FULTON J. SHEEN writes in his book Those Mysterious Priests: “The laity knows that the Church has “changed”. Some would says it was “dress”, others the “loss of Latin”, others “the emergence of power from below”. He points out that many priests are not aware of the fact that the Church has changed (1). I think, the observation of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen has much relevance today. Many priests do not yet know that the Church has changed. The attitude of the faithful towards the priest is today different from that of 20 years back. The expectation for holiness remains the same as it was earlier; but people do not believe that the priests are as holy as they are expected to be. Similarly the idea of the Church: The faithful consider the Church not as they considered some 20 or 30 years ago. They feel that the Church belongs to them and that it is not the property of the clergy. Priests should be aware of this change in the attitude of the faithful. Therefore, priestly training should meet the needs of time and priestly ministry should be defined and understood in accordance with the changing faces of the Church strictly based on the apostolic tradition and teachings of the Catholic Church.
On the 50 anniversary of his priestly ordination Walter Card. Kasper published a book in 2007 with the title Servant of Happiness (2) After a thankful reflection on the past 50 years and hopeful optimistic vision about the future he says that a priest can be a servant of happiness. 3 A happy priest is a gift of God. He will lead the people to God, the source of happiness. In 1988 Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) published a book titled “Servants of your Happiness: Meditations on the priestly spirituality.”4 It included sermons to the priests or seminarians or on first holy mass or on priestly ordination or for example on the 400 Jubilee of a seminary, first sermon in 1962 for a first holy mass and the last on1983 for the golden Jubilee of the priestly ordination of Joseph Cardinal Höffner, in which he spoke on the Gospel reading of the day. All these sermons reflect the idea of the call of the Lord to serve his people. They reflect also the guidance of the Lord in fulfilling the demands of the call and the happiness of the priests in following the call. These two books with almost the same title and written in entirely different perspectives definitely inspire a priest and motivate him to commit himself for the call he received. None of these two books are systematic treaties on priesthood, nor on priestly spirituality. They are testaments which give foundations.
Walter Cardinal Kasper speaks on his personal experience to inspire the priests and Pope Benedict XVI’s (Joseph Ratzinger) sermons express his personal conviction and the vision to discuss the theme of priesthood from the perspectives of texts from the Bible and to inspire us to be based on the Bible and committed to the people. Happiness of being a priest, as the titles shows, is the message that these books spread. True, if there is no happiness and joy in being a priest, if priests are not happy and proud of serving the people and to have the title priest, the life of a priest will not be a fulfilling one. Joy and happiness of a priest will make him another Christ.
Another discussion on priestly spirituality fully based on biblical texts is that of Hans Urs von Balthasar.5 His discussions on the theme of priesthood also remind us that the biblical insights could be the foundational inspirations for a priest. To follow Christ and to commit to the mission given by the gospels and the epistles can be the magna carta for the priests. I mention these authors and books not to mean that my discussions on priesthood are based on them. Surely, they belong to those inspiring books on priesthood written in different perspectives. I share the foundations of these authors namely personal experience as a priest and the biblical foundations of priestly ministry. There are many similar authors who have been inspirations in my priestly life. Fulton J. Sheen, (1895-1979) Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), Karl Rahner (1904-1984) John Chrysostom, (c. 347-407) Philip Neri (1515 – 1595) belong to some of those Priests, bishops and theologians whose writings on Priesthood inspired me.
