Get Rid of the Clergy

Prior to this development, the entire church (meaning both ordained servant-leaders and the entire membership) had been understood as both sacredly lay (the holy laos) and as divinely chosen (the holy kieros'). Since the sacrament of orders and the clerical state are historically distinct, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Commonweal 2018-04, Vol.145 (7), p.10-10
Main Author: Holland, Joe
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Catholic churches
Celibacy
Clergy
Francis (Pope)
Leadership
Roman civilization
Spirituality
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Prior to this development, the entire church (meaning both ordained servant-leaders and the entire membership) had been understood as both sacredly lay (the holy laos) and as divinely chosen (the holy kieros'). Since the sacrament of orders and the clerical state are historically distinct, the former having existed for three centuries without the latter, that means they are also institutionally separable. [...]the sacrament of orders is of apostolic origin, while the "clerical state" is a fourth-century legal construction by the Roman Empire. Today, across the Americas and elsewhere, Western Catholics are flooding out of often stagnant Catholic parishes into more dynamic Evangelical and Pentecostal congregations, whose pastors long ago returned to the original apostolic model of non-clerical and lay servant-leadership.
ISSN:0010-3330
2163-3797