Holy Orders

"Blessed are you Simon...And I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church" --Matthew 16:17-18

"As the Father has sent me, so I send you....he breathed on them and said to them "Receive the Holy Spirit,  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." 
--John 20:21-23


"Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time…It includes three degrees of order: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate" (CCC 1536). 

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church, until the end of time.  Thus, it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees:  Episcopate (Bishops), Presbyterate (Priests) and Diaconate (Deacons).

As the first Pope, Peter recognized that the priestly ministry must continue. Acts 1:15-26 describes the apostle's choice of a successor for Judas.  Acts Acts 6:1-7 describes the selection of the first seven deacons of the Church.

Since the beginning, the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in three degrees: that of bishops, that of presbyters, and that of deacons. The ministries conferred by ordination are irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church: without the bishop, presbyters, and deacons, one cannot speak of the Church. (CCC 1593)

What is the essential Rite of Holy Orders?
The essential rite of the Sacrament for all degrees consists in the bishop's imposition of hands on the head of the ordained and in the Bishop's specific consecratory prayer, asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit's gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained.

Who may be ordained?
Only a baptized man may be ordained in the Sacrament of Orders.  Jesus chose men to become part of his Twelve, and the Tradition of the Church has been constant for over 2000 years.  Pope St. John Paul II reaffirmed this teaching.  Ordination has always been a call and gift from God.

What does it mean that the priest acts "in the person of Christ?"
In the ecclestial services of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of the body, Shepherd of his flock.  This is what the church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi capitas (in the person of Christ, the head.)

What is the common "baptismal priesthood"?
Through baptism, all the members of the Church share in the priesthood of Christ.  This is known as the "common priesthood of the faithful." The ministerial priesthood of bishop and priest differs in essence because if confers a sacred power for the services of the faithful.

Men who are being led by the Holy Spirit to a life of apostolic service should contact the Pastor.