Lesson 34
Who Can Be Ordained A Catholic Priest?
Welcome back to our Lenten Lessons on the Sacraments. Let’s continue with Holy Orders.
So who can be ordained a priest? Only a baptized man – that’s a male – validly receives sacred ordination. Why? Because that’s what Jesus did, and we have to do what He did. Recent Popes have stated that they do not have the power to change what Jesus did and taught, so the ordination of women is not possible. And that should not suggest that women are inferior to men, because clearly they are not. In the Church what matters most is to become a saint – that is the only thing that counts – and all have the same equal opportunity to become a saint.
Furthermore, no man has the right to receive Holy Orders. To be ordained a priest, three wills have to come together: his, God’s, and the bishop’s. It takes three. The man to be ordained must be celibate and intend to remain celibate for the rest of his life “for the sake of the kingdom of God.”
Accordingly, a young man requires at least five years of training and study in the seminary, and this time allows him and his formators to discern if this vocation suits him. The time in the seminary is for the study of philosophy, theology, liturgy, service to the community, homiletics and apologetics, and the growth in the interior life, which is the most important thing. A priest is called to be chaste and celibate, obedient to his bishop, and should live a simple life free from the distractions of a materialistic lifestyle.
The candidate has to be already confirmed and at least twenty-five years old, and there needs to be at least six months between ordination to the diaconate and ordination to the priesthood. The person to be ordained has to do it freely, and not be forced or coerced into ordination, and ordinarily he needs to sign documents in the presence of witnesses attesting to his freedom.
Because the Sacrament of Holy Orders is so vital for the life of the Church, there are certain impediments and irregularities that would disqualify a candidate from being ordained, and these are listed in the Code of Canon Law from 1983, canons 1040 to 1054. Only the Holy See can dispense from those impediments or irregularities, but the bigger ones are the sins of heresy, apostasy, schism, previously attempted invalid marriage, murder, abortion, and serious sins of self-harm. The Church needs men who are stable and pious and well educated, who aspire to be humble, holy, hard-working, healthy, and happy in their service to souls.
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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