325. What are the degrees that make up the sacrament of Holy Orders?
(Comp
325) The sacrament of Holy Orders is composed of three degrees which are
irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church: the episcopate, the
presbyterate and the diaconate.
“In brief”
(CCC 1593) 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 (cf. St. Ignatius of
Antioch, Ad Trall. 3,1).
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1554) "The divinely instituted ecclesiastical
ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times
have been called bishops, priests, and deacons" (LG 28). Catholic
doctrine, expressed in the liturgy, the Magisterium, and the constant practice
of the Church, recognizes that there are two degrees of ministerial
participation in the priesthood of Christ: the episcopacy and the presbyterate.
The diaconate is intended to help and serve them. For this reason the term sacerdos in current usage denotes
bishops and priests but not deacons. Yet Catholic doctrine teaches that the
degrees of priestly participation (episcopate and presbyterate) and the degree
of service (diaconate) are all three conferred by a sacramental act called
"ordination," that is, by the sacrament of Holy Orders: Let everyone
revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, the bishop as the image of the Father, and
the presbyters as the senate of God and the assembly of the apostles. For
without them one cannot speak of the Church (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Trall. 3,1: SCh 10, 96).
Reflection
(CCC 1538) Integration into one of these bodies in the
Church was accomplished by a rite called ordinatio,
a religious and liturgical act which was a consecration, a blessing or a
sacrament. Today the word "ordination"
is reserved for the sacramental act which integrates a man into the order of
bishops, presbyters, or deacons, and goes beyond a simple election, designation, delegation, or institution by the community, for it confers a gift of the Holy
Spirit that permits the exercise of a "sacred power" (sacra potestas) (Cf. LG 10) which can
come only from Christ himself through his Church. Ordination is also called consecratio, for it is a setting apart
and an investiture by Christ himself for his Church. The laying on of hands by the bishop, with the consecratory prayer,
constitutes the visible sign of this ordination.
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