Holy Orders - Process and Sequence

Process and Sequence

The sequence in which holy orders are received are: minor orders, deacon, priest, bishop.

For Catholics, it is typical in the year of seminary training that a man will be ordained to the diaconate, called by Catholics in recent times the "transitional diaconate". This is to distinguish men bound for priesthood fr transitional or permanent, are licensed to preach sermons (under certain circumstances a permanent deacon may not receive faculties to preach), to perform baptisms, and to witness Catholic marriages, but to perform no other sacraments. They assist at the Eucharist or the Mass, but are not able to consecrate the bread and wine. Normally, after six months or more as a transitional deacon, a man will be ordained to the priesthood. Priests are able to preach, perform baptisms, confirm (with special dispensation from their ordinary), witness marriages, hear confessions and give absolutions, anoint the sick, and celebrate the Eucharist or the Mass.

Orthodox seminarians are typically tonsured as readers before entering seminary, and may later be made subdeacons or deacons; customs vary between seminaries and between Orthodox jurisdictions. Some deacons remain permanently in the diaconate; many go on to be ordained priests. Orthodoxy has two types of clergy: married and single (see Monasticism). Monastic deacons are called hierodeacons, monastic priests are called hieromonks. Orthodox clergy who will marry must do so prior to ordination to the subdiaconate (although some jurisdictions delay this until the diaconate), though some bishops may make economia (dispensation) to allow a candidate to marry after his ordination to the subdiaconate. But once a man has been ordained a priest, he may not marry. If his wife dies, he may not remarry and must remain celibate. Often, widowed priests will take monastic vows. Orthodox bishops are taken from among the monks.

For Anglicans, a person is usually ordained a deacon once he (or she) has completed training at a theological college. The historic practice of a bishop tutoring a candidate himself ("Reading for Orders") is still to be found.

The candidate then typically serves as an assistant curate and may later be ordained as a priest at the discretion of the bishop. Other deacons may choose to remain in this order. Anglican deacons can preach sermons, perform baptisms and conduct funerals, but, unlike priests, cannot celebrate the Eucharist. In most branches of the Anglican church, women can be ordained as priests, and in some of them, can also be ordained bishops.

Bishops are chosen from among priests in churches that adhere to Catholic usage. In the Roman Catholic Church, bishops, like priests, are celibate and thus unmarried; further, a bishop is said to possess the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders, empowering him to ordain deacons, priests, and – with papal consent – other bishops. If a bishop, especially one acting as an ordinary – a head of a diocese or archdiocese – is to be ordained, three bishops must usually co-consecrate him with one bishop, usually an archbishop or the bishop of the place, being the chief consecrating prelate.

Among Eastern Rite Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, which permit married priests, bishops must either be unmarried or agree to abstain from contact with their wives. It is a common misconception that all such bishops come from religious orders; while this is generally true, it is not an absolute rule. In the case of both Catholics – (Western and) Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox, they are usually leaders of territorial units called dioceses (or its equivalent in the east, an eparchy). Only bishops can validly administer the sacrament of holy orders.