Do Roman Catholics KnOw

about the Universal Priesthood?

Universal priesthood (doctrine)

The universal priesthood or the priesthood of all believers is a Christian doctrine believed by various Protestant denominations to be derived from several passages of the New Testament. The exact meaning varies from denomination to denomination, but generally entails a doctrinal responsibility or right to preach and expound the Christian faith, and this is appointed to every member of the church. It first came to the public eye when Martin Luther and his followers wrote, preached, and sang about a priesthood of all believers. It is a foundational concept of Protestantism. While Martin Luther did not use the exact phrase "priesthood of all believers," he adduces a general priesthood in Christendom in his 1520 To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation in order to dismiss the medieval view that Christians

in the present life were to be divided into two classes: "spiritual" and "temporal." He put forward the doctrine that all baptized Christians are "priests" and "spiritual" in the sight of God: That the pope or bishop anoints, makes tonsures, ordains, consecrates, or dresses differently from the laity, may make a hypocrite or an idolatrous oil-painted icon, but it in no way makes a Christian or spiritual human being. In fact, we are all consecrated priests through Baptism, as St. Peter in 1 Peter 2[:9] says, "You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom," and Revelation [5:10], "Through your blood you have made us into priests and kings."[2]

Priesthood in non-Protestant traditions

Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and traditional Anglican Christians traditionally believe that 1 Peter 2:9 gives responsibility to all believers for the preservation and propagation of the Gospel and the Church, as distinct from the liturgical and sacramental roles of the ordained priesthood and consecrated episcopate (see Apostolic Succession). They and other Christians also see the ministerial priesthood as being necessary in accordance with the words of the eucharistic liturgy: "Do this in memory (anamnesis) of me" (Gospel of Luke 22:1920; First Corinthians 11:2325). The dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council specifically highlights the priesthood of all believers. It teaches that the Church's relationship with God is independent of whatever ordination people have received, as evidenced by the guidelines and rubrics for personal prayer when no priest is present. Such Churches have always taught implicitly that a Christian's personal relationship with God is independent of whatever ordination they have received.

Thus, the Catholic Church accepts the 'priesthood of all believers' doctrine it is
not the exclusive domain of Protestantism. This is exemplified in 'chaplet of divine mercy' prayer, in which the individual Christian declares: "Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins..."

The primary difference between the teachings of the Catholic Church and those of the (non-Anglican) Protestant churches that reject the ordained priesthood is that the Catholic Church believes in three different types of priests: 1. First, the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:59); 2. Second, the ordained priesthood (Acts 14:23, Romans 15:16, Titus 1:5); and 3. Third, the high priesthood of Jesus (Hebrews 3:1).[8][9]

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