...As St. Thomas Aquinas says, the proper task of the priest consists in being a mediator between God and men ...The Catholic faith teaches that the priest is another Christ, an alter Christus... The Catholic priest is also a minister, but he is first and foremost a priest because he has been empowered by Christ to offer the sacrifice of the Mass for the salvation of all... A Mass can be invalid for a number of reasons (we presuppose that the priest has been validly ordained): 1) because of a defect in the matter, for example, using sweet rolls instead of bread made only from wheat flour and water; 2) because of a defect in the form, for example, changing the words "This is my body" or "This is the cup of my blood" into something else; 3) because the priest positively excludes the intention to do what the Church does in offering Mass... Thus, Masses offered by heretical priests, by schismatics, by Catholic priests who are plagued by doubts or who have false ideas about the Real Presence or transubstantiation, can be and probably usually are valid Masses. They must of course use the correct words of consecration, use wheat bread and wine made from grapes... One becomes a priest through the power of Jesus Christ operating through the normal channels of his Church. Orders produce an ontological or real change in the one ordained. Once consecrated he is no longer a lay person and he is no longer exactly like non-priests. He has received a charism that consecrates him to continuing Christ's prophetic and sacramental ministry... Simply stated, the Catholic priest is another Christ. Through his ordination he has been granted the amazing gift of being a channel of divine grace for the eternal salvation of those he come into contact with -- both in his official ministry and in his personal life... He is a witness to transcendence both in what he is and what he does... The priest is an alter Christus, another Christ. Msgr. Josemaria Escriva put it this way: "What is the identity of the priest? It is the identity of Christ himself."... "By definition a priest is one who offers sacrifice. The Catholic Church teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice; it is, in a mystical sense, a re-presentation of the identical sacrifice that Jesus made of himself on the altar of the Cross on Calvary almost 2000 years ago...
Mozart also had a charism, and so does, apparently Bill Graham. Each had God given talents. To a certain extent, Dr. Graham is also “another Christ,” alike in this respect to St. Francis, who was never. In a sense each has. experienced an ontological change, been “born-again.” Our differences here have to be consided in the light on the essential difference between Catholicism and Protestanism, which is acceptance of the Church’s authority to confer charismatic powers. Let me come at this from a different angle: each candidate for the priesthood is understood to have received a call from God and the Church can do no more than confer on him the powers of Office to which he has been called. What we deny to Dr. Graham—like St. Francis— is not his call or even recognition of the bountiful fruits of his ministry but the powers of office. Like St. Francis he may be Christ-like, more so than many priests, but he has not the right to stand before the altar and bring Christ to us even more directly than by hearing the Word.
the priest is more than a man, closer to God than mere human beings.
Your repetitive cut and pastes do not address this issue. You have not shown me how a priest is "closer than a mere human being." In fact, you infer that the Catholic Church teaches that there are "human beings" and then priests. What are priests if they are not human beings? The Catholic Church teaches no such thing, notwithstanding your claims to the contrary. If you have a source proving that the Catholic Church teaches that priests are higher than mere human beings, then post it. Otherwise, your claims are either the speculation of the uninformed, or worse, intentional misrepresentations. I hope for your sake it is the former rather than the latter.
And please, in regards to your attempts to twist the words of father Baker into "Catholics believe a priest IS Jesus Christ," thank God Almighty that those reading this page are at least smart enough to read Fr. Baker's comments IN CONTEXT OF his discussion (of the holy sacrifice of the mass). Find me a Catholic theologian that writes that a priest in complete form and spirit IS Jesus Christ. Just one, and not some misquoted Jesuit. I won't hold my breath. Otherwise again, your claims of what the Catholic Church teaches is 100% bull.
And wasn't this a discussion about abuse of our children at the hands of the Protestants? I LOVE the spin and the attempt to keep this solely a Catholic issue when it clearly is not.