C
chief714
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Just curious since I’m a little new to the faith. When did an acolyte first come into service? Is it truly an important roll? Any info you can give would be great.
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A
Aelred_Minor
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An acolyte, historically, was a member of one of the minor orders, the highest of the minor orders in fact (not counting the subdeaconate, which in the Western Church was a major order though not a level of the Sacrament of Holy Orders).
oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Minor_Orders
oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Acolyte
In 1972, Pope Paul VI suppressed two of the minor orders in the Latin Rite Church (porters and exorcists) and reduced the other two (lectors, sometimes translated “readers,” and acolytes) to non-clerical ministries. The subdeaconate was also suppressed in the Latin Rite Church, and its duties divided between the lectors and acolytes.
ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/p6minors.htm
Despite being laypeople now rather than clergy, Church law still requires that lectors and acolytes be male. Because of this, in most places it’s still only seminarians who are installed into these ministries, though theoretically this is not a universal requirement and it does not seem, from my reading, to be Paul VI’s original intention.
A slightly different set of minor orders still exists for Eastern Catholics, including the subdeaconate which in Eastern Christianity is considered a minor order instead of major. Furthermore, certain organizations within the Latin Rite Church (like the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, I believe) have obtained permission from the Holy See to confer minor orders and the subdeaconate on their seminarians, and so technically there are two kinds of acolytes in the Latin Rite Church, the majority who are not technically clerics and a minority who are.
Ordinarily, the liturgical roles of acolytes are filled by the alter servers (male or female) at a typical mass, similar to how the liturgical role of lectors is filled by deputized laypeople (male or female) who are often, confusingly, generally called “lectors” despite not being formally installed in the ministry of Lector.
One aspect of being a formally installed acolyte that does not transfer to alter servers is that they are specially singled out by Church law to be Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion if the need arises. The only ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are, of course, the bishops, priests, and deacons. But if need arises an acolyte may also distribute communion, or if the role can’t be filled even by the acolytes (which would usually be the case, since typically you have to search really hard to find an acolyte in the Church) even by another layperson.
oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Minor_Orders
oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Acolyte
In 1972, Pope Paul VI suppressed two of the minor orders in the Latin Rite Church (porters and exorcists) and reduced the other two (lectors, sometimes translated “readers,” and acolytes) to non-clerical ministries. The subdeaconate was also suppressed in the Latin Rite Church, and its duties divided between the lectors and acolytes.
ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/p6minors.htm
Despite being laypeople now rather than clergy, Church law still requires that lectors and acolytes be male. Because of this, in most places it’s still only seminarians who are installed into these ministries, though theoretically this is not a universal requirement and it does not seem, from my reading, to be Paul VI’s original intention.
A slightly different set of minor orders still exists for Eastern Catholics, including the subdeaconate which in Eastern Christianity is considered a minor order instead of major. Furthermore, certain organizations within the Latin Rite Church (like the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, I believe) have obtained permission from the Holy See to confer minor orders and the subdeaconate on their seminarians, and so technically there are two kinds of acolytes in the Latin Rite Church, the majority who are not technically clerics and a minority who are.
Ordinarily, the liturgical roles of acolytes are filled by the alter servers (male or female) at a typical mass, similar to how the liturgical role of lectors is filled by deputized laypeople (male or female) who are often, confusingly, generally called “lectors” despite not being formally installed in the ministry of Lector.
One aspect of being a formally installed acolyte that does not transfer to alter servers is that they are specially singled out by Church law to be Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion if the need arises. The only ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are, of course, the bishops, priests, and deacons. But if need arises an acolyte may also distribute communion, or if the role can’t be filled even by the acolytes (which would usually be the case, since typically you have to search really hard to find an acolyte in the Church) even by another layperson.
F
fermat
Guest
This should help:
newadvent.org/cathen/01106a.htm
newadvent.org/cathen/01106a.htm
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