Maybe we should say that Father John Hardon was right. LOL!
It blows my mind that some cannot even accept Catholic definitions.
The Apostles were the first priests and the first Bishops.
Actually it proves that the spiritual blindness of Catholics will not even allow in a little light... I presented you with the greek, the original language of the inspired , infallible word of God...which PROVES God did not ordain a priesthood for the NT church ..There was no priesthood in the church until after 300 ad when the church.
The reason for this was clear.. The jewish priesthood was a type of Christ..scripture tells us there is no more sacrifice for sin after Christ..He paid it all
In the early church those leading the services were called "clerks"..not priests..
No where in the offices of the NT church is there a role for a priesthood.. The English word clergy derives from the same root as clerk and can be traced to the Latin clericus which derives from the Greek word kleros meaning a "lot" or "portion" or "office". The term Clerk in Holy Orders is still the technical title for certain Christian clergy, and its usage is prevalent in ecclesiastical and Canon Law. Holy Orders refer to any recipient of the Sacrament of Ordination, both the Major Orders (bishops, priests and deacons) and the now less known Minor Orders (Acolyte, Lector, Exorcist and Porter) who, save for certain reforms made at the Second Vatican Council in the Roman Catholic Church, were called clerics or Clerk, which is simply a shorter form of Cleric
Greg Dues has written Catholic Customs & Traditions, a popular guide (New London: Twenty Third Publications, 2007). On page 166 he states, "Priesthood as we know it in the Catholic church was unheard of during the first generation of Christianity, because at that time priesthood was still associated with animal sacrifices in both the Jewish and pagan religions."
"A clearly defined local leadership in the form of elders, or presbyteroi, became still more important when the original apostles and disciples of Jesus died. The chief elder in each community was often called the episkopos (Greek, 'overseer'). In English this came to be translated as 'bishop' (Latin, episcopus). Ordinarily he presided over the community's Eucharistic assembly."
"When the Eucharist came to be regarded as a sacrifice, the role of the bishop took on a priestly dimension. By the third century bishops were considered priests. Presbyters or elders sometimes substituted for the bishop at the Eucharist. By the end of the third century people all over were using the title 'priest' (hierus in Greek and sacerdos in Latin) for whoever presided at the Eucharist."
Can you not understand that your church defines terms to fit their theology, not the other way around