Folia Theologica et Canonica 7. 29/21 (2018)
Ius canonicum
IDONEITY FOR PRIESTHOOD IN THE EARLY CANONICAL DISCIPLINE... 303 (acolyte),12 exorcista (exorcist)13 14, lectorostiarius (janitor)15, and subdeacon, who assisted the deacon.16 We can follow the institutional development of these orders from the 2nd Century. The early Christian tradition clearly indicates that the Christian priesthood cannot be interpreted as some type of the Levitic priesthood with some new characteristic, because the office of the Christian priesthood was built on serving Jesus Christ, who is a priest and who is also a sacrifice. This mentioned function has been continued in the apostolic vocation, which has been distinguished later on into offices within the priesthood and each of them depends on the apostolic serving.17 Albert Vanhoye’s important comparison between the “antic priests” (i.e. based on the teaching and meaning of the Old Testament)18 and the “new priests” (i.e. based on that divine authority which builds on the foundation by Jesus Christ as priest)19 20 describes precisely this distinction. There is a long list of ancient requirements for priesthood, classified the impediments into two major category: moral defects (defectus morales) and physical defects (defectus corporales). The first contained: crime (crimen: grave sin or delict against the faith, chastity, life, good of relatives; but it meant also the person who was under public penance), blasphemy, rapine, theft, perjury, defect of sacraments, defect of virtue and morality in the teaching of the Church. The second listed: castration, offices of guardian or curator (and several other public offices), and slave.2" The Christian Church gave special stress to proper 12 Six acolytes were in Rome in the age of Pope Cornel (251-253). 13 See Cone. Laodicea, Can. 24: Quod non oporteat sacro ministerio deditos a presbyteris usque ad diaconos, et reliquum ecclesiasticum ordinem, id est usque ad subdiaconos, lectores, cantores, exorcistas et ostiarios, et ex numero continentium et monachorum, ingredi tabernas. Joannou, P. P. (ed.), Les Canons des Synodes Particuliers (Discipline générale antique, IVe-IXe s. 1/2), Grottaferrata 1962. 141. 14 See Traditio Apostolica, Can. 11: Lector (ávayvcóoxriq) instituetur (Ka6taxac0at) cum episcopus dabit ei librum, non autem imponetur manus super eum. Botte, B. (ed.), Hippolyte de Rome, La tradition apostolique. D’aprés les anciennes versions (Sources Chrétiennes 11), Paris 1968. 66. 15 See Constitutiones apostolicae, II. 26. 3: ‘Ottxoi yóp ópcov étcttv őt ápxtepeíq- őt 8é íepeTq t)|j.5)v öt jtpeaßtrcepot, Kai őt XeTxat ójitov őt vűv őicxkovoi Kai őt ávaytvóoKovxeq ügt v Kai őt á>8oi Kai őt TttAoopoí, ät őtctKOVot űpcov Kai ät XfiP®- Kai m ttapOévot Kai őt óptpavoi úpSv. Metzger, M. (ed.), Les constitutions apostoliques (Sources Chrétiennes 320), I. Paris 1985.237. 16 See Cone. Eliberitanum, Can. 30: Subdiaconos eos ordinari non debere qui in adolescentia sua fuerint moechati, eo quod postmodum per subreptionem ad altiorem gradum promoveantur: vel si qui sunt in praeteritum ordinati, amoveantur. Hefele, J. - Leclercq, H., Histoire des concils, 1/2. Paris 1907. 237. 17 Cf. Vanyó, L., Bevezetés az ókeresztény kor dogmatörténetébe, Budapest 1998. 112-115. 18 Vanhoye, A., Sacerdotes antiguos, sacerdotes nuevo. Segun el Nuevo Testamento, Salamanca 19927 35-54. 19 Vanhoye, A., Sacerdotes antiguos, sacerdotes nuevo, 103-122. 20 Kurtscheid, B., Historia, 66-73.
