Priest

====Lutheranism====
[[File:Strängnäs Cathedral interior.jpg|thumb|A Lutheran priest of the [[Church of Sweden]] prepares for the celebration of [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] in [[Strängnäs Cathedral]]]]
The general priesthood or the [[priesthood of all believers]], is a [[Christianity|Christian]] doctrine derived from several passages of the [[New Testament]]. It is a foundational concept of [[Protestantism]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=The Protestant Heritage |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2007 |access-date=2007-09-20 |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109446 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614170201/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109446 |archive-date=June 14, 2006}}</ref> It is this doctrine that [[Martin Luther]] adduces in his 1520 ''[[To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation]]'' in order to dismiss the medieval Christian belief that Christians were to be divided into two classes: "spiritual" and "temporal" or non-spiritual.
Conservative Lutheran reforms are reflected in the theological and practical view of the ministry of the church. Much of European Lutheranism follows the traditional Catholic governance of deacon, presbyter, and bishop. The Lutheran archbishops of Finland, Sweden, etc. and Baltic countries are the historic national primates and some ancient cathedrals and parishes in the Lutheran church were constructed many centuries before the Reformation. Indeed, ecumenical work within the Anglican Communion and among Scandinavian Lutherans mutually recognize the [[apostolic succession|historic apostolic legitimacy]] and [[full communion]]. Likewise in America, Lutherans have embraced the apostolic succession of bishops in the full communion with Episcopalians and most Lutheran ordinations are performed by a bishop.

The [[Church of Sweden]] has a threefold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon and those ordained to the presbyterate are referred to as priests.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/ministry-and-ministries |title=Ministry and Ministries - Svenska kyrkan |publisher=Svenskakyrkan.se |date=2021-09-20 |accessdate=2022-03-18}}</ref> In the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland]], ordained presbyters are referred to by various publications, including Finnish ones, as pastors,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://evl.fi/the-church/organisation/parishes |title=Parishes |publisher=evl.fi |date=|accessdate=2022-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://evl.fi/current-issues/women-ordained-for-thirty-years |title=Women ordained for thirty years |publisher=evl.fi |date=1988-03-06 |accessdate=2022-03-18}}</ref> or priests.<ref name="Sequeira2021">{{cite web |last1=Sequeira |first1=Tahira |title=Gallery: Turku makes history with first female bishop |url=https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/news-in-brief/18657-gallery-turku-makes-history-with-first-female-bishop.html |work=[[Helsinki Times]] |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=8 February 2021 |quote=Leppänen also became the first woman from the Conservative Laestadian movement (a revival movement within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland) to be ordained as a priest in 2012. The first female priests were ordained in Finland 32 years ago.}}</ref><ref name="Doe2011">{{cite book |last=Doe |first=Norman |title=Law and Religion in Europe |date=4 August 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |isbn=9780199604012 |page=135 |quote=In Finland, a priest of the Lutheran church is forbidden to reveal a secret received in confession and in the course of pastoral counselling; a similar rule applies to Orthodox priests.}}</ref> In the United States, denominations like the [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]] use the terms "reverend" and "pastor" interchangeably for ordained members of the clergy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paramount Christian |url=https://www.paramountchristian.org/christianity-around-the-world/often-asked-when-did-lutheranism-become-the-most-followed-christianity-religion.html |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=www.paramountchristian.org}}</ref>