Are Holy Orders necessary to turn the bread & wine into the body & blood?

[TK421]

K, I need to rephrase: Are Holy Orders absolutely necessary to turn the bread & wine into the body & blood?

Are Holy Orders necessary for a person to turn the bread & wine into the body & blood, or is this a discipline?

What about Reconciliation / Healing of the Sick / Marriage?

I read that Reconciliation was once done publicly, as the word is commonly used: among the entire congregation, as opposed to the adopted method in later centuries of publicly confessing just to a priest. I also heard that in the early centuries, when the Church was getting violently persecuted, the celebration of the Eucharist wasn’t necessarily done by a priest, and that Healing of the Sick was also performed by laity.

Is it doctrine which sacraments can be performed by who? I also heard that laity, such as sisters, have exorcized demons in the past, but can this now only be done by a priest or higher?

I read a brief series on the sacraments that also provided some historical background on the changes in how sacraments were administered through the 2000+ years, and it opened up a lot of questions. Since marriage wasn’t recognized as a sacrament until sometime in the middle ages, were all marriages prior to that point natural marriages rather than sacramental marriages? How could they be sacramental marriages in the past if it wasn’t even understood as a sacrament in the first place? Isn’t knowledge of the sacrament of the marriage absolutely necessary for it to be a sacramental marriage?

 

[jacobm]

Are Holy Orders absolutely necessary to turn the bread & wine into the body & blood?

Yes

CCC 1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

What about Reconciliation / Healing of the Sick / Marriage?

As far as Reconciliation goes, the Catechism has some nice entries about this.

**
CCC 1447** Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the first centuries the reconciliation of Christians who had committed particularly grave sins after their Baptism (for example, idolatry, murder, or adultery) was tied to a very rigorous discipline, according to which penitents had to do public penance for their sins, often for years, before receiving reconciliation. To this “order of penitents” (which concerned only certain grave sins), one was only rarely admitted and in certain regions only once in a lifetime. During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the “private” practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the possibility of repetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of this sacrament. It allowed the forgiveness of grave sins and venial sins to be integrated into one sacramental celebration. In its main lines this is the form of penance that the Church has practiced down to our day.

CCC 1448 Beneath the changes in discipline and celebration that this sacrament has undergone over the centuries, the same fundamental structure is to be discerned. It comprises two equally essential elements: on the one hand, the acts of the man who undergoes conversion through the action of the Holy Spirit: namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction; on the other, God’s action through the intervention of the Church. The Church, who through the bishop and his priests forgives sins in the name of Jesus Christ and determines the manner of satisfaction, also prays for the sinner and does penance with him. Thus the sinner is healed and re-established in ecclesial communion.

CCC 981 After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles “so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.” The apostles and their successors carry out this “ministry of reconciliation,” not only by announcing to men God’s forgiveness merited for us by Christ, and calling them to conversion and faith; but also by communicating to them the forgiveness of sins in Baptism, and reconciling them with God and with the Church through the power of the keys, received from Christ: (1444, 553)

In other words, this ministry has always been done through the church, and now as a matter of doctrine, this ministry has been reserved to the priests. Much as confirmation used to be done as a matter of course by priests, but is now reserved to the bishops (who can also delegate this to priests).

Healing of the sick authorizes a similar office to reconciliation. This must always be done by a priest, as this exercises the full office of the church.

As far as marriage goes, the people who are getting married are considered the celebrants. In the past, private marriages were a common practice, but the council of Trent established that marriages must be public and presided over by those with holy orders.

Is it doctrine which sacraments can be performed by who? I also heard that laity, such as sisters, have exorcized demons in the past, but can this now only be done by a priest or higher?

The exorcism of demons is not a sacrament and was given to the whole church.

He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. Mark 3:14-15

 

[paduard]

I agree with Jacobm’s quote i.e.

“CCC 1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.”

Paduard.

 

[1ke]

K, I need to rephrase: Are Holy Orders absolutely necessary to turn the bread & wine into the body & blood?

yes.

Are Holy Orders necessary for a person to turn the bread & wine into the body & blood, or is this a discipline?

yes, it is a doctrine not a discipline.

What about Reconciliation / Healing of the Sick /

Reconciliation and anointing require a priest.

Marriage?

