Titus 1:5

Verse 5. That thou shouldst, [4] and so forth The sense cannot be, that he was to change any thing Saint Paul had ordered, but to settle things which Saint Paul had not time to do; for example, to establish priests [5] in the cities, that is to say, bishops, as the same are called bishops verse 7; and, as Saint John Chrysostom and others observe, it is evident from this very place, that the word presbyter was then used to signify either priests or bishops. If S. Jerom here meant that bishops were only placed over priests by ecclesiastical and not by divine institution, as some have expounded his words, his singular opinion against so many others is not to be followed. Witham.—That the ordaining of priests belongs only to bishops, is evident from the Acts and from Saint Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus. It is true, S. Jerom seems to express himself as if in the primitive Church there was no great difference between priests and bishops, yet he constantly excepts giving holy orders, (ep. 85) as also confirming the baptized, by giving them the Holy Ghost by imposition of hands and holy chrism; (dial. cont. Lucif. c. iv.) which pre-eminence he attributes to bishops only. To assert that there is no distinction between a priest and bishop is an old heresy, condemned as such by the Church. See S. Epiphanius, hær. 75. Saint Augustine, hær 53.