What is the history of holy orders?

Answer 1

First Century: Charisms and Shared Leadership * Catholic church traces ordained ministry back to the Apostles, chosen by Jesus to follow him most closely and later to lead the community after he was gone * In Christian communities many types of ministry and leadership were present, some performed by both men and women * Specific duties fell to those who exhibited a particular charism (talent or gift) for that role * From the beginning, leadership in the Christian churches was a shared ministry * Those who held leadership positions in one local community shared their authority with the individual leaders or group of leaders of other communities Second to the Sixth Centuries: Changes in Roles and Power * Church leadership roles became more specialized * Ordination rites developed for each kind of ministry * Towards the end of this period, the orders of bishops and presbyters (priests) gained more prominence * The role of deacon was by and large absorbed into the functions of the presbyters * Power and authority of priests increased; Bishops delegated more and more responsibility to priests in order to keep up with the growing number of church communities Sixth Century to the Reformation: Class of the Clergy * Bishops and priests became more set apart from the rest of the church community due to the influence of monastic life * Some Christians felt drawn to living apart from society in caves, deserts, or in isolated communities called monasteries * Priests, like monks, dressed differently from other people and followed many of the spiritual practices and prayers of monasticism * By the end of the 12th century, being a priest meant membership in a separate class known collectively as the clergy * The sacraments became more and more the realm of the clergy, with the laity participating mostly as passive observers in public worship