Witnessing a marriage can be delegated to a lay person in the Latin Rite.

I read that Reconciliation was once done publicly, as the word is commonly used: among the entire congregation, as opposed to the adopted method in later centuries of publicly confessing just to a priest.

I think you’ve confused two things, the manner in which one confesses (publicly or privately) with who absolves and how we are forgiven (the priest).

I also heard that in the early centuries, when the Church was getting violently persecuted, the celebration of the Eucharist wasn’t necessarily done by a priest, and that Healing of the Sick was also performed by laity.

Nope. Not true.

Is it doctrine which sacraments can be performed by who?

yes.

I also heard that laity, such as sisters, have exorcized demons in the past, but can this now only be done by a priest or higher?

I’m not sure who you keep “hearing” these things from. Perhaps you can provide us with some documentation or a reference for these assertions?

One should note there is a difference between the *general term of “exorcist” for anyone who casts out demons (lay person or clergy) and the minor order *of exorcist, which of course would be restricted to those with holy orders.

I read a brief series on the sacraments that also provided some historical background on the changes in how sacraments were administered through the 2000+ years, and it opened up a lot of questions.

I think you need to understand here that while the rites and rituals can change, the form and matter of the Sacraments cannot. Nor can the requirement of holy orders for some sacraments.

Since marriage wasn’t recognized as a sacrament until sometime in the middle ages,

This is incorrect.

were all marriages prior to that point natural marriages rather than sacramental marriages?

Marriages between the baptized as sacramental.

How could they be sacramental marriages in the past if it wasn’t even understood as a sacrament in the first place?

I’m sorry you’ve gotten bad information.

Isn’t knowledge of the sacrament of the marriage absolutely necessary for it to be a sacramental marriage?

No.

 

[Just_Lurking]

Here is a paper on why deacons should not be ministers of the sacrament of anointing the sick.

 

[Ignatius]

K, I need to rephrase: Are Holy Orders absolutely necessary to turn the bread & wine into the body & blood?

Yes.

Here is post with the requirement for faculties for each Sacrament:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=962866

 

[G_S]

Here is a paper on why deacons should not be ministers of the sacrament of anointing the sick.

The article states in the first paragraph that, “Deacons involved in hospital or military
chaplaincy or those with primary responsibility for the pastoral leadership of a parish in the
absence of a priest will most frequently and fervently argue for the necessity of deacons
being permitted to administer this sacrament.” As a deacon, I have not found this to be true. One time, at least twenty years ago, I heard a couple of deacons say they thought that they should be able to anoint the sick. I have not heard it since and it seems a bit unfair to imply that deacons in hospital ministry are frequently and fervently arguing for such permission. It seems that it is a non-issue. Now, there are deacons who wish they could be ordained as priests but, then, it wouldn’t be a matter of deacons anointing. The Charismatic movement used to employ a non-sacramental anointing which would be done even by lay people. This seems to have died out in our area. Deacons were cautioned to not do a non-sacramental anointing because the person being anointed might be deceived into thinking he or she had received the sacrament.

 

[GoGoDiego]

Priests are only allowed to preside the Eucharist. They are also ministers of Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick. Baptism and Marriage (part of it) can also be presided by both priests or deacons.

 

[Phemie]

Priests are only allowed to preside the Eucharist. They are also ministers of Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick. Baptism and Marriage (part of it) can also be presided by both priests or deacons.

Baptism can be conferred by the laity, even by a non-baptized person.

Marriage, at least in the Latin Rite, can be celebrated by a lay person. Because the Latin Rite theology is that, as long as both are baptized, the bride & groom confer the sacrament on each other, in some circumstances the bishop may appoint a lay person to prepare the couple and to witness a marriage because no priest or deacon is available. It’s also why the Church can grant a dispensation for a Catholic to marry outside the Catholic Church.

Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches have a different theology of marriage and their marriages MUST be conferred by a priest.

 

[Brendan]

Priests are only allowed to preside the Eucharist. They are also ministers of Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick. Baptism and Marriage (part of it) can also be presided by both priests or deacons.

See the above posts. A Deacon cannot validly confer the Anointing of the Sick. That requires a priest.

