{"id":82404,"date":"2011-06-18T10:08:14","date_gmt":"2011-06-18T08:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moldovacrestina.md\/was-there-sacramental-priesthood-in-the-church-of-the-apostles"},"modified":"2017-05-27T08:39:45","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T06:39:45","slug":"was-there-sacramental-priesthood-in-the-church-of-the-apostles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moldovacrestina.md\/en\/was-there-sacramental-priesthood-in-the-church-of-the-apostles\/","title":{"rendered":"Was there sacramental priesthood in the Church of the Apostles?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Question:<\/p>\n

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Some days ago I watched some video containing a debate concerning priesthood.<\/em> Tell me please, was there any sacramental priesthood in the early centuries and where is the practice of ordination taken from \u200b\u200b(they say that only they have the right to lead church services, to preach, etc.). What is the meaning of these things?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I would like to watch the debates on the priesthood to which you made reference. If, somehow there is a video on the Internet, please send me the link so I can watch it. To give an answer, we must first define \u2026<\/p>\n

What is sacramental priesthood?<\/h2>\n

This is not a biblical term, but is often used by Orthodox and Catholic Churches and therefore, we must see at the definitions that these churches give us. Sacrament is the name given to each of the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church. When the Orthodox Church uses this term regarding priesthood, it refers to the sacrament of the priesthood, as one of the seven sacraments of the Orthodox Church. Father Ioanichie Balan, giving an interview, gave the following definition:<\/p>\n

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Sacramental or sanctifying priesthood is one of the seven sacraments of the Church and the most important, because it fulfills them all, and without it no Sacrament is available.<\/em> As it was mentioned, this priesthood is established by the Savior Christ, the heavenly High Priest, on the day of His resurrection, through the breath of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, when He gave them power to forgive sins.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Religion textbook of the IVth grade gives the following definition:<\/p>\n

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Priesthood is the Holy Sacrament through which, those called by God, who are prepared to serve His Church through the laying of the hands of the high priest, receive the power to teach, to sanctify the believers by committing the Sacraments and to lead to salvation.<\/em> (Orthodox Christian education, textbooks for grade IV, page 43)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Based on these two definitions we can point out some important things believed and taught in the Orthodox Church on the sacramental priesthood:<\/p>\n