Understanding the Religious Priesthood: History, Controversy, Theology by Christian Raab

Abstract

Reviewed by: Understanding the Religious Priesthood: History, Controversy, Theology by Christian Raab Rev. Matthew Hovde CSC Understanding the Religious Priesthood: History, Controversy, Theology. By Christian Raab, OSB. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2021. Pp. xxv + 337. $34.95. Fr. Christian Raab, OSB provides a thorough examination of a lacuna in understanding the religious priesthood: the Second Vatican Council's presentation of the priesthood and the consecrated life as distinct elements without any substantial treatment of their intersection. R. effectively demonstrates the problem that this presents for a cohesive theology of the religious priesthood in a compelling and accurate manner, providing a successful response to the questions raised regarding the identity and mission of the religious priesthood, as well as the inherent tension between these two vocations without sacrificing their internal authenticity (13). He argues that the religious priesthood is done a disservice when reduced to being understood as a mere amalgamation of its composite elements, and suggests a helpful approach for allowing the reader to consider this distinctive vocation. The introduction of von Balthasar to this inquiry is a remarkably adept one and serves the reader well. Through his inclusion of von Balthasar, R. is able to encourage the reader to consider the paradigms that are proper to the distinct vocations of the priesthood and the religious life as overlapping one another rather than competing, a move essential to his argument for a robust and cohesive theology of the religious priesthood. As R. navigates the difficulties in contemporary theology of the religious priesthood, he continuously engages the primary sources and appropriate secondary literature that balances and nuances his own position. He regularly dialogues with authors who support his position, as well as those who present legitimate challenges that he is responsible to address. His text presents these challenges as meaningful, important, and legitimate, which augments his own solution as overcoming real difficulties and questions. R. leads the reader to appreciate the paradigms of the Johannine and Pauline priesthoods that are offered as types for the religious priesthood, balancing the Petrine paradigm presented in the Second Vatican Counsel's vision of the priesthood, which R. argues is over-reliant upon the diocesan [End Page 283] priesthood. These two added paradigms advance the conversation on the religious priesthood toward having an internal cohesion to the religious priesthood as authentic expressions of the priesthood as well as authentic manifestations of the religious life without compromising the mission or the identity of either. The introduction of a wider spectrum of paradigms for priesthood helps to not only crystalize the uniqueness of the religious priesthood, but assists in understanding the diocesan priesthood and non-ordained consecrated life more deeply in seeing how the religious priesthood distinctively relates to both of these fundamental realities. R.'s book is so successful due to his keen attention to the overarching problem that is being addressed and a relentless effort to demonstrate how thoroughly each of his points continues to address the fundamental question at hand. Readers will never wonder what R. is trying to accomplish; his focus assists the reader in navigating through the historical and ecclesiological considerations while maintaining a singular focus on explaining the challenges in understanding the religious priesthood and the solution R. is working to present. Rather than presenting the reader with a myopic solution, R. convincingly suggests a number of important facets that are critical to the religious priesthood. He does not argue for a monolithic conclusion to the conversation, but contributes to it by identifying a number of critical dimensions that are constitutive of the religious priesthood and cannot be ignored. The suggested broad characteristics serve to incorporate the fullness of the religious priesthood into their scope, while distinguishing this diverse vocation from others: that is, R. presents a sufficient answer to the issues identified in the opening remarks of the book. This volume is certainly suitable for academic theology due to its scientific integrity and merit. It engages questions of missiology, ecclesiology, and post-conciliar theology in ways appropriate to researchers and scholars. It is also highly recommended as a resource for those in formation work or in leadership over religious priests. The critical importance of the questions...