In the ordination of priests, what is the significance of the laying on of hands on the ordinandi by other priests? (In the Roman rite -- but I think it is also the custom in the Byzantine rite?) What does it mean, if priests do not have the power to ordain priests, only bishops do? Is it merely symbolic? Or does it signify something that has been forgotten?
How far back does the custom go? Is the custom possibly a legacy of the ecclesial order that existed before the development of the monoepiscopate?
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