Priesthood as a function

efinne1540

Nov 30

The leadership function is the key to today's priesthood. Without leadership ability it is hard to see how anyone can function as a priest. He must develop within the defined community in which he operates. Thus, we have a two-fold step, a leader personality is first developed. He is then invested with cultic leadership for a specific community. He exercises the function of a priest. He is not ordained to a state of priesthood, from which he is irremovable. No, he is ordained to exercise a leadership function. Thus, the non-functioning priest, not in a role of leadership, would stop being a priest. Just as the provincial has the position for six years, and then stops being a provincial, so priests would stop being priests when they left their specific positions. We would then ordain people when they would explicitly take upon themselves leadership responsibilities for a defined community. What would the concrete reality of something like this look like? Of all the requests that have come in for leaving the priesthood and religious life, no one, as far as I know, has asked to leave the priesthood, and remain a Servite. Part of this is due to the celibacy problem and the lack of value seen in community life. However, it should not be overlooked that the priest feels like he is in a state from which he has to be removed. The trend is to try to justify all types of work as priestly. Everything from garbage collecting to university teaching has been declared priestly because someone who is ordained a priest is doing it. There is a pretension here that must be eliminated. Let us quite frankly admit that these are not priestly activities, but are nevertheless consistent with community and celibate life. The best explanation of this theory is my own situation. I am usually listed as a priest doing graduate studies. There is nothing specifically priestly about my studies, even though they are in theology and liturgy. At the same time, I am a chaplain to a hundred families who live in five housing units nearby. In relation to them, I function as a priest. However, in relation to the rest of people that I live with during the week I am just another student in theology. The only exception is that at concelebrations, I am allowed to wear an alb and a stole, while some of the others are not yet ordained to do this. This whole way of thinking fits in with the often-heard complaint that I am not doing anything priestly. This is a real way of thinking. However, there needs to be a full acceptance of this. Thus, assistant pastors are not really fully functioning priests, since they do not exercise a real leadership role, except in their cultic roles. This is the problem among assistant pastors. Thus, I propose that people be allowed to drop out of the priesthood, if they wish, for a few years. Then they could be restored to the priesthood when they would exercise a priestly function again. This would resolve some of the frustration that hangs over priests. Perhaps they could function as deacons within the community in the interim. Should the priesthood be permanent?