Ordination and Typology. On the Historical Dynamics of Symbolic Representation

Abstract

The fact that the Catholic Church only admits men to ecclesiastical ordination is, inter alia, connected with its typological understanding of ordination: only a man can represent the man Jesus of Nazareth, in whom the divine Word became flesh. In this respect, we can conceive of the ordained ministry as the institutionalization of a typology. Typology, in turn, is a special form of symbolism. However, processes of symbolization and institutionalization do not occur by nature; they are rather the provisional results of complex negotiation processes. While the Church is currently deploring the general loss of an understanding of symbols, the French social philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis points out that symbolization is an integral part of human life. The sociologist Karl-Siegbert Rehberg describes institutionalization being the establishment of a symbolic order that always exercises power. Against this background, this paper expounds the typological understanding of ecclesiastical ordination and underlines its historical dynamics.