Roman Catholic Church

Seventh-day Adventist Church

“The Church [hierarchy] confers the sacrament of Holy Orders [church position by election] only on baptized men (viri), whose suitability for the exercise of the ministry has been duly recognized. Church authority alone has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Chapter Three, Article 6, Section VII, #1598, brackets supplied for clarity. http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/orders.html#DEGREES).

"At the local conference level the Seventh-day Adventist church has a representative form of government, above that level the polity of the Seventh-day Adventist is hierarchical: authority flows downward and members in local congregations have virtually no voice....the Seventh-day Adventist church is a closed, self-operating, and self-perpetuating system, similar to the Roman Catholic church, in which those in authority are not responsible to lower echelons.  Above the local conference level, those in authority are not elected by, representative of, or administratively accountable to, local congregations or the membership at large." (Raymond F. Cottrell, former Associate Editor of the Adventist Review and the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, in Spectrum (Journal of Association of Adventist Forums), vol 14, #4, March, 1984, p 42).