Holy Orders

Holy Orders is the sacrament by which the mission Christ entrusted to his apostles continues in the Church until the end of time. By the imposition of the bishop’s hands, it establishes men in the service of the people of God, to teach them, to sanctify them through the sacraments and to lead them in the name of Christ. It is received in three degrees, the episcopate, the presbyterate and the diaconate, imprints on the one who receives it a definitive seal, and makes him act in the person of Christ at the service of the priesthood of all the baptised.

The mission of the apostles continued

Christ chose the apostles and gave them a share in his own mission. “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” John 20:21 This mission was not to die with them. Before leaving this world, the apostles established other men to continue it, handing on to them the charge received from Christ: to teach the faith, to sanctify through the sacraments, to lead the people of God. The sacrament of Orders is the means by which this mission passes, from age to age, until the end of time.

The apostolic succession

The apostles handed on their charge by the imposition of hands, and those who received it handed it on in their turn, in an unbroken chain that reaches the bishops of today. Paul recalls this to Timothy. “stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.” 2 Timothy 1:6 This continuity bears also on the faith itself. “the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men who shall be fit to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 The apostolic succession thus guarantees two things: that the Orders received today are indeed those Christ gave to the apostles, and that the faith taught is indeed theirs.

One sacrament, three degrees

The word “order” comes from the Latin ordo, which designated a body established in society; to be ordained is to be incorporated into one of the degrees of the ministry. The sacrament is one, and is received in three degrees. The bishop possesses the priesthood in its fullness; the priest shares in it as his co-worker; both receive the ministerial priesthood, to make Christ present to his people. The deacon is ordained for service and not for the priesthood. All three receive the sacrament by the imposition of the bishop’s hands, who alone can confer it.

The bishop

The bishop is a successor of the apostles, who has received the fullness of the sacrament of Orders. The Greek word rendered as “bishop”, episkopos (ἐπίσκοπος), means the one who watches over, the guardian; and it is the Holy Spirit who establishes him to guard the flock. “Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the Church of God.” Acts 20:28 From the fullness he holds flow two prerogatives: he alone confers Orders, making other men deacons, priests and bishops; and he is the originating minister of confirmation, which a priest gives only in dependence on him. Thus Paul left to Titus the task of establishing ministers in every place. “thou shouldest ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee.” Titus 1:5 Placed at the head of a local Church, the diocese, the bishop exercises there the threefold charge received from the apostles: he teaches the faith as guardian of the deposit entrusted to him, he sanctifies his people through the sacraments and presides at the Eucharist from which his Church lives, he governs her as shepherd. Taken all together, the bishops form one single body, the episcopal college, whose head is the pope, as Peter was among the Twelve; each is such in communion with the pope and with his brothers in the episcopate, and this union keeps the Church one. Gathered around Peter, the apostles held at Jerusalem the first council of the Church, and there settled together the first questions of the faith. “it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things.” Acts 15:28

The priest

The priest receives the sacrament of Orders at its second degree, a share that depends on the fullness held by the bishop. The Greek word rendered as “priest”, presbyteros (πρεσβύτερος), means the elder. It is the bishop who ordains him, and the priest remains his co-worker: since the bishop cannot be everywhere, he extends his ministry through the priests spread across the parishes, who form around him one single body of shepherds. From the beginning, the apostles established elders in each Church. “when they had ordained to them priests in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord.” Acts 14:22 The central act of the priest is the Eucharist: on the altar, by his hands, Christ makes present the one sacrifice of the cross and gives himself as food. When the priest says “This is my body”, it is Christ who acts through him, according to what he entrusted to his own at the Supper. “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me.” Luke 22:19 He also forgives sins in the name of Christ, by the power given to the apostles on the evening of Easter. “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” John 20:23 Beyond these two acts, he leads as a shepherd the portion of the flock that the bishop entrusts to him: he proclaims the Gospel, instructs the faithful and watches over them, steward of the gifts of God given to the Church.

