Priests (James 5:14)

[Jonathan95]

Hi, I've been reading about Apostolic succession and such recently. But I don't understand James 5:14

"Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." (James 5:14 DRA)

Notice the "priests" here is plural. As far as I know, Catholic churches only have one priest.

I've been googling, but sometimes I don't find answers. Sometimes it matters which search term one uses, but sometimes it's hard to know which term will give best results.

 

[Rhamiel]

Hi, I've been reading about Apostolic succession and such recently. But I don't understand James 5:14

"Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." (James 5:14 DRA)

Notice the "priests" here is plural. As far as I know, Catholic churches only have one priest.

I've been googling, but sometimes I don't find answers. Sometimes it matters which search term one uses, but sometimes it's hard to know which term will give best results.

the modern set up is that a Parish will only have one Pastor
with there being a priest shortage in most Western countries, this is about all you will have

but even when my dad was a kid, it was not uncommon for medium size parishes in New York to have 3 or 4 priests, a senior pastor, 1 or 2 assistant pastors, and maybe a priest in training.

so a parish can have more then one priest but only one Pastor

this is also the modern set up
Catholics do not pretend that all of the internal systems were the same back then
Christianity was a fledgling religion, we did not even have any church buildings, we just met in houses and catacombs back then

as we grew, and as political realities changed, how things have been run have changed

 

[Jonathan95]

the modern set up is that a Parish will only have one Pastor
with there being a priest shortage in most Western countries, this is about all you will have

but even when my dad was a kid, it was not uncommon for medium size parishes in New York to have 3 or 4 priests, a senior pastor, 1 or 2 assistant pastors, and maybe a priest in training.

so a parish can have more then one priest but only one Pastor

this is also the modern set up
Catholics do not pretend that all of the internal systems were the same back then
Christianity was a fledgling religion, we did not even have any church buildings, we just met in houses and catacombs back then

as we grew, and as political realities changed, how things have been run have changed

Ok thank you for the answer

 

[AMDG]

I too remember the times of two or more priests in a parish. I think it also must be remembered that, unlike the little Protestant church down the block, the Catholic Church is worldwide--joined together by the Bishops of the world to the Pope.

James 5:14 is referring to our Sacrament of Anointing (Sacrament of the Sick) wherein the ENTIRE Church prays for the one being Anointed.

 

[Rhamiel]

the Early Church had Bishops, sometimes called Elders in some translations of the Bible I think, Priests, and Deacons

now as the Church has grown, there have been more distinctions made

like when the new Pope was elected you might have heard the media talk about Cardinals?
a Cardinal is a Bishop who has the role of being a special advisor to the Pope and for the electing of a new Pope
so there is not really a difference between Cardinal and Bishop, the distinction is man made and has changed over the years and may change again

what has NOT changed is that from the very beginning of the Church there have been Bishops

same with priests and different roles among the priesthood
there have been priests from the beginning, but the differences between the different orders, the norms for Parish life and stuff like that have changed

 

[ebia]

the Early Church had Bishops, sometimes called Elders in some translations of the Bible I think, Priests, and Deacons

Priest is an anglicisation of presbyter - elder. Bishop is epsicopoi - overseer. (And deacon is diaconon, servant).
Although the NT doesn't seem to be consistent in thinking of those as three distinct things.

 

[Jonathan95]

the Early Church had Bishops, sometimes called Elders in some translations of the Bible I think, Priests, and Deacons

Elders can also refer to Priests: "This word (etymologically "elder", from presbyteros, presbyter) [...]" (CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Priest)

Also: Dictionary : ELDERS - Catholic Culture

Not sure I'm permitted to quote from it, so I only gave the link.

Thank you for your answers.

 

[Rhamiel]

ahaha thank you, I seem to have got the two mixed up, my mistake