The Sacrament of Confirmation and the Common Priesthood of Believers: The Study of the Relation with Regard to the Specific Context of the Czech and Slovak Churches

Abstract

The article asks a question about the link between the comprehension of believers of their common priesthood and the authentic place of confirmation within Christian initiation, enabling one to participate in the tria munera Christi. First of all, the author explains the role of the term, ‘common priesthood’ in the theology of the sacrament of confirmation and its origin in Christ, the only perfect High priest of the New Testament and in the priestly nature of his body, the Church as it is presented by the universal magisterial documents since the Second Vatican Council. This reality is manifested in unity and order of the Christian initiation. A following part describes how this feature has not been included in the Czech and Slovak instructions and episcopal documents and explores a local praxis. The unity of the three sacraments is understood in a superficial manner, and their order is underestimated or doubted in this area; however, pastoral needs and a link between confirmation and the age of adolescence is determining. In consequence, the faithful cannot perceive the signs referring to the reality of common priesthood and the effects of confirmation are reduced. The last part tries to answer the question what can be done to renew the authentic place of confirmation in local communities in order to enable believers to grasp their participation on Christ’s threefold office in a better way.

Keywords

• common priesthood
• universal priesthood
• sacraments
• confirmation
• initiation
• magisterium
• the second vatican council