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Thesacrament ofholy orders in theCatholic Church includes threeorders of men:bishops,priests, anddeacons, in decreasing order of rank, collectively comprising theclergy. In the phrase "holy orders", the word "holy" means "set apart for a sacred purpose". The word "order" designates an established civil body or corporation with a hierarchy, and ordination means legal incorporation into an order. In context, therefore, a group with a hierarchical structure that is set apart for ministry in the Church.
Men in the last year ofseminary training who are seeking ordination as a priest are typically ordained to the "transitional diaconate", while men who are not seeking priestly ordination are instead ordained to the "permanent diaconate". Deacons, whether transitional or permanent, receive faculties to preach, to performbaptisms, and to witnessmarriages (either assisting the priest at theMass, or officiating at a wedding not involving a Mass). They may assist at services whereHoly Communion is given, such as the Mass, and they are considered the ordinary dispenser of the Precious Blood (the wine) when Communion is given in both types and a deacon is present, but they may not celebrate the Mass themselves. They may officiate at a funeral service not involving a Mass, including a visitation (wake) or the graveside service at burial.After six months or more as a transitional deacon, a man will be ordained to the priesthood. Priests may preach, perform baptisms, witness marriages, hear confessions and give absolutions, anoint the sick, and celebrate the Eucharist or the Mass. Some priests are later chosen to be bishops, who are the ordinary ministers of confirmation and holy orders; bishops may ordain priests, deacons, and other bishops.
The Rite of Ordination always occurs within Mass, and normally occurs in thecathedral on a Sunday or otherholy day of obligation. In all cases, all members of the faithful are invited to attend, and a bishop is always the minister of the sacrament.[1]
Holy orders leave an "indelible" mark on the soul of each man ordained, meaning that ordination is an irreversible act. Thus, no person's orders and abilities as an ordained man can be removed, though their ability to perform actionslicitly may be revoked in some cases.[2]
Bishops are chosen from among the priests in the Catholic Church. AmongEastern Catholic Churches, which permit married priests, bishops must be widowers or unmarried. Catholic bishops are oftenordinaries (leaders) of territorial units calleddioceses.
The ordination of bishops through thelaying on of hands is a central tenet in Catholicism, as it provides for theapostolic succession required by the church and its teaching of theNicene creed. The church believes that each bishop is a "Successor of theApostles", and is endowed with the same fullness of theHoly Spirit thatJesus gave to the apostles atPentecost, as seen inJohn 20:21-23. For this reason, any bishop with apostolic succession canvalidly ordain any priest as a bishop, though it is only licit if they receive a mandate to do so from thepope (can. 1013). Any bishop who consecrates a bishop without such a mandate isexcommunicatedlatae sententiae (automatically) (can. 1387).[3]
Only bishops can administer the sacrament of holy orders (can. 1012). When consecrating another bishop, it is generally required that two other bishops join the consecrating bishop in the ordination (can. 1014). In theLatin Church, usually only bishops may licitly administer the sacrament of confirmation, but if an ordinary priest administers that sacrament illicitly, without an indult (reserved to the Holy See prior to Vatican II, and reserved to the local Ordinary after the New Code of Canon Law was promulgated), it is nonetheless considered valid. InEastern Catholic Churches, confirmation is done by parish priests via the rite ofchrismation, and is usually administered to both babies and adults immediately after their baptism.
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The word "priest" derives ultimately either from the Greekπρεσβύτερος/presbuteros ("elder") or the Latinpraepositus ("superintendent"). The Catholic Church sees thepriesthood as both a reflection of the ancientJewish priesthood in theTemple, and the work ofJesus as priest. Theliturgy of ordination recalls theOld Testament priesthood and the priesthood of Christ. In the words ofThomas Aquinas, "Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a prefiguration of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ"Summa TheologiaeIII, 22, 4c. Priests may celebrate Mass, hear confessions and give absolution, celebrate baptism, serve as the Church's witness at the sacrament of holy matrimony, administer anointing of the sick, and administer confirmation if authorized to do so by the bishop.SeePresbyterorum Ordinis for theSecond Vatican Council decree on the nature of the Catholic priesthood.
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After being called forward and presented to the assembly, the candidates for ordination are interrogated. Each promises to diligently perform the duties of the priesthood and to respect and obey hisordinary (bishop or religious superior). Then the candidates lie prostrate before the altar, while the assembled faithful kneel and pray for the help of all the saints in the singing of theLitany of the Saints.
The essential part of the rite is when the bishop, followed by all priests present, silentlylays his hands upon each candidate, then offers the consecratory prayer, addressed toGod the Father, invoking the power of theHoly Spirit upon those being ordained.
After the consecratory prayer, the newly ordained is vested with thestole andchasuble of the Ministerial Priesthood, then the bishop anoints his hands withchrism before presenting him with thechalice andpaten which he will use when presiding at the Eucharist. Following this, the gifts of bread and wine are brought forward by the people and given to the new priest; then all the priests presentconcelebrate the Eucharist, with the newly ordained taking the place of honour at the right of the bishop. If there are several newly ordained, it is they who gather closest to the bishop during theEucharistic Prayer.