The deacon

The deacon receives the sacrament of Orders at its third degree, under the bishop and the priest. The Greek word rendered as “deacon”, diakonos (διάκονος), means the servant. The bishop lays hands on him for service and not for the priesthood: the deacon does not consecrate the Eucharist and does not forgive sins, these acts remaining with the priest and the bishop. From the Church of the apostles, this order stands beside the bishop. “with the bishops and the deacons.” Philippians 1:1 Its origin is read in the book of Acts: the first Christians provided each day for the needs of the widows, but some were neglected in this distribution; so that the apostles might remain free for prayer and the proclamation of the word, they had seven men chosen and charged with this service. “look ye out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom.” Acts 6:3 Among them was Stephen, the first to die for Christ. The deacon’s service extends to three domains: at the altar, he assists the bishop and the priest, proclaims the Gospel and may preach, distributes communion; in the word, he teaches and carries the Gospel to the world; in charity, he cares for the poor, the very task for which the seven were first chosen. He may also baptise, bless and preside at funerals. The diaconate is received as a step toward the priesthood, or lived as a permanent state, open also to married men. This whole ministry makes one thing visible: the Church is a servant, in the image of her Lord, who washed the feet of his disciples. “the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a redemption for many.” Matthew 20:28

The rite of ordination

The minister of ordination is the bishop alone. The matter is the imposition of hands: the bishop lays his hands on the head of the one ordained, in silence; the form is the prayer of consecration that follows, asking God to pour out on him the Holy Spirit and the grace of the degree he receives. This gesture and this prayer together form the heart of the sacrament; they are found already in the Church of the apostles, when the seven were established. “These they set before the apostles: and they praying, imposed hands upon them.” Acts 6:6 The other rites, the presentation of the candidate, the anointing of the priest’s hands, the handing over of the instruments of his charge, surround this heart and express its meaning.

Reserved to men

Only a baptized man receives Holy Orders validly. Christ chose twelve men as apostles, and the Church, bound by this choice, has never recognised in herself the power to ordain women. This reservation of the priesthood to men in no way judges the dignity of woman, equal to man before God; it holds to fidelity to the Lord’s own act and to the sign of the minister, who acts in the person of Christ, the Bridegroom of his Church.

Acting in the person of Christ

Holy Orders configures forever the one who receives it to the priesthood of Christ; that is why it is received only once and imprints a seal that cannot be effaced. “Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.” Hebrews 7:17 By this seal, the ordained acts in the person of Christ, in persona Christi: his word and his gesture become those of the Lord, who identifies himself with those he sends. This truth rests less on a single word of Scripture than on the whole mission received from the apostles: Christ acts through those he sends and speaks through their mouth. “He that heareth you heareth me: and he that despiseth you despiseth me: and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.” Luke 10:16 When the priest celebrates the Eucharist or forgives sins, it is Christ himself who acts through his hands; the minister lends his voice and his gestures to the Lord, the author of what is accomplished.

Priestly celibacy

In the Latin Church, the bishop and the priest commit themselves to celibacy, freely embraced for the Kingdom. This state belongs to the discipline of the Church, which received it from the example of Christ, priest and virgin, and from his word about those who renounce marriage for the Kingdom. “there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.” Matthew 19:12 The priest configured to Christ gives himself to him with an undivided heart and makes himself wholly available for his people, a living sign of the world to come. “He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord: how he may please God.” 1 Corinthians 7:32 The Eastern Catholic Churches, in communion with the pope, follow another discipline, in which married men accede to the priesthood, and the permanent diaconate remains everywhere open to married men; celibacy remains, for the Latin Church, the way of her priests.

Common priesthood and ministerial priesthood

By baptism, all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ: they offer their life to God, pray and bear witness. This is the common priesthood. By Holy Orders, some receive the ministerial priesthood, to serve this common priesthood by making Christ present to his people. The minister is thus wholly at the service of the faithful. “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins.” Hebrews 5:1