In Part II, we said that popes are stewards, not special priests! A presbyter (elder) is a senior (the same as the elders now at cathedrals, churches who take care of everything necessary for the performance of church services, take care of the church… – ordinary technical ministry of a steward!!!). The Divine Liturgy (the service of God to man – so in the Church, and in pagans: people serve God – see Part II) is performed by Jesus Christ Himself by the Holy Spirit!!! In the Church, there is only one priest – Christ (He did not transfer this ministry to anyone (and who can perform it except the Holy Spirit?!) – He performs it Himself!!!)!
We will not repeat what we said in Part II about the presbyteral (episcopal) ministry (what it is for and why it is in the church). But we will say something for the sake of “proving” the theorem. We talked about the presbyteral ministry, taking as an analogy the ministry of the
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. And now let’s take another analogy (we do not forget that analogy is by no means proof; but since we have already proven the theorem, we can use analogies in other ways of proving the same theorem, with the help of which we try to give at least some elementary understanding of the subject we are talking about. But, to be truthful, it must be said that the language of Orthodox theology is apophatic, that is, analogous: using the visible, we speak about the invisible, using the created – about the uncreated, using the experience of this age – about the knowledge of the Kingdom of God; therefore, we cannot speak otherwise about God, the Church than analogically-cataphatically (God is Love, Humility…), and analogically-apophatically (God is not love, not humility…) – these are the maximum possibilities of the language of this age (see more about theology in Part I)).
To understand the episcopal (presbyteral) ministry (its essence, importance, and place in the hierarchy of ministries in the Church), let’s consider an example-analogy (similar dissimilarity!) of an educational institution (school, college, university, etc.). In the educational institution, there is a rector (director), dean, vice-rector, professors, associate professors, teachers, graduate students, students, pupils… And what do you think: to which of these listed positions-ministries does the bishop (presbyter) correspond?! You are right – to none! The bishop (presbyter) has no direct connection to the educational process in the educational institution. This is the ordinary ministry of a steward in the school. The steward is not a teacher – he only takes care of the best conditions for the educational process for both students and teachers (so that the roof does not leak, the desks, chairs are in good condition, the windows, doors are intact, the board and chalk are in place, it is warm in the classrooms in winter, the school yard is clean, etc.). This is ordinary (not educational) technical ministry. To be a steward, higher education (pedagogical or other) is not needed (not mandatory). For such a ministry (steward), the profession of a carpenter, locksmith, plumber is welcomed… And the educational process in the Church is managed (ministered) by apostles, prophets, teachers, chosen and appointed for this ministry by the Holy Spirit! Are stewards (that is, bishops, presbyters, deacons) chosen and appointed for ministry by the Holy Spirit?! No, stewards are chosen by people and appointed for ministry by people (we will talk about this in more detail below)! This stirred you up, and you hasten to point out to me the prayers of the ordination services, where it is said that “the Holy Spirit appoints… (so-and-so) as bishop (presbyter, deacon)”. I also read this, and not only by form! Do not forget: the rite of the sacrament and the sacrament – these are two different realities, and, fortunately, not interdependent, as in the fantasies of pagan theologians (that is, it often happens that the rite is performed, and the Sacrament, which was performed long before (2000 years ago) the rite, is not actualized: people baptize you, but the Holy Spirit will not baptize; you ate the Holy Bread and Wine, but did not partake of the Holy Spirit – see more in the previous parts). There is only one Teacher in the Church – Christ (and the Holy Spirit), who teaches directly (to Christians) and through intermediaries (Spirit-bearers: apostles, teachers, prophets) in the process of catechism (preparation for baptism by the Holy Spirit). Therefore, the ministry of a bishop (presbyter, deacon) is the ministry of a steward, technical ministry “at the tables” – preparing everything necessary for the celebration of the Eucharist, which Christ actualizes by the Holy Spirit (see below)! (Therefore, a maniac, fornicator, murderer, criminal, atheist… can perform this technical ministry – preparing (according to the books: typikon, service book, book of needs) everything necessary for the performance of the sacramental rite (preparation of the matter of the sacrament, the performance of the rite itself: reading prayers, prayer requests, choral singing, etc.), which Christ actualizes by the Holy Spirit; the steward is only responsible for the technical preparation of the rite; therefore, if a legitimate (not prohibited by the Church in ministry) steward (be he the devil himself) performed the rite correctly (according to church books), pagans say that the sacrament is valid (even if they find out that at the time of performing the rite, the pope was a satanist-criminal, they do not perform the rite again – they say: unpleasant that they did not watch (did not prohibit in ministry), but in general, everything is normal!)!