Lesson 5

Who is the Minister of the Sacraments?

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When Jesus appeared to the Apostles in the Upper Room the night of the Resurrection, he breathed the Holy Spirit upon them and said, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain are retained”. (JN 20:23) At that moment He instituted the Sacrament of Confession, but he also established that the Sacraments have a minister and a recipient.  The only Sacrament where the minister can also be the recipient is the Holy Eucharist.  A priest could celebrate a private Mass and receive the Holy Eucharist. All the other sacraments need a Minister and a recipient.

So, if a person must be baptized to receive the Sacraments, who are the ministers?  It depends in each case, but in general the Minister of the Sacrament must be another person, and another person who is a baptized practicing Catholic, except in the case of an emergency baptism, but more about that in a subsequent lesson.

In general, the Minister of the Sacraments is a Priest, a Bishop, or a Deacon. Deacons can administer Baptism and can be the official witness of a Marriage as well as a Minister of the Holy Eucharist for Communion and visits to the Sick.  Priests can administer all the Sacraments except Holy Orders.  And Bishops can administer all the Sacraments, but only Bishops can administer Holy Orders.  Normally the Bishop is the Minister of Confirmation, but in special cases, the Pastor of the Parish can be the Minister of Confirmation.

To licitly administer a Sacrament, a Minister has to be in Good Standing with the Church and have “faculties” from the local bishop.  Today, if a priest is invited to celebrate a Sacrament in another Catholic Church outside of his diocese, he has to submit a “Letter of Suitability” from his Bishop to the Bishop of the Diocese he will be visiting, and that can get complicated.  However, in an emergency, such as “danger of death”, any validly ordained minister – priest, deacon, or bishop – even if they were excommunicated or had lost their faculties – can administer the Sacraments which are necessary for salvation, such as Baptism or Confession.

So tune in every day of Lent to learn more about your Catholic faith, because if you Learn it, then you can Live it; and if you Live it, you will Love it; and if you Love it, you will never Leave it!

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