YOUCAT Lesson 251
YOUCAT the catechism
for Catholic youth
251 What
are the degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders?
The sacrament of Holy Orders has three degrees: Bishop (episcopate), priest
(presbyterate), and deacon (diaconate). [1554, 1593] 140
Photo: …..The bishop ordains
each man by laying his hands on the candidate's head and praying silently as he
invokes the Holy Spirit upon the new priest. …..251
III. THE THREE DEGREES OF
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS
…….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."(Lumen Gentium 28.)32 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:Sources Chrẻtiennes
10,96.)33 –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second
Edition
IN BRIEF
…….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). --CCC
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