Priesthood: Catholic Church and Priests

There was no job or social need that was not connected to the worship of some god: from farming to education, from the fine arts to hunting, from military

The ancient tabernacle of Moses was a sacred and holy place for the people of Israel. It served as a tool for the people to remember God and to look forward to their promised Messiah. The tabernacle was so integral to the lives of the Israelites that they even built the tabernacle in the center of their encampments during their journeys (Yom Kippur). The tabernacle also served many purposes for the Israelites in their rituals, ceremonies, and beliefs of their religion. Many practices that the ancient Israelites performed in and for the tabernacle anciently, may seem peculiar to the modern thought process or many beliefs today. The main focus of the tabernacle was the day of Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement. On this day, the Israelites would gather and watch as a high priest performed the rituals in the tabernacle that would rid the sins of the people of Israel. This day and ceremony was a very important aspect to Israelites’ beliefs and the tabernacle was the main tool for their ceremonies. The tabernacle and the day of Yom Kippur served many purposes in helping the Israelites to remember their God, learn from symbols, and to help them strive to obey their God’s commandments.

Valuable lessons learned about chaplains during this given time period is that the need to administer God in truth to all people provided a means of opportunity for the chaplaincy. When shortages of chaplains occurred, governments selected priests with no military affiliation. And for chaplains who stayed behind in their parishes, governments imposed special instructions as well. For example, Benedict the Levite insisted that clerics celebrate masses, carry out

main religions at the time. They did so by living in monasteries, in the monasteries help the less

The Priest was the leader in charge and everybody else worked around him. The service looked organized because everyone knew where they were supposed to be at a given time. During the service, the deacons would go around and swing the censer which was burning incense. The Altar boys would do things like hold the book as either the priest or one of the deacons read from it. They also carried candles at specific times such as when the deacon walked around and showed the Gospel.

During this time, the Church was everything- everyone believed in their teachings and would go by their rules- and so did

The role of the clergy, or priests rather was to administrate the Catholic Schools, encourage the funding of the schools and church. The Nunnery was used along with priests, called the Lay Teachers to teach the laity in the schools. These teachers were used as

Furthermore, The Protestant Reformation saw a major European movement that challenged the religious practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. With the rise of religion attracting many individuals, intellectuals began to challenge religious teachings and expose the corruption of the Church. Rather than offering salvation, the Church became corrupt and stingy for control, power, and money, in which German theologian Martin Luther, highlighted. Luther argued that people only achieve salvation by God through faith alone and criticized the use of indulgences, wealth, corruption, and other religious practices within the Catholic Church in his 95 Theses. For example, one of Luther’s theses says, “Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.” Luther believed papal authorities utilized the people to their own advantage in gaining wealth by fostering beliefs that indulgences relinquished sins. The immorality surrounding the Church made it unfair to people of all social groups who “devoted an enormous amount of their time and income to religious causes and foundations” – only finding themselves fooled into bribery (A History of Western Society 402). Luther’s arguments served a pivotal role in influencing others to fight for their own beliefs and redefine the meaning of religion. The common good of the people and their opinions mattered as Protestant thought grew. In the “big picture” of European

The secular clergy helped the public, secular people spiritually. The secular clergy gave out sacraments, provided spiritual assistance, and led prayers. More specifically, bishops did jobs such as wedding ceremonies, performing absolution, and hearing confessions. Priests went to church on Sundays, talked about saints and their lives, and hear confessions as

In 1998, more than 13 million children (19 percent of all children) under age eighteen lived in families with incomes below the official poverty threshold. Although children age eighteen and under represent 26 percent of the United States population, they comprise nearly 40 percent of the poverty population. Despite a steady decrease from 1993 (23%) to 1999 (17%) in the rate of children in poverty, the United States still ranks highest in childhood poverty among all industrialized nations.

When thinking of the figures in the church, they are thought to be loyal, respectful,

The only thing a woman could do to escape this harsh judgment was to either enter a nunnery or marry and serve a man. By doing this, she was serving two lords: God and her husband. To not serve a husband through consummation and not serve God by entering a nunnery, would be viewed as a complete rejection of God. Thus, women were not only restrained by the political standards enforced men, but also the consciousness of the Church that

The world has more than one billion Catholics and with the ever growing population, it will only get larger in number. To be a Catholic means to have complete faith in God and his divine grace. Having God's divine grace means to obey it and keep it holy as it was created by God and given to his people. The religion itself is based on this and the people take it very seriously. Catholics believe that all people are of good nature but when one commits a sin it not only hurts that one person but the people and the Church.

when they could not. The altar personalities (if there were any to begin with) were not

Their role is critical in terms of explaining and in some cases performing these rituals to members of their community. Historically, rank and file members could not read these sacred texts and therefore relied on a religious expert/leader to interpret and explain the context of these texts.