Minister of a Sacrament

Authority level: Dogma
Disciplinary status: Church discipline
Theological status: Theological synthesis
This article contains claims at more than one doctrinal grade. The summary shows the highest represented grade.
GuideThe sacramental realities described here rest on revealed doctrine and authoritative teaching; their celebration and canonical effects include ecclesiastical discipline, while precise explanation involves sacramental theology.
Contents

Minister of a Sacrament is the person authorized and capable of serving as Christ's human instrument in the celebration or administration of a particular sacrament.[1]

Christ the principal minister

Christ is the principal agent in every sacrament. A human minister acts as his instrument within the Church and must use the essential sign, possess the requisite intention, and observe the competence given by sacramental order and ecclesiastical law. Ministry is therefore a received service, not personal ownership of sacred power.[2]

The personal sin of a valid minister does not by itself invalidate a sacrament, because its efficacy comes from Christ. Nevertheless, ministers are bound to celebrate worthily and lawfully. Depending on the sacrament, jurisdiction or a faculty can be required in addition to sacred ordination; for example, a priest ordinarily needs the faculty to absolve validly.[3]

Ministers of the seven sacraments

Bishops, priests, and deacons are ordinary ministers of Baptism, while in necessity anyone with the right intention can baptize. A bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation in the Latin Church, and a priest confers it validly when the law or competent authority grants the faculty. Only a validly ordained priest or bishop can consecrate the Eucharist. Only a priest or bishop can absolve sins or anoint the sick, and a bishop is the minister of sacred ordination.[4]

In the Latin tradition the spouses, by exchanging consent before the Church, confer Matrimony upon each other as ministers of Christ's grace. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the priestly blessing is necessary and the priest or bishop is described as the minister of Crowning. These differences must be stated according to each Church's sacramental theology and law, not collapsed into one discipline.[5][6]

Ordinary and extraordinary ministry

Ordinary and extraordinary are canonical terms, not judgments about devotion or dignity. A bishop, priest, or deacon is an ordinary minister of Holy Communion; an instituted acolyte and, when genuine need requires, another deputed member of the faithful can serve as an extraordinary minister under the law. An extraordinary minister distributes the consecrated species but does not consecrate the Eucharist.

No general claim that anyone may minister because all the baptized share Christ's priesthood is Catholic sacramental doctrine. The common priesthood and ministerial priesthood are ordered to one another but differ essentially. Each person should perform all and only the liturgical parts that belong to his or her office.

References

  1. 1.Code of Canon Law, canons 959–997 — The celebration and reception of the sacrament of Penance
  2. 2.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1117–1121 — The Church's sacramental ministry and the ordained minister's apostolic bond
  3. 3.Code of Canon Law, canons 998–1054 — Ministers of Anointing of the Sick and Holy Orders
  4. 4.Code of Canon Law, canons 879–958 — Ministers of Confirmation and the Eucharist
  5. 5.Code of Canon Law, canons 834–878 — General sacramental discipline and the sacrament of Baptism
  6. 6.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1621–1624 — The ministers of Matrimony in Latin and Eastern Catholic traditions