***We still maintain equivalent hierarchical rules
Oh, we still kiss the right hand (that holds the Eucharist) f or priests anbd bishops (and rightfully so), and deacons and alter boys do so every time a priests hands them something during the liturgy (as in TLM). There is a lot of hierarchical “authority” least of which is pure agape.***
:)
***However, many of the doctrines and traditions of the Church are arbitrary, based upon the best judgements of the hierarchs
Tell me about it! Fasting rules come to mind, which is not a prominent issue in the West, but a huge issue in the East (the Orthodox fast probably 180 days out of a year and from midnight until the Communion, like the Catholics used to). I could not, for the life of me, find anything on how the Church decided what is fasting and what is not. It’s not Biblical for sure, since the OT rules don’t apply. And not one bishop of archpriest (monsignor) would tell me “we made them up” for some good reason. That munch honesty is way too much to ask for.***
In many cases, the rationale is simply lost over time. The Church, just as it selected Scripture, came up with an arbitrary set of rules based on the Holy Spirit guiding it. But what those actual reasons were, in many cases, we will never know.
I certainly hope, for the sake of the Bible, that the Holy Spirit would have guided the Church, but for fasting rules, making eggs non-fasting and lobster fasting, I seriously doubt that!