THE ORDER OF MELCHISEDECH

THE ORDER OF MELCHISEDECH
A Defence of the Catholic Priesthood
by Michael Davies
1979 AND 1993

Sacredos in æternum secundum Ordinem Melchisedech

CONTENTS:

Foreword
Author's Introduction
CHAPTER I: THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD
CHAPTER II: THE PROTESTANT POSITION
CHAPTER III: NEW IDEAS AND OLD MISTAKES
CHAPTER IV: ANGLICAN ORDERS------ABSOLUTELY NULL AND UTTERLY VOID
CHAPTER V: THE ANGLICAN-CATHOLICS
CHAPTER VI: AGREEMENT ON THE MINISTRY
CHAPTER VII: THE NEW CATHOLIC RITE OF ORDINATION
CHAPTER VIII: AN ANGLICAN RESPONSE
CHAPTER IX: TOWARDS A COMMON ORDINAL
CHAPTER X: BLURRING THE PRIESTHOOD
APPENDIX I: THE SUBSTANCE OF A SACRAMENT
APPENDIX II: MINISTERIAL INTENTION
APPENDIX III: PARTICIPATION OF PROTESTANT OBSERVERS IN COMPILATION OF NEW LITURGICAL TEXTS
APPENDIX IV: THE APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION
APPENDIX V: THE POWER TO CONFIRM AND ORDAIN
APPENDIX VI: PAPAL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO ANGLICAN ORDERS
APPENDIX VII: SACRIFICE AND PRIESTHOOD IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
APPENDIX VIII: ARCIC-----THE VATICAN RESPONSE
APPENDIX IX: THE REVISED ORDINAL OF 1989
APPENDIX X: THE INDEFECTIBILITY OF THE CHURCH
APPENDIX XI: THE FORM FOR THE ORDINATION OF A PRIEST
WORKS CITED
VIEW AN IMAGE OF ABRAHAM AND MELCHIZEDEK

Foreword

On 30 June 1968, pope Paul VI pronounced his Credo in which the doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass "celebrated by the priest in the Person of Christ in virtue of the power he received in the Sacrament of Order" was very clearly, unambiguously, and correctly expressed. Twelve days earlier, Pope Paul VI had signed the Apostolic Constitution in which he approved and imposed the new ritual of the ordination of deacon, priest, and bishop. In this book the author examines the new rite of ordination to the priesthood and exposes its differences with the former one used in the Roman rite for a number of centuries, enjoying the highest authority.

There can be no doubt of the validity of the New Rite but there are certain features which the author deplores. A number of prayers and ceremonies have been suppressed which, in the Old Rite, served clearly to express the most essential character and duty of priesthood: to offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass. This is a sign of a tendency which can be observed in other official liturgical innovations (not to mention illegal ones). It is a matter of great concern for many Catholics that this and similar things are done at a time when the sacrificial character of what is now commonly called the "celebration of the Eucharist" is questioned or even denied by many who do not leave the Catholic Church.

Mr. Davies gives an impressive exposition of the facts and the meaning he attaches to them in the light of Trent, the Pontifical letter Apostolicae Curae of Pope Leo XIII, other official documents, and also the Canterbury Declaration on Ministry and Ordination in the Anglican and Catholic Churches. He rightly rejects the latter completely as a totally ambiguous document.

This is a rich and scholarly book which should be in the hands of all who study post-conciliar developments in the official Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Christ.

J. P. M. van der Ploeg, D.P.
Nijmegen (Holland), 11 May 1978.

NOTE: Professor van der Ploeg is a Doctor and Master of Sacred Theology, Doctor of Sacred Scripture, Professor of Old Testament Studies in the Catholic University of Nijmegen, Holland, a Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Netherlands, and a leading authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Works Cited:
Some of the books referred to in the notes have been abbreviated as follows:
AMO Anglican Methodist Unity----I, The Ordinal
AOWF Anglican Orders----A Way Forward? E. Yarnold, S.J. (CTS, 1977).
CCAO The Catholic Church and Anglican Orders, F. Clark, S.J. (CTS 1962).
CCT Catechism of the Council of Trent, translated by McHugh and Callan (New York, 1934).
CD Catholic Dictionary, Addis and Arnold (London, 1928).
CDT A Catholic Dictionary of Theology, ed. J. Crehan, S.J. (London, 1962).
CGO Crammer's Godly Order, M. Davies (Angelus Press, Kansas City [to be reprinted in 1994]).
D Enchiridion Symbolorum Denzinger (31st edition).
ESR Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Reformation, F. Clark, S.J., (Oxford, 1967).
IAWA I Am With You Always, M. Davies (Neumann Press, 1986)
LPE Lay Presidency at the Eucharist?, T. Lloyd (Grove Books, 1977).
OIR The Ordinal and its Revision, P. Toon (Grove Books, 1974).
PAC The Popes and the Ordinal, A. Barnes (London, 1896).
PJC Pope John's Council, M. Davies (Angelus Press, Kansas City, 1992).
QAO The Question of Anglican Ordinations, E. Estcourt (London, 1873).
RMP The Reformation, the Mass, and the Priesthood, E. C. Messenger (2 vols., London, 1936).
TCC The Teaching of the Catholic Church, ed. G. Smith (London, 1956).
VAC A Vindication of the Bull "Apostolicae Curae", The Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops of the Province of Westminster (London, 1898).
WP Why Priests? H. Küng (London, 1972).

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