Once Karl Rahner told in an interview to the Paderborn Sunday weekly: “If you ask me which “Laudatio” would please me, I will tell you: I am a priest and a theologian.” These are real expressions that mean something great.6 To be priest and to be a theologian is a great blessing of a Christian. Karl Rahner enjoys it and confesses it. Similarly do many priests of the Catholic Church. Karl Rahner writes about the priest of today by asking the question how a priest should seem to be and what the people expect today from a priest. He writes also about the essence of priestly vocation. According to him a priest can never claim that he really fulfilled his vocation. It is just as the fulfillment of the sermon of the mount7, Commandment of love8, commandment to follow the crucified Christ9 can never be fully fulfilled. A Priest and a Christian are always beginners to fulfill the demands involved their vocation.10
The identity, role and function of a Catholic priest should be clear in mind in discussing on the theology of priesthood. When convinced and committed priests involve in the priestly training it would be easier to communicate the ideas of Christian priesthood to the future priests and to keep up the dignity of priesthood. To adapt the mission and ministry of priesthood today without losing the tradition and content of this vocation is the task the church has today. Jacques Dupuis writes the following in the introduction to the chapter on Order in ‘The Christian Faith’: “Christ, the only mediator between God and humankind (1Tim.2:5) possesses a unique and absolute priesthood, which, while fulfilling the Old Testament priesthood, surpassed it and abolished it (cf. Heb.). He exercised his priesthood as Prophet by revealing the Father and as Shepherd by gathering God’s scattered people; he crowned it in his Paschal Mystery by offering of the sacrifice of the cross”.11 The mission and the ministry of a Catholic priest are clearly expressed in these words of Dupuis. The Catholic priesthood is the fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood. It is the continuation of the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ (persona Christi). Prophetic, priestly and kingly (shepherding) functions are involved in the ministry of Catholic priests, which were the functions of Christ.
Dupuis continues: “For many centuries the Church lived in the quiet possession of this doctrine. The only serious crisis it encountered is that of the Reformation. Reacting excessively against a one-sided stress on the ministerial priesthood which did not do full justice to the common priesthood at all, the Reformers were led to deny the existence of a sacrament of Orders instituted by Christ, and they considered ministry as a function delegated by the Christian community to some of its members. The denial of a sacramental ministry deprived the Church of one of the constitutive elements willed for it by Christ. This is why the Church upheld strongly against the Reformers the existence of the sacrament of Order”.12 The Catholic Church has always defended this doctrine and exercised the ministerial priesthood. The reason for the Catholic to emphasis on ministerial priesthood is the traditional teachings of Christ and of the Church. The denial of the ministerial priesthood by the Reformers had of course created difference of opinions within the Christian communities.
This question of the sacramental character of the Catholic priesthood is the main question which I confronted in many of my ecumenical discussions with pastors of protestant churches and believers of the protestant churches. For the last 12 years I had regular discussions and dialogues with protestant pastors in routines of once in three months. From such discussions there arose once an ecumenical discussion forum with pastors and laity. In many such discussions the protestant pastors wanted to discuss on the office of priesthood and to express the difference of the Catholic view from the protestant view. Naturally they consider the protestant view correct. They have the right to hold it. But the Catholics can claim the correctness of their view too. For the Catholics sacramental character of the priestly office and its tradition from the Old Testament are undeniable foundations of Catholic priesthood. I hope that they remain like that in future too and thus the Catholic Church remains Catholic. This affirmation of ministerial priesthood does not deny the common priesthood of all Christians through baptism; the ministerial priesthood is in spite of the common priesthood of all Christians.
We begin this book by asking whether the Catholic priesthood is in crisis. Opinions may differ with regard to this question. There are many Protestant thinkers and even some Catholic theologians who consider that the Catholic priesthood is in crisis. The current challenges facing Catholic priests and the problems and failures of many present day Catholic priests have prompted many people to ask this question. The scarcity of priests and lack of vocations also are reasons for this question. By posing this question, we try to become aware of the challenges to the Catholic priesthood and the need to confront these challenges and the crisis. The discussions on the problems involved in priesthood are very important because as Optatam Totius clearly states candidates for the priesthood are to be made aware of the difficulties and problems involved in this ministry. To those who are involved in the priestly ministry the question of crisis in priesthood and problems involved in priestly ministry should make them aware of the reality today and encourage them to be stable.
