Presbyterorum Ordinis

Presbyterorum ordinis, subtitled the "Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests", is one of the documents produced by the Second Vatican Council. On 7 December 1965, the document was promulgated by Pope Paul VI, after an approval vote of 2,390 to 4 among the assembled bishops. The title means "Order of Priests" in Latin. As is customary for such documents in the Catholic Church, it is taken from the first line of the decree (its incipit).

History Agitation among the Council Fathers for a separate and distinct conciliar decree on the priesthood began during the second session of the council (1963), in the course of the discussions about the drafts concerning the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen gentium).Bruskewitz, Fabian, "Priesthood is the 'Nerve Center of the Church's Whole Life and Mission'", National Catholic Reporter, October 27, 2015

Contents The decree opens with a reference to the Council's other documents which have already touched on the importance of the priestly ministry in the Church, before setting out its own purpose, "to treat of the subject of priests at greater length and with more depth". Its key questions are "What is a priest?" and "What is the priesthood?". The decree makes clear that priests, to "a lesser degree" than bishops, share in the ministry which Jesus Christ entrusted to his apostles and their successors.

The decree is concerned with "all priests" in the Catholic Church, but it needs to be read "with suitable adaptations being made for priests who are religious".

Its three chapters address in turn: "the priesthood in the ministry of the Church" "the ministry of priests", with sections concerned with their functions, relationships, and distribution "the life of priests": their striving for perfection and the assistance they can be given towards this aim.

Reception Presbyterorum ordinis has come to be one of the defining documents on the role and duties of the priesthood in the modern era."Presbyterorum Ordinis", Berkley Center, Georgetown University

The period that followed the promulgation of Presbyterorum ordinis was marked by a severe drop in the number of priestly vocations in the Western World. Church leaders argued age-old secularization was to blame and that it was not directly related to the documents of the council. Historians also pointed to the damage caused in 1968, by the sexual revolution, and the strong backlash over Humanae vitae. Yet, other authors asserted the drop in vocations was at least partly deliberate as part of an attempt to de-clericalize the Church and allow for a more pluralistic clergy. In 1995, according to the Congregation for the Clergy, in recent years, "despite various persistent difficulties, there is a positive quantitative and qualitative recovery which makes one hope for a priestly second spring".Congregation for the Clergy. "Priesthood: a greater love", International Symposium on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Promulgation of the Conciliar Decree, Presbyterorum Ordinis, October 1995

There was a related exodus from the priesthood, which began under Paul VI and continued during the papacy of John Paul II. In 2007, "La Civilta Cattolica" reported 69,063 priests left the ministry between 1964 and 2004; 11,213 later returned.Laicizing priests now easier for clergy congregation

In November 2015 Pope Francis addressed a conference sponsored by the Congregation for the Clergy marking the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the Vatican II decree. He told delegates attending the conference,

Presbyterorum Ordinis

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