Topic:  Are all Christians saints and priests?

Source of this posting: Moderator response

Date originally posted: December 1, 2003

Moderator who originally posted this source: Father Phillip

Question:   Do the Catholics believe that all Christians are saints and priests? And if not, why?. thank you C.J.

Answer: 

Yes, of course, Catholics believe that all Christians are saints and priests. In fact, we have believed those truths before any other group of Christians did -- since we've been around for a very, very long time!

As you know, words can have more than one meaning. "Lord" can refer to Jesus, but that exact same word -- especially in England -- can refer to somebody who has inherited an aristocratic title. And we don't think that an English "Lord" is the same thing as our "Lord" Jesus Christ! We know that the same word can refer to two very different realities.

In a similar kind of way, we would say that the words you ask about "saints" and "priests" refer to different-but-related realities in Catholic belief.

Saints, according to Catholic belief, are all people who try in the very best, most faithful way they know to respond to the call of God's Holy Spirit in their lives. More specifically, Catholics believe that baptized Christians are "saints" in the way that Saint Paul tends to refer to us -- as being incorporated or grafted into the Body of Christ. And most specifically, we Catholics use the word "saint" to refer to a smaller group of Christians who, through the prayerful reflection of the Church, have been recognized as having received from God the ultimate glory of being allowed to live for eternity in heaven with the Lord! Same word, different-but-related meanings.

Similarly, "priests" is a word that, for Catholics, has several meanings. "Priests" can refer to pagan holy persons. "Priests" does refer to the men in the Hebrew Bible who inherited their office and who offered sacrifices of blood in the Temple in Jerusalem. (The Old Testament also has another one or two uses of the word "priest" -- Melchizedek is referred to as a priest of God Most High, for instance.) And Catholics believe that when a Christian is baptized he or she is given the dignity of sharing in the royal priesthood of Christ our Savior. Catholics also believe that God calls certain members of the Christian community to a special office which they receive through the laying on of hands by a Bishop; those "priests" have a number of responsibilities. The most important of those, according to the Church's teaching, is "preaching the Word" along with celebrating the Sacraments. Again: same word different meanings.

Hope this helps to clear some things up for you.

Blessings to you and all those you love!
Father Phillip