In the ministry of priests there is a word used, that over the years as a seminarian and a priest, I have heard discussed and debated and quite often misused and misunderstood — the word power. ‘The power of the priest’ has been misrepresented and blatantly misused in Ireland down through the years so many times and in so many ways, quite often in ways that brought profound hurt, suffering and sorrow into people’s lives. The power given to the priest is dealt with in n.6 of Presbyterorum Ordinis. It begins as follows:
“Exercising the office of Christ, the Shepherd and Head, and according to their share of his authority, priests, in the name of the bishop, gather the family of God together as a brotherhood enlivened by one spirit. Through Christ they lead them in the Holy Spirit to God the Father. For the exercise of this ministry, as for the other priestly duties, spiritual power is conferred upon them for the building up of the Church. In the building up of the Church, priests must treat all with exceptional kindness in imitation of the lord”
The ‘power of the priest’ is a spiritual power that calls every priest to ‘gather the family of God together as a brotherhood enlivened by one spirit”. In living that call, the priest does so in the name of the bishop, sharing in the office of Christ as Shepherd and Head. A phrase that follows this is one that captures my attention because it has been misinterpreted in debate many times – “spiritual power is conferred upon them for the building up of the Church”. That is not to be seen solely as building up the hierarchical or institutional Church but the understanding of Church opened up by Vatican II as the people of God, “in building up of the Church, priests must treat all with exceptional kindness in imitation of the Lord.”