The first thing we are going to do, before entering fully into the establishment of the meaning of the term presbyter, is to determine its etymological origin. In this sense, it must be stated that it derives from Latin, specifically “presbyter”. However, this word, in turn, emanates from the Greek "presbyteros", which can be translated as "the oldest".
The notion of presbyter it is used in different ways in the field of religion . Within Catholicism, priests are those priests who they serve in a certain diocese and that respond to the same bishop.
A priest, therefore, is a bishop's representative and is qualified to act as responsible for a sanctuary, a parish or other division of his diocese. The ultimate leadership of all instances of the diocese, however, is in the bishop.
It is possible, in short, to differentiate between the hierarchy of the bishop (who is qualified for the administration of the five sacraments) and that of the presbyters (who cannot administer confirmation or order new priests).
In order to understand this figure, it must be said that each Order has three degrees, which are the Episcopate, the Presbyter, or more commonly called priest, and the Diaconate.
Among the sacramental powers that the presbyter currently has are penance, confirmation, the Eucharist and the anointing of the sick. More generally, it can be said that the functions of the presbyter or priest are to preach, teach, baptize, administer the sacrament, visit the members, be a missionary ...
Sometimes the figures of the priest and the deacon are often confused. But it is not the same, they are different and for that it is enough to know what aspects separate them:
-The deacon, although part of the Order, cannot be considered a priest as such.
-In the different liturgical celebrations, the deacon, who has no sacramental powers, is responsible for assisting the priest.
-What a deacon can do, because it does not involve the celebration of a sacrament or because it is not necessary to have a sacramental power, it is a baptism, a marriage, the celebration of a funeral ...
-In liturgical ceremonies, the priest will wear chasuble and the deacon will wear a dalmatic.
At Old Testament , presbyters were defined as those leaders and elders who, without being priests, formed a council. Already in the New Testament , the presbyter began to be understood as a collaborator of the disciples of Jesus in a certain service.
That is why today it can be considered that the priest is the religious who help the bishop in his duties as director of a church local. This help is usually made through the pastoral service that the presbyter provides in a parish, preaching, providing the Eucharist and confessing to the faithful.
The Coptic churches and orthodox On the other hand, they allow the priest to administer six sacraments (of the seven totals). The bishops reserve the exclusivity of the sacrament of order.
In the protestant churches Finally, the priests are the shepherds , members of what is called universal priesthood (as opposed to ministerial priesthood).
