Wherever the Church is, there is the authority to administer the Gospel. Therefore, it is necessary for the Church to retain the authority to call, elect, and ordain ministers. This authority is a gift that in reality is given to the Church. No human power can take this gift away from the Church. As Paul testifies to the Ephesians, when "He ascended...He gave gifts to men" (Ephesians 4:8). He lists among the gifts specifically belonging to the church "pastors and teachers" (4:11), and adds that they are given for the ministry, "for the building up of the body of Christ" (4:12). So wherever there is a True Church, the right to elect and ordain ministers necessarily exists. In the same way, in a case of necessity even a layman absolves and becomes the minister and pastor of another. Augustine tells the story of two Christians in a ship, one of whom baptized the catechumen, who after Baptism then absolved the baptizer.
~BOC, PPP, 67
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