Why are priests important?

Answer 1

The ordained priesthood in the Catholic Church is indispensable as it was established by Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ. Each and every priest stands as "another Christ" and is the authorized mediator who offers a true sacrifice in acknowledgment of God's supreme dominion over human beings and in expiation for their sins. Christ is the first, last, and greatest priest of the New Law. He is the eternal high priest who offered himself once and for all on the Cross, a victim of infinite value, and he continually renews that sacrifice on the altar through the ministry of the Church's priests. - extracted from A Modern Catholic Dictionary by Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

Answer 2

because if they weren't around in the 11th century no one would have been educated and now because people go to church and if priests weren't around then there would be no such thing as Christianity.

Answer 3

In Israel where Jesus was born, God, through Moses set up the tribe of Levi to be the priestly line. Moses' brother, Aaron was the first High Priest and it was from his line that the priest were chosen. The other Levites had other duties in and around the temple. When Israel entered the Promised Land and the tribes moved to different locations there were priests and other Levites to serve them. The priest would offer animal sacrifices to God from the people, and a host of other duties like burning incense on the Alter, changing the show bread, trim the lamps, bless the people, inspect unclean people, especially the lepers. ETC. The Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament explains much of this.

Answer 4

In Exodus, the priest role is defined as a leader. In today's society a system of government is independent of any religion but in Jesus' time, priests were also politicians because government and religion were co-dependent. If one was a priest, one could also be part of the government. This pattern was already a couple of thousand years old when Jesus was on the scene, so it never occurred to anyone that things should be different. Many European cultures were based on this principle. Constantine set the mold for Western culture when he declared himself head of the Roman Catholic Church. There was no separation of church and state and throughout the Middle Ages it was assumed that any monarch was also a "high priest" as it were, with their individual allegiance pledged to the Papacy. Atrocities and abuses were rampant with this system and the idea of religious freedom started growing during the 1500's. The integration of religion and government was successfully broken by the American Revolution when it was decided that there would be no State religion thereby assuring religious freedom.

Answer 5

The ordained priesthood in the Catholic Church is indispensable as it was established by Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ. Each and every priest stands as "another Christ" and is the authorized mediator who offers a true sacrifice in acknowledgment of God's supreme dominion over human beings and in expiation for their sins. Christ is the first, last, and greatest priest of the New Law. He is the eternal high priest who offered himself once and for all on the Cross, a victim of infinite value, and he continually renews that sacrifice on the altar through the ministry of the Church's priests. - extracted from A Modern Catholic Dictionary by Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

Answer 6

it was important because the priest is like a servant to the gods.