The second chapter asks the question who is a Catholic Priest? By posing the question we try to evaluate the person and ministry of the Catholic priest derived from the ministry of Christ and in the traditions of the apostles. The history of the Christian priesthood reveals the historical development of the priestly ministry and its functions in society. The difference between common priesthood and ministerial priesthood according to the teachings of the Catholic Church differentiate the priestly ministry from the ministry of the Protestant Churches.
The chapter on Priestly Formation summarizes the documents of the Second Vatican Council on priestly formation and the subsequent views. The chapters on priests and bishops, women and the priesthood and parish ministry situate the discussion in the frame of the priestly duties and functions in the society. The chapters on priestly virtues and priestly spirituality enter into the spirit and strength of priestly life. The prophetic dimension of the priesthood, praxis determined approach to priesthood, the friendship among priests and of the priests and the priest today are also themes discussed in this book to explain the relevance of contextualizing the priestly ministry in the contemporary world.
The concept of Catholic Priesthood and the Mission and Ministry of the Catholic Priesthood are in short the content of this book. It may be asked about the relevance of writing a new book on Catholic priesthood. Many books are available on the topic. Many documents of the Catholic Church also are there on priesthood. My attempt is not to give a comprehensive view of the themes of priesthood, nor to present an exhaustive study on the theme and thereby to substitute many good books on the subject. There are a number of doctoral theses on the subject for comprehensive, systematic and academic studies. I try to present the theme for my fellow priests for their reflections and for ongoing formation and for seminarians for their information, study and reflection based on the bible, experience and teachings of the Church. A little bit of personal experience is imbibed in to it. This book is a small introduction to priesthood with a little reference to my priestly experience. It is based primarily on the teachings of the Catholic Church as expressed in the documents of the Church. The aim is to give the view of the Catholic Church on priesthood from the perspectives of a pastor. I will be happy if it inspires and encourages the priests to continue to face challenges of being a Catholic priest and the students to take up the challenge.
Footnotes
1 Fulton J. Sheen, Those Mysterious Priests, St. Pauls, Mumbai, 2006, 12 (first published in 1974, Alba Hause, New York).
2 See Walter Kasper, Diener der Freude, Priesterliche Existenz und priesterlicher Dienst, Herder, Freiburg/Basel/Wien, 2007 (Walter Card. Kasper, A Celebration of Priestly Ministry: Challenge, Renewal, and Joy in the Catholic Priesthood, Tr. Brien McNeil, Cross Road Publishing Company, New York, 2007)
3 2 Cor.1. 24.
4 See Papst Benedikt XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), Diener Eurer Freude, Meditationen über priesterliche Spiritualität, Herder, Freiburg/Basel/Wien, 1988 (Ministers of Your Joy: Scriptural Meditations on Priestly Spirituality, St. Pauls, London, 2010.)
5 See Hans Urs von Balthasar, Priesterliche Spiritualität, Johannes, Einsiedeln², 2008.
6 Karl Rahner, Ich bin Priester und Theologe, Gespräch mit der Redaktion des Sonntagsblattes für das Erzbistum Paderborn, “Der Dom”, in Sämtliche Werke, Bd, 31, Benzinger, Zürich/Düsseldorf; Herder, Freiburg/Basel/Wien, 2007, 316-318, 317; See also Karl Kardinal Lehmann, Geleitwort, in Karl Rahner, Priester von Heute, Hrsg. Andreas R. Battlog/Albert Raffelt, Herder, Freiburg/Basel/Wien, 2009, 11, 1-12, 11.
7 Mt.5: 1ff.
8 Mk.12:28-31.
9 Mt.16:24-26.
10 Karl Rahner, Ich bin Priester und Theologe, 16.
11 Josef Neuner/Jacques Dupuis, Ed., The Christian Faith, 7th Edition, Theological Publications, Bangalore, 2004 (First published in 1973) 717.
12 Ibid.,718.