The Catholic Ministry

The Apostolic Commission

The Apostles, whom Jesus had chosen to be his closest followers and friends, were the first people to look after the Church, and he gave them his own authority (i.e. the right and power) to act on his behalf as his personal representatives.  “As the Father has sent me”, he told them on Easter Day, “so I send you” (NRSV, John 20:21).  We call this their Apostolic Commission.

The three-fold Ministry: deacons, priests and bishops

At the very beginning, when the number of Christians in Jerusalem was small, the Apostles were able to look after them without any help.  But as the number grew, they appointed deacons to assist them.  Later on, as the Apostles set out on their missionary journeys and the Church spread far and wide, so they ordained men, first known as presbyters and later as priests, to look after the Church for them in each city or town.  Lastly the Apostles, acting on Our Lord’s behalf, appointed men called bishops to take their own place as Apostles when they had gone.  And Our Lord, through the Apostles, gave to these bishops the same authority to be his personal representatives as he had given to the Apostles themselves on Easter Day.

So it was that there were three ranks or orders of clergy: bishops, priests and deacons.  We call this the three-fold Ministry and it goes right back to the Apostles and through them to Jesus himself.

The Apostolic Church

One of the marks of the Church is that it is Apostolic.  The Apostolic Church means the Church which was first looked after and governed by the Apostles and which has now spread to all parts of the world.