 

[bmonk]

Ministers of the seven sacraments:

1. Baptism. This does not require clergy; in fact even a non-baptized person can baptize, as long as they use the proper form and intend to do what the Church does.
2. Eucharist. This requires a priest to confect the elements of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Of course, once the sacrament is finished, anyone (with suitable status–at least an extraordinary minister of communion), clerical or lay, can distribute it to the faithful.
3. Confirmation. This is reserved to the Bishop ordinarily (in the Latin Rite), but when an adult receives the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist), the priest who presides at the Eucharist ordinary is delegated to confirm. However, in the Eastern Rites, where these sacraments of initiation are generally kept together, even for infants, the priest who baptizes also confirms, but using myron (chrism) blessed by the bishop.
4. Reconciliation. This is normally done by any priest, but there are some exceptions. Certain sins, suspensions, and excommunications are reserved to the local ordinary (generally a bishop), such as abortion–although in America, the bishops have delegated absolving this sin to any confessor–and some even reserved to the Holy See (such as physically attacking the pope, a bishop ordaining a bishop without papal approval, or a priest directly breaking the seal of confession). Also, because of the large number of pilgrims and special cases that are confessed in Rome, being a confessor in the diocese of Rome itself requires a special commission.

We might also note that, in Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Rites, there are non-ordained confessors who may hear confessions and give spiritual advice, but only a priest may grant absolution.

1. Anointing of the Sick. Requires a priest, both for the sacramental anointing itself, and for the possible reconciliation and absolution.
2. Marriage. Technically, the ministers of this sacrament are the couple themselves–in their vows and their committed life of intimacy together. That said, a valid marriage involving one or two Catholics requires either a suitable minister–usually the pastor (or bishop) of the place, or a cleric (deacon or priest) delegated by the pastor in question. In some cases, such as mission lands, a lay administrator may be delegated by the bishop for a certain area. With a proper dispensation, even the requirement of the Church’s minister may be removed, when a lay person (a Justice of the Peace, or a Protestant minister) may witness the marriage.

On the other hand, the Eastern Catholic Rites either all, or mostly all, require a priest to do the blessings, and so a priest is required to officiate at such marriages.

1. Ordination. This sacrament is reserved to bishops. Only a bishop can ordain a man as deacon, priest or bishop. And, to licitly ordain a bishop requires delegation from the Holy See.

So, while the typical cases are clear, most of the sacraments have provisos and special circumstances.

 

[bmonk]

Another interesting historical fact.

Martin Luther “retained” only two of the seven sacraments as biblical in origin: Baptism and Eucharist. In fact, the Catholic Church only recognizes two of the sacraments when performed by (most) Protestants: Baptism (which does not require a priest as such) and Marriage (which also does not require a priest). All the others are invalid, unless performed by a validly ordained minister, which rules out almost all Protestant ministers.

 

[Phemie]

1. Confirmation. This is reserved to the Bishop ordinarily (in the Latin Rite), but **when an adult receives the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist), the priest who presides at the Eucharist ordinary is delegated to confirm. **However, in the Eastern Rites, where these sacraments of initiation are generally kept together, even for infants, the priest who baptizes also confirms, but using myron (chrism) blessed by the bishop.

I don’t believe it’s by delegation in that case but rather by law.

There are three cases where the law grants the priest the faculty to confirm:
When he’s equivalent to the bishop – I’ve seen that when our diocese had no bishop for a while and a priest was administrator of the diocese.
When he baptizes a canonical adult.
When a non-confirmed is in danger of death, whether that be an infant or an adult.

Then there are cases where the bishop does indeed grant the priest the faculty to confirm. It has happened a few times in my parish. In one case the Confirmation would have had to be cancelled due to a snowstorm which prevented the bishop from flying in. In another case, a family had a vacation to England bought and paid for before the date for Confirmation was set. The bishop granted the pastor the faculty to confirm the young man when he returned from vacation.

 

[JRS_88]

We might also note that, in Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Rites, there are non-ordained confessors who may hear confessions and give spiritual advice, but only a priest may grant absolution.

I’ve never experienced, heard or read of “non-ordained confessors who may hear confessions and give spiritual advice” in the Eastern Catholic Churches and Orthodox Churches.
Do you mean spiritual directors/spiritual fathers, confessor-monks, confessor-nuns?

Thanks!