Priesthood 001: Laicism

I heard a new usage of the word laicism. The speaker was not using it in the common sense of laïcité but in reference to a phenomenon of church life which is a reverse of clericalism (anti-clericalism). In other words, clericalism can be described (to some degree of approximation, of course) as the attitude of the supremacy of those ordained to clerical ranks over the the laity; the attitude of "us versus them"; some notion that we, the clergy, are the "real" Church, whereas the ignorant, unchurched masses, οἱ πολλοί, are the sheep to be led, who do not know what is good for them or where the greener grass is. The clergy often act as if they have some special and unique grace and right which the laity do not possess. All the bowing and hand-kissing can go to some newly-ordained youngsters’ head so much that they begin to imagine that they have the divine authority and insight to tell people much older than them how to live. (To be fair, some lay people do not help the matter, as they also enjoy playing this game of pretending that their parish priest suddenly became a holy elder by virtue of his ordination.) The doctrine of the specialness of priests is very well developed in Roman Catholicism but is also not completely foreign in some Orthodox circles and may be the direct cause of such perversions as mladostarchestvo - “young elderhood". Concerning this phenomenon, Saint Ignatii (Brianchaninov) wrote: