2.8 Kush është Nunci?

Lyerja e Shpirtit e shënon meshtarin me një karakter shpirtëror të pashlyeshëm, e bën t’i përngjajë Krishtit prift dhe e aftëson të veprojë në emër të Krishtit-Krye. Duke qenë bashkëpunëtor i Urdhrit Ipeshkvnor, ai shugurohet për të kumtuar Ungjillin, për të kremtuar kultin hyjnor, sidomos Eukaristinë, prej së cilës merr fuqinë shërbesa e tij, dhe për të qenë Bari i besimtarëve. [KKKP 328]

Për secilën prej shkallëve, Sakramenti i Urdhrit jepet nëpërmjet “shtrirjes së duarve” mbi kryet e të shuguruarit prej Ipeshkvit, i cili thotë edhe lutjen shuguruese solemne. Me këtë veprim Ipeshkvi kërkon prej Hyjit për të shuguruarin zbritjen e veçantë të Shpirtit Shenjt dhe të dhuratave të Tij për të mirën  e mbarështimit. [KKKP 331]

U takon Ipeshkvijve, vlefshmërisht të shuguruar, si pasardhës të Apostujve, dhënia e tri shkallëve të Sakramentit të Urdhrit të Shenjtë. [KKKP 332]

Këtë Sakrament mund ta marrë në mënyrë të vlefshme vetëm i pagëzuari i gjinisë mashkullore: Kisha e sheh veten të lidhur me këtë zgjedhje të kryer prej vetë Zotit. Askush nuk mund të kërkojë me ngulm ta marrë Sakramentin e Urdhrit, por duhet të konsiderohet i përshtatshëm për këtë shërbim prej autoritetit të Kishës. [KKKP 333]

Për episkopatin kërkohet gjithnjë celibate. Për presbiteratin, në Kishën e ritit latin, zakonisht zgjidhen njerëz besimtarë që jetojnë në celibate dhe që kanë ndërmend ta ruajnë celibatin për “mbretërinë e qiejve” (Mt 19, 12); në Kishat lindore nuk lejohet martesa pas marrjes së Urdhrit të Shenjtë. Diakonatin e përhershëm mund ta marrin edhe burrat e martuar. [KKKP 334]

The sacrament of Holy Orders has three degrees: bishop (episcopate), priest (presbyterate), deacon (diaconate). [Youcat 251]

In episcopal ordination the fullness of the sacrament  of Holy Orders is conferred upon a priest. He is ordained a successor of the apostles and enters the college of bishops. Together with the other bishops and the pope, he is from now on responsible for the entire Church. In particular the Church appoints him to the offices of teaching, sanctifying, and governing.

The episcopal ministry is the real pastoral ministry in the Church, for it goes back to the original witnesses to Jesus, the apostles, and continues the pastoral ministry of the apostles that was instituted by Christ. The pope, too, is a bishop, but the first among them and the head of the college. [Youcat 252]

A Catholic Christian feels that he is under an obligation to his bishop; the bishop is appointed for him, too, as Christ’s representative. Moreover, the bishop, who exercises his pastoral ministry together with priests and deacons as his ordained assistants, is the visible principle and the foundation of the local Church (diocese). [Youcat 253]

In priestly ordination the bishop calls down  God’s power upon the candidates for ordination. It imprints upon the souls of these men an indelible seal that can never be lost. As a collaborator with his bishop, the priest will proclaim the word of God, administer the sacraments, and, above all, celebrate the Holy Eucharist.

During the celebration of a holy Mass, the actual ordination of priests begins when the candidates are called by name. After the bishop’s homily, the future priest promises obedience to the bishop and his successors. The actual ordination takes place through the imposition of the bishop’s hands and his prayer. [Youcat 254]

In diaconal ordination the candidate is appointed to a special service within the sacrament of Holy Orders. For he represents Christ as the one who came, “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28). In the liturgy of ordination we read: “As a minister of the word, of the altar, and of charity, [the deacon] will make himself a servant to all.”

The original model of the deacon is the martyr St. Stephen. When the apostles in the original Church of Jerusalem saw that they were overwhelmed by their many charitable duties, they appointed seven men “to serve tables”, whom they then ordained. The first mentioned is Stephen: “full of grace and power”, he accomplished much for the new faith and for the poor in the Christian community. Over the centuries the diaconate became merely a degree of Holy Orders on the way to the presbyterate, but today it is once again an independent vocation for both celibates and married men. On the one hand, this is supposed to reemphasize service as a characteristic of the Church; on the other hand, it helps the priests, as in the early Church, by establishing an order of ministers who take on particular pastoral and social duties of the Church. Diaconal ordination, too, makes a lifelong, irrevocable mark on the ordained man. [Youcat 255]