The Eucharistic Locus of the Presbyterate in Aquinas and Zizioulas: A Proposal for a Theology of the Priesthood

ABSTRACT:The contemporary revival of Eucharistic ecclesiology has occurred alongside a new understanding of the episcopacy as a distinct grade of holy orders. Both of these developments make possible a new synthetic understanding of the presbyterate, building on classical theological approaches to orders that incorporate both of these perspectives. In this essay, I will attempt to show how the theology of the presbyterate articulated by Thomas Aquinas might help supplement and be supplemented by that of John Zizioulas. The synthesis I propose has the merit of corresponding with much of the classical approach to orders, while advancing a new thesis on the Eucharistic role of the presbyterate that establishes a clearer connection between contemporary ecclesiology and the theology of holy orders.