Customer Reviews

The Theology of Priesthood

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This amazing reflection of the essence of Catholic Priesthood published seven years ago by the Catholic Liturgical Press and copyright by the Benedictine Order has much nourishment for us now as we contemplate the mystery and the phenomenom of our Church's sacerdotal ministry.

In order to focus our thoughts and prayers around the ministerial mystery according to the terms of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church: Second Edition in the article "The Sacrament of Holy Orders" we do well to contemplate this present book, which collects articles by six American Dominican friars, a Jesuit priest and others, the result of a two year seminar and dialogue on the priesthood sponsored by the Central Province of Dominican Friars, which focused upon historical, liturgical and theological elements of this ministry of God.

The Introduction and Conclusion of this excellent and elemental collection falls to Friar Philibert, who identifies the Catechetical definitions of the dialogue, and also names seven issues to be addressed pastorally:

1. The current ritual experience of the Church, including the alienation which comes from too few priests for too many families, and the legalistic obligation attend Mass, without attendant benefits of ministry and Church community.

2. Our failure to integrate liturgy with life, following the indications in Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: Lumen Gentium (34). As we see again in Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI's Sacramento de La Caridad: Sacramentum Caritatis, the Mass and the Eucharist are far more than what we watch the priest do for an hour on Sundays; it is the offering of our whole life integrally.

3. The social status of the presbyter in the USA where an upwardly mobile and highly educated and powerful laity reduces the influence and voice of the individual priest, and the laity itself often condemns and dismisses priests as spiritual leaders.

4. Competing images of the Catholic priest in comparison with the pre-Vatican role as liturgical presider, now a coordinator of ministries.

5. New biblical foundations for defining the priesthood, the hierarchy and the sense of apostolic succession, with an interesting quotation from Cardinal Avery Dulles's 1997 book The Priestly Office: A Theological Reflection.

6. Considerations of the impact of Feminism on the priesthood and broader ministry.

7. Signs of dysfunction, including the allegations of abuse. Defensively the introduction mentions it is no more out of proportion than other corporations of men, but admits this is no excuse, and remains a crucial issue to resolve.

These are but a few of the issues, including liturgical and theological, which are addressed in this book of interest to any American Roman Catholic, especially in an era in which the Theology of Ministry might be more closely examined than the Priesthood (cf for instance Father SChillebeeckx's The church with a human face: A new and expanded theology of ministry.

Highly recommended for every Catholic daring to think about the state of our Church and concerned for her future.