Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 251.

YOUCAT Question n. 251 - What are the degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders?

(Youcat answer) The sacrament of Holy Orders has three degrees: Bishop (episcopate), Priest (presbyterate), Deacon (diaconate). 

A deepening through

(CCC Comment)

 (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).

Reflecting and meditating 

(CCC Comment)

(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).

(The next question is: What happens in episcopal ordination?)