The “essential matter” of a sacrament, to put things simply, the
essential physical aspect of an ordinance/sacrament that confects the
sacrament. For instance, water is the essential matter of baptism. The topic of
the essential matter of something as essential as a sacrament (here, Holy
Orders) shows a contradiction between a General Council and an Apostolic
Constitution (one which would be protected from doctrinal error, á la “secondary objects of
infallibility” as it dealt with the essential matter of a sacrament).
Addressing the essential matter of the ordination to the priesthood, diaconate,
and sub-diaconate, the Council of Florence (1438-45) wrote:
The sixth sacrament
is holy orders. Its matter is that which is handed over in the conferring of
the order: the priesthood, for example, is conferred by the presentation of the
chalice containing the wine and the paten holding the bread; the diaconate by
the giving of the book of the Gospels; the sub-diaconate by the handing over of
an empty chalice covered with an empty paten . . . (The Church Teaches: Documents of the Church in English Translation [Rockford,
Ill.: TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1973], 328)
Notwithstanding, in November 1947, Pius XII issued the Apostolic
Constitution Sacramentum Ordinis. As
stated above, as this deals with a sacrament, such would be protected from
error by means of the “secondary objects of infallibility.” Indeed, that this
was a binding document is seen from paragraph 4 which also addresses the essential matter of the orders:
Therefore, after
praying for heavenly light, We, with Our supreme apostolic authority and with
certain knowledge, declare and, as far as it is necessary, decree and make
provision: the matter of the holy orders of diaconate, priesthood, and
episcopate, is the imposition of hands and that alone . . . (Ibid., 333)
So, not only is this Apostolic Constitution binding, it also states that
the essential matter of the priesthood and diaconate is not the presentation of the a chalice containing wine and a patent
holding bread and the giving of the book of the Gospels (per Florence) but the
imposition of hands only.
Cognizant of the Council of Florence on this issue, in paragraph 3 we
read:
. . . the handing
over of the instruments [traditio
instrumentorum] is not required by the will of our Lord Jesus Christ
himself, even according to the mind of the Council of Florence. Nevertheless,
if at any time the handing over of instruments was an added requirement for
validity because of the will and prescription of the Church, everyone is aware
of what the Church itself has established, it also has the power to change and
abrogate. (Ibid., 333)
The editor of The Church Teaches
wrote the following as an introduction to Sacramentum
Ordinis, addressing the difference between this Apostolic Constitution and
the Council of Florence:
In the ancient Church
there is no sign of any handing over of instruments as a rite in the ordination
of the diaconate and priesthood. In the Middle Ages, however, this rite was universally
observed by the bishops of the Western Church in ordinations to the diaconate
and priesthood and was considered by many theologians as necessary for
validity. This difference in practice between the ancient and the later Church,
between the Western and the Eastern Church, gave rise to lively theological debates
over the matter and form of this sacrament. Without giving any decision on the
speculative questions involved, Pope Pius XII (1939-58) has definitively
settled for the future that the presentation of the instruments is not
necessary for the validity of these orders. (Ibid., 332-33)
The very fact that something as central as the essential matter of a
sacrament (here, Holy Orders) was addressed by a General Council (Florence) and
would later be contradicted by a binding Apostolic Constitution 500 years later
shows that the common Roman Catholic claim to having doctrinal clarity and the
Church speaking with a univocal voice over the ages are nothing but historical
fictions.
