Minister (Catholic Church)

Main article: Catholic Church

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 enjoys a variety of usages. It most commonly refers to the person, whether lay or ordained, who is commissioned to perform some act on behalf of the Church. It is not a particular office or rank of clergy, as is the case in some other churches, but minister may be used as a collective term for vocational or professional pastoral leaders including clergy (bishops, deacons, priests) and non-clergy (theologians and lay ecclesial ministers). It is also used in reference to the canonical and liturgical administration of sacraments, as part of some offices, and with reference to the exercercise of the lay apostolate.

Minister is not used as a form of address (e.g., Minister Jones) in the Catholic Church.

Scripturally, various passages utilize the language of servant (ministri) to indicate those charged with spiritual functions or pastoral care of the community: 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; Hebrews 8:2; Matthew 20:26, etc.

Specific distinction in terminology may be found in various documents, among others: Participation of the Lay Faithful in the Presbyteral Ministry.

Lay ministers

In a general sense, any Christian exercising a ministry is a minister. Since all the baptised are part of the universal priesthood, whenever they engage in their vocation to evenagelize the world and to help those in need, they are ministers.

In addition, the Church calls people to the responsible stewardship of their time and talent in support of the Church. This often takes the form of volunteering for a specific lay ministry, most of which are liturgical, catechetical, or involved in pastoral care and social justice.

Liturgical lay ministries include lectors (Ministers of the Word) who proclaim scriptural (the Bible) passages during the Eucharist, altar servers and acolytes who assist the presider at the altar, cantors and music ministers who lead the singing, Eucharistic Ministers who serve communion during the Sunday Eucharist and/or who take communion to the sick and homebound, and ushers or ministers of hospitality who direct the seating and procession of the assembly.

Catechetical lay ministries include catechists (Sunday school teachers and teachers at Catholic schools), dismissal leaders (ministers who lead RCIA catechumens on Sundays), retreat leaders, youth group leaders, and Scout religious emblems counselors.

Other lay ministries include those who work with charitable activities, pastoral care and outreach, or advocacy for social justice.

Ecclesial ministers

Some persons within the church are called by God and the assembly to serve as ministers to the whole people of God. These people respond to this vocation by receiving the proper formation, usually including graduate studies in theology or divinity, and then exercising some leadership role in the community. In common usage, when someone refers to a "minister of the church" they are referring to any one of these "professional" ministers.

The Catholic Church identifies five ecclesial vocations, three of which are ordained. Theologians and lay ecclesial ministers are not necessarily ordained, while bishops, presbyters, and deacons are ordained. While only the later are considered clergy by the Catholic Church, all are considered ministers in the professional and vocational sense.

Sacramental ministers

The other kind of minister in Catholic parlance is a person who ministers a sacrament, meaning that he or she is a conduit of sacramental grace. This is not 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 (i.e. a valid sacrament) and the canonical authority to perform the sacrament (i.e. a licit sacrament). By way of example, a priest is the ordinary minister of the Eucharist. Yet, if a priest is, for some reason, debarred and still celebrates the Eucharist, he does so illicitly (i.e. against Canon Law) but the Eucharist is still valid. However, in terms of the sacraments of Catholic marriage and Reconciliation (the Sacrament of Penance), although the priest is the ordinary minister, he must have permission from the appropriate authority if he is to celebrate these sacraments validly

An extraordinary minister (Latin: minister extraordinarius) has the spiritual power but may only perform the sacrament in certain special instances under canon law. If an extraordinary minister performs a sacrament illicitly, the sacrament is effective but the person ministering could be liable for an ecclestiastical penalty, such as aninterdict. By way of example, an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist is authorised to bring Holy Communion within a particular parish or diocese. If a minister brings Holy Communion to someone outside of the authorised area, it is done illicitly, but the person still receives Holy Communion.

If a person who is not an ordinary minister attempts to celebrate certain sacraments it is considered to be 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.

Ministers of Sacraments in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church

Sacrament	Ordinary ministers	Extraordinary ministers
Baptism	clergy1	laity or an unbaptized person (illicit except in emergencies, but still valid))
Confirmation	bishop	priest (ivalid except in emergencies or with permission of the bishop e.g. as for adult confirmation)
Eucharist (consecration)²	bishop or priest	none; always invalid
Distribution of Holy Communion³	clergy	acolyte (licit when not enough or no clergy are available) other laity (legal when not enough or no clergy or acolytes available)
Reconciliation	bishop or priest	none; invalid if done by a layperson or by a priest without faculties (except in emergency).
Anointing of the Sick	bishop or priest	none; invalid if done by anyone else
Holy Matrimony	husband and wife with clergy as witness	husband and wife alone, or with specially deputized lay person as ecclesial witness. If there is no witness, the marriage is valid but must be regularised at a later date.
Holy Orders (bishop)4	a bishop acting as principle consecrator with two or more bishops as co-consecrators	fewer than three bishops; licit after permission of the Pope, but still valid without this permission.
Holy Orders (priest and deacon)	bishop	only a validly ordained bishop may ordain a priest or deacon; historically minor orders and subdiaconate were also conferred by (cardinal) priests and abbots with papal indult

Traditionalist Roman Catholics

In certain traditional-oriented Roman Catholic priestly societies following the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the practices of ordination as they existed until shortly after 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 these people are considered laymen). These are followed by ordination as a subdeacon, which is considered a "major order" due to the promise of celibacy taken during the ceremony, but conferral of which is not considered part of the sacrament of Holy Orders. Instead, ordination to the minor orders, including subdiaconate, is considered a sacramental.

In the rest of Latin branch of Catholicism, the minor orders were suppressed after 1973 and the institutions of lector and acolyte are received, following the reformed rites of Paul VI, and a person is made a "candidate." These latter ministries are not orders; they are received during seminary during the theological and pastoral 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.

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 including serving as judges on marriage tribunals.

Notes

1. Clergy means a bishop, priest, or deacon.
2. The Eucharist has two parts. The first is the Liturgy of the Word in which the Scriptures (Bible) are proclaimed, a homily may be given, and the General Intercessions offered.
3. The second part of the Eucharist is when the celebrant prays the Eucharistic Prayer, during which the bread and wine are changed, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into the Body and Blood of Christ (transubstantiation). This is followed by the distribution of the consecrated elements, which is commonly called "Holy Communion" by Catholics.