Everything about Catholic Minister totally explained
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Catholic minister redirects here. For other senses of the term used in various churches, see Catholic minister (disambiguation)
In the
Catholic Church the term
minister refers to the person whether lay or ordained who is commissioned to perform some work on behalf of the Church. The term
minister isn't commonly used to refer to a member of the
clergy nor as a common term of address. While this the longstanding Christian tradition, it's unlike the usage of the term in many
Protestant churches who developed its clerical meaning in order to avoid the use of term "priest." There are two principle kinds of ministers, the general and the sacramental. Specific distinction in terminology may be found in various documents, among others: Participation of the Lay Faithful in the Presbyteral Ministry.
General sense
A minister in the general sense performs any of a wide array of services in the church such as a Youth Minister or a Minister of Religious Education. In some parishes of the Catholic church in the
United States there are
ministers of hospitality,
music ministers, etc. There are also
lectors who read
scriptural passages to the congregation,
altar servers and
acolytes who assist the
clergy at the altar,
cantors who lead the singing, and ushers who direct the seating and procession of the congregation. These are all called
lay ministers or
liturgical ministers. They are
lay persons; they're not
ordained, nor is the word
minister used as a form of address in speaking to them. In the United States, and to a lesser extent in other countries, Catholic
deacons,
priests, and
bishops are sometimes called
ordained ministers
Sacramental sense
The other kind of
minister in Catholic parlance is a person who ministers a
sacrament, meaning that he or she's a conduit of the sacramental power. This isn't an office or position but instead a function that different kinds of people may perform, depending on the sacrament. There are two kinds of ministers in this sense. The
ordinary minister of a sacrament has both the spiritual power to perform the sacrament (for example a valid sacrament) and the legal authority to perform the sacrament (for example a licit sacrament). An
extraordinary minister (Latin: minister extraordinarius) has the spiritual power but may only perform the sacrament in certain special instances under
canon law (for example emergencies). If an extraordinary minister performs a sacrament illegally, the sacrament still happens but the person ministering could be liable for an ecclestiastical penalty, such as the
interdict. If a person who is neither an ordinary nor an extraordinary minister attempts to perform a sacrament, no preternatural effect happens, for example, the putative sacrament isn't merely illicit, but invalid).
Below is a table outlining each sacrament, its ordinary ministers, and its extraordinary ministers (if any), with stipulations regarding its exercise by extraordinary ministers in parenthesis.
Latin Rite of the Catholic Church>
| Sacrament |
Ordinary ministers |
Extraordinary ministers |
| Baptism |
clergy1 |
laity or an unbaptized person (illegal except in emergencies, but still valid) |
| Confirmation |
bishop |
priest (illegal except in emergencies or with permission of the bishop--as for adult confirmation--but still valid.) |
| Eucharist (consecration)² |
bishop or priest |
none; always invalid |
| Eucharist (communion)³ |
clergy |
acolyte (legal when not enough clergy are available)
other laity (legal when not enough clergy or acolytes) |
| Reconciliation |
bishop or priest |
none; always invalid |
| Anointing of the Sick |
bishop or priest |
none; always invalid |
| Holy Matrimony |
husband and wife with clergy as witness |
husband and wife without clergy, but specially deputized lay person as ecclesial witness |
| Holy Orders (bishop)4 |
three or more bishops |
fewer than three bishops; legal with permission of the Pope |
| Holy Orders (priest and deacon) |
bishop |
currently, always invalid; historically with papal indult |
In certain
Indult Catholic priestly societies, such as the
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the practices of ordination as they existed until the
Second Vatican Council are followed. These include a series of
minor orders to which men seeking the priesthood are ordained while in seminary.
Porters,
Lectors,
Exorcists, and
Acolytes are technically "instituted", and so are considered laymen. These are followed by ordination to as a
subdeacon, which is considered a "major order", but conferral of which isn't considered the sacrament of "holy orders". Instead, ordination to the minor orders, or to the subdiaconate, is considered a "
sacramental". In the rest of Catholicism, the minor orders of lector and acolyte are received, and a person is made a "candidate." These ministries are not orders; they're conferred during seminary, the theological education training to be a priest, followed by ordination for six months to one year as a
transitional deacon .
Permanent deacons are instituted in these minor orders before their diaconal ordination. Some laypersons of good character may act as ushers, porters, lectors, eucharistic ministers, cantors, or may teach the faith as catechists and may help advise the clergy or church courts, even acting as judges in marriage tribunals.
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