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"Scripture [...] sets before us Christ alone as mediator, atoning sacrifice, high priest, and intercessor."—Augsburg Confession Art. XXI. [1]. The priesthood of all believers is either the general Christian belief that all Christians form a common priesthood, or, alternatively, the specific Protestant belief that this universal priesthood precludes the ministerial priesthood (holy orders ...
Since 1970, the number of Catholic priests in the world has decreased by about 5,000, to 414,313 priests as of 2012. [16] but the worldwide Catholic population has nearly doubled, growing from 653.6 million in 1970 to 1.229 billion in 2012. [16] This has resulted in a worldwide shortage of Catholic priests.
Catholic belief is that the Church will never defect from the truth, and bases this on Jesus' telling Peter the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. [169] In the Gospel of John, Jesus states, I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. [170]
Jesus is understood to have inaugurated the Kingdom of God, which advances throughout history from the Ascension to the Last Judgment, cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 669-670. The advance of the Kingdom of God throughout history is interpreted in terms of the Augustinian concepts of the City of God and the City of Man.
A Catholic priest must be incardinated by his bishop or his major religious superior in order to engage in public ministry. Secular priests are incardinated into a diocese, whereas religious priests live the consecrated life and can work anywhere in the world that their specific community operates.
Icon of "Christ the Great High Priest", vested as a bishop, on a bishop's cathedra, blessing as a priest. Christ, whom believers draw near to in confidence, offered Himself as the sacrifice for humanity as High Priest. [19] Old Testament priests declared the will of God, gave the covenant of blessing, and directed the processing of sacrifices. [20]
The doctrine of the Trinity, considered the core of Christian theology by Trinitarians, is the result of continuous exploration by the church of the biblical data, thrashed out in debate and treatises, eventually formulated at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 in a way they believe is consistent with the biblical witness, and further refined in later councils and writings. [1]
The word presbyter etymologically derives from Greek πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros), the comparative form of πρέσβυς (presbys), "old man". [6] However, while the English word priest has presbyter as the etymological origin, [7] the distinctive Greek word (Greek ἱερεύς hiereus) for "priest" is never used for presbyteros/episkopos in the New Testament, except as being part of ...