Pastors or Priests?

Use this forum to discuss the December 2020 Book of the month, "Wilderness Cry: A Scientific and Philosophical Approach to Understanding God and the Universe" by Hilary L Hunt M.D.
Nikolas Farmakis
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Re: Pastors or Priests?

Post by Nikolas Farmakis »

As far as I know, Catholics tend to call their religious leaders as priests, or bishops, or cardinals, but I have never heard of them calling them pastors. I think 'pastor' is used more by Protestants and Evangelical Christians.
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tuannazri_4848
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Post by tuannazri_4848 »

Does anyone else find it strange that the author talks about a pastor when he was raised a Catholic?
I quote: "When I confronted my pastor with this observation he said to me, “most people don’t think that deeply”(p. 3).
I was raised a Catholic too and we refer to religious leaders as Priests or, more commonly, Father.
Did I miss something?
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Post by Tandz »

I agree with al who say it is a cultural preference. However in theory ( according to my understanding) the difference between a Pastor and a Priest is that the former is a ordained leader of a congregation and the latter is a person authorised to lead the sacred procedures of a religion. But honestly I use those terms interchangeably because to me it seems like one and the same person.
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Post by Unique Ego »

Lunastella wrote: 18 Dec 2020, 12:09 Does anyone else find it strange that the author talks about a pastor when he was raised a Catholic?
I quote: "When I confronted my pastor with this observation he said to me, “most people don’t think that deeply”(p. 3).
I was raised a Catholic too and we refer to religious leaders as Priests or, more commonly, Father.
Did I miss something?
Yeah, Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, and most Orthodox denominations use 'Priest' not 'Pastor' when referring to the head of their congregation. But at the end of the day, it's all semantics. Whether priest or pastor, they're the same in function.
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Post by BellAJoEb »

I know for a fact that a catholic spiritual leader is referred to as "Priest", "Father" or even "Padre". But I will conclude that the author must have at some point in his life mixed with other faith who refer to theirs as "Pastor"
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Post by Menace Crypto »

You're right, I was brought up as a Catholic for years, and also keep many Catholic friends. The names the spiritual leader is called is either priest or father, never pastor. I guess the author must have mixed things up along the way.
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Post by OB Brian »

Maddie Atkinson wrote: 18 Dec 2020, 14:03
Lunastella wrote: 18 Dec 2020, 12:09 Does anyone else find it strange that the author talks about a pastor when he was raised a Catholic?
I quote: "When I confronted my pastor with this observation he said to me, “most people don’t think that deeply”(p. 3).
I was raised a Catholic too and we refer to religious leaders as Priests or, more commonly, Father.
Did I miss something?
A Father is the same as a priest, who has been ordained to carry out sacraments (which I assume you know is things like the Eucharist or baptisms etc.) and a pastor is someone who is in charge of the whole congregation I believe. I think that's right but don't hold me to it, I'm Church of England, we have vicars :)!
Perhaps they are not the same. However, they are all church leaders. Perhaps the author was raised Catholic and chose to be Protestant. Or maybe, while checking his grammar, there were too many ''priest'' and Grammarly suggested ''pastor'' :D
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Adanna Inya
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Post by Adanna Inya »

I was born and raised Catholic but now a Pentecostal faithful. We never called the Father a Pastor, so I don't know. Perhaps, that's what he grew up hearing others call.
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Post by enna_idEsrun »

I did find it curious that the author, being raised Catholic, referred to his religious leader as pastor. While in some cultures we find Catholics who refer to themselves as charismatic to suggest something about their way of worship, typically, Catholics regardless of culture, refer to their religious leaders as priests. So, yes, I agree with you.
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Post by Francis Aderogbin »

Lunastella wrote: 18 Dec 2020, 12:09 Does anyone else find it strange that the author talks about a pastor when he was raised a Catholic?
I quote: "When I confronted my pastor with this observation he said to me, “most people don’t think that deeply”(p. 3).
I was raised a Catholic too and we refer to religious leaders as Priests or, more commonly, Father.
Did I miss something?
I am a Catholic. And I believed he used the term 'pastor' probably because he was referring to the priest as a leader of the congregation.

In my opinion, a priest or Rev. Father is used when referring to a person. But when referring to that person in the capacity of a leader of a local congregation, a pastor can be used.
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Post by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda »

lumenchristi wrote: 23 Jan 2021, 16:07
Lunastella wrote: 18 Dec 2020, 12:09 Does anyone else find it strange that the author talks about a pastor when he was raised a Catholic?
I quote: "When I confronted my pastor with this observation he said to me, “most people don’t think that deeply”(p. 3).
I was raised a Catholic too and we refer to religious leaders as Priests or, more commonly, Father.
Did I miss something?
I am a Catholic. And I believed he used the term 'pastor' probably because he was referring to the priest as a leader of the congregation.

In my opinion, a priest or Rev. Father is used when referring to a person. But when referring to that person in the capacity of a leader of a local congregation, a pastor can be used.
Oh, I didn't know that. I've always called Catholic priests a priest or father or depending on the rank, maybe an Archbishop or something. Thank you for your explanation!
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Post by dcruzsammy »

That confused me as well, never in my life, as a Catholic have I encountered that priests are referred to as pastor instead, perhaps a mistake, cause if it is really a pastor that would suggest otherwise of his religion, I think.
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Post by Gbemisola Akinremi »

A pastor is a priest, but well I'm aware Catholic refers to theirs as priest so maybe it's an editing mistake.
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Post by shannonkate8 »

It was definitely odd for me too. I was also raised Catholic and always referred to the head of the church as a priest. Whenever someone said pastor, I equated it to another denomination of Christianity. I wonder if the author is Catholic or perhaps went to a church where the priest was called a pastor.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -Aristotle
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Post by Tangerinehippie1 »

I think like many words and titles it is based on culture and how one grew up.
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