Page 159 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O R D I N AT I O N A S G I F T I N C O M M U N I O N
by separation; the person exists only in communion. Thus
ordination relates the ordained person existentially to a com-
munity. At the same time, it introduces specificity: “Are we all
Apostles?” Only Christ is “all in all”; each member is ordained
to a specific ministry. This specificity constitutes hierarchy—
not as value or power, but as uniqueness and unrepeatability.
In this perspective, the bishop has a decisive role. His sig-
nificance lies not in a title, but in his being the head of the
eucharistic community and the one who safeguards unity
through the multiplicity of ministries. His right to ordain is
justified only in this light: he gathers the many into commu-
nion. Authority does not stem from office as such, but from
its existential relevance for a community. This is why episcopal
ordination is linked to a concrete community.
Finally, ordination reveals a dimension that embraces all
creation. Man is destined to be the priest of creation, bringing
it into communion with the Creator. He failed, and only
Christ, the Priest par excellence, restored this possibility. All
ministry reflects this priesthood. Ordination is the Spirit’s seal
of this priestly function given according to each charisma. In
an age of scientific expansion, this cosmic dimension must be
stressed. For in the light of communion, ordination appears
as the Church’s eucharistic and incarnational way of being
present in the world, relating man, creation, and history to
God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
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