Saint Peter wrote, “You are a chosen race, un sacerdoce royal, une nation sainte, God’s own people” (1 Animal de compagnie. 2:9). It is true that all Christians share in the priesthood of Christ through Baptism, yet this common priesthood is to be distinguished from the ministerial priesthood. What Peter said to the faithful in the New Testament, En fait, was also said to Israel in the Old, “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). Within the priestly nation of Israel, cependant, existed a distinct, ministerial priesthood, the Levitical priesthood. It is the same for God’s people in the New Covenant. We, aussi, are a priestly nation; and within our ranks exists a special, sacramental priesthood charged with presiding over the Sacrifice of the Mass, our communal act of worship.
Our view of the Mass as a sacrifice sets Catholics apart from other Christians. At Mass the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is made sacramentally present to us on the altar through the Holy Eucharist. This does not mean Jesus dies again at Mass. Rather we are in effect transported back through time to the very moment of His death so that we might witness and participate in that saving sacrifice.
In the Gospels, the Apostles are given the authority to preside over the Eucharistic celebration. We see this in the account of Christ’s multiplication of the loaves and fish, an Eucharistic metaphor, in which the Lord commands the Apostles to feed the people (Mat. 14:16). More directly, at the Last Supper, in the midst of instituting the Eucharist, the Lord commands the Apostles, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luc 22:19). The Apostle Paul explained he was called “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offerings of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (ROM. 15:16). And elsewhere he wrote, “This is how one should regard us [c'est à dire., les Apôtres], as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries [c'est à dire., sacrements] of God. … For though you have countless guides in Christ, tu n'as pas beaucoup de pères. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15).
While the term “priest” may not have been widely used by Christians in apostolic times, likely to set their ministers apart from the priests of Israel (cf. ROM. 15:16, above), there is extensive evidence from the end of the first century forward of the term being applied to those who preside over the Eucharist. Writing in about the year 96 PUBLICITÉ., Par exemple, Pope Saint Clement clearly distinguished between the ministerial priesthood and the priesthood of the laity. “The high priest,” il a écrit, referring to Christ, “is given his duties: the priests [c'est à dire., bishops] are assigned their special place, while on the Levites [c'est à dire., deacons] particular tasks are imposed. The layman is bound by the layman’s code” (Letter of Clement to the Corinthians 40:1-5). As a matter of fact, this is the earliest recorded instance of the term “layman.”
Dans environ l'année 107, Saint Ignace, the Bishop of Antioch and a disciple of the Apostle John, écrit, “Good, aussi, are the priests; but the high priest [c'est à dire., Christ] is better, to whom was entrusted the holy of holies; and to him alone were entrusted the secret things of God” (Letter to the Philadelphians 9:1). He also counseled Christians to “follow the bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father. Suivre, aussi, le presbytère comme les apôtres; et respecte les diacres comme tu respecterais la loi de Dieu. Personne ne doit faire quoi que ce soit qui touche à l’Église sans l’approbation de l’évêque.. Vous devez considérer comme valable l'Eucharistie qui est célébrée soit par l'évêque, soit par quelqu'un qu'il autorise. [c'est à dire., un prêtre]. Où l'évêque est présent, là, que la congrégation se rassemble, tout comme là où se trouve Jésus-Christ, there is the Catholic Church” (Letter to the Smyrneans 8).