The laying of hands of the priesthood is found in 1 Timothy 4:14:
The following is the full text of the Rite during the Mass (after theGospel), taken from a program for an ordination of priests for theDiocese of Peoria in 2015:
The Mass then proceeds as normal with theLiturgy of the Eucharist, with the newly ordained priests to the immediate right of the bishop and the other celebrants.
The Diaconate is one of the three Major Orders in the Catholic Church.The first deacons were ordained by the Apostles in Acts of the Apostles chapter 6.The ministry of the deacon in the Roman Catholic Church is described as one of service in three areas: the Word, the Liturgy and Charity. The deacon's ministry of the Word includes proclaiming the Gospel during the Mass, preaching and teaching. The deacon's liturgical ministry includes various parts of the Mass proper to the deacon, including being an ordinary minister of Holy Communion and the proper minister of the chalice when Holy Communion is administered under both kinds. The ministry of charity involves service to the poor and marginalized and working with parishioners to help them become more involved in such ministry.
As clerics, deacons are required to say theLiturgy of the Hours daily. Deacons, like bishops and priests, are ordinary ministers of the sacrament of baptism and can serve as the church's witness at the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, which the bride and groom administer to each other.Deacons may also preside over funeral rites outside of Mass. They can preside over various services such asBenediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and they may give certain blessings.
From the 3rd century AD up until seven years after theSecond Vatican Council (1962–1965), the Catholic Church had fourminor orders (porter,lector,exorcist, andacolyte) up to the order ofsubdeacon, which were conferred on seminarianspro forma before they became deacons. The minor orders and the subdiaconate were not considered sacraments, and for simplicity were suppressed underPope Paul VI in 1972. Only those orders previously consideredmajor orders of divine institution, deacon, priest, and bishop, were retained in most of the Latin Church.
Holy orders is one of threeCatholic sacraments that Catholics believe to make an indelible mark called asacramental character on the recipient's soul (the other two arebaptism andconfirmation). This sacrament can only be conferred on baptized men.[4] If a woman attempts to receive the sacrament of holy orders, both she and any persons who attempt to ordain her are excommunicatedlatae sententiae.[5]Such titles ascardinal,monsignor,archbishop, etc., are not sacramental orders, but simplyoffices; receiving one of those titles is not an instance of the sacrament of holy orders.
The Catholic Church recognizes the validity of holy orders administered by theEastern Orthodox,Polish National,Oriental Orthodox, and theAssyrian Church of the East because those churches have maintained theapostolic succession of bishops, i.e., their bishops claim to be in a line of succession dating back to theApostles, just as Catholic bishops do. Consequently, if a priest of one of those eastern churches converts to Catholicism, his ordination is already valid; however, to exercise the order received, he would need to be incardinated either into a religious ordained in the Catholic Church, though there is much debate in the Orthodox Church about this; that is part of the policy calledchurch economy.
A controversy in the Catholic Church over the question of whether Anglican holy orders are valid was settled byPope Leo XIII in 1896, who wrote inApostolicae curae thatAnglican orders lack validity because the rite by which priests were ordained was not correctly performed from 1547 to 1553 and from 1558 to the 19th century, thus causing a break of continuity inapostolic succession and a break with the sacramental intention of the Church. Leo XIII condemned the Anglican ordinals and deemed the Anglican orders "absolutely null and utterly void".[6] Some Changes in the AnglicanOrdinal since KingEdward VI, and a fuller appreciation of the pre-Reformation ordinals suggest, according to some private theologians, that the correctness of the dismissal of Anglican orders may be questioned; howeverApostolicae curae remains the definitive teaching of the Catholic Church and was reinforced by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later becamePope Benedict XVI.
Since 1896 many Anglican bishops have been consecrated by bishops of theOld Catholic Church. Nevertheless, all Anglican clergymen who desire to enter the Catholic Church do so as laymen and must be ordained in the Catholic Church in order to serve as priests. Catholics are, according toAd Tuendam Fidem and Cardinal Ratzinger, obliged to hold the position that Anglican orders are invalid.
Catholics do not recognize the ordination of ministers in other,Protestant, churches that do not maintain the apostolic succession. The Lutheran Churches ofSweden andFinland from some point of view possibly possess valid apostolic succession. This is not the case for the Lutheran Churches ofNorway,Denmark, andIceland where there occurred breaks in succession.
Anglicans accept the ordination of most mainline denominations; however, only those denominations in full communion with the Anglican Communion, such as someLutheran denominations, may preside at services requiring a priest.
Married men may be ordained to the diaconate as permanent deacons, but in the Latin Church may not be ordained to the priesthood. Married non-Catholic clergy who convert to Roman Catholicism may, in some cases, be ordained priests.[7] In theEastern Catholic Churches and in theEastern Orthodox Church married deacons may be ordained priests, but may not become bishops. Bishops in the Eastern Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches are almost always drawn from amongmonks, who have taken a vow of celibacy. They may be widowers, though; it is not required of them never to have been married.
There is a distinction drawn between chastity and celibacy.Celibacy is the state of not being married, so apromise of celibacy is a promise not to enter into marriage but instead to consecrate one's life to service; in other words, "married to God".Chastity, a virtue expected of all Christians, is the state of sexual purity; for a vowed celibate, or for the single person, chastity means the abstinence from sexual activity. For the married person, chastity means the practice of sex only within marriage.
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