Testament/Apostolic documents? After all, apart from the original apostolic band, who had a unique role, there seems never to have been anyone declared as clergy at all. Peter himself, in his marvelous First Epistle says that the whole church is a nation of priests, . . . which implies that every believer is a priest, not only to the others within the community, but to the world at large in which he or she operates twenty-four seven. A priest was one who made offerings to God, and who ministered the sacrifices in the Jewish community of the Old Testament. The New Testament church grew out of that culture but then redefined the temple and the priesthood, so that God’s people become his dwelling-place, or temple. Then all become those, who on the merit of Christ’s sacrifice give their own bodies as living sacrifices unto God in order to accomplish his purpose of creating all things new. By virtue of one’s baptism, he or she becomes a priests and a dynamic part of God’s new humanity. It does not take some special rite, or ordination, or sanctity. Whenever one tries to trap the priesthood in some sacralized ecclesiastical figure, then one has already missed the point. Those who minister the life and encouragement and teachings to one another within the community are the priests.
Even the Roman Catholic community found itself in a self-contradiction a few decades ago when there was a shortage of priests, so that villagers did not see priests for long periods, and so took things into their own hands. Those in the villages who were literate obtained copies of scripture, and gathered others at the end of days or weeks to read and to digest and discuss the teachings of Jesus, and they discovered some remarkable things . . . which made them a bit troublesome socially and politically—like: “Jesus came to bring good news to the poor” and that’s us, and we should not be oppressed politically by wealthy and powerful forces.” Thus was born within the Roman Catholic community the Base Ecclesial Communities, which the bishops did not quite know how to handle. “Can you have a church without bishops?” was their question. Can a local church exist with no connection to Rome? The answer is that when every believer is a priest you can have a very dynamic and influential church because no one is cut off from the mutual encouragement and accountability to all of the others priests. Those Base Communities became a very fruitful and troublesome source, yet all the while maintaining their identity as Roman Catholic. It is interesting that on this recent trip, Pope Francis has been apologizing for the excesses of earlier Roman clergy for injustices against the very people they were to have been ministering the life of Jesus. Priesthood needs some serious redefinition in both Catholic and non-Catholic circles. For your thoughts . . .
