Holy Orders

The ministerial priesthood is a vocation. A calling to share in Christ's priesthood. It has a public, representative function, and is for service to the people of God.

The priest is a member of the Christian faithful who has been permanently configured to Christ through holy orders to serve the Church, in collaboration with the local bishop, as representative and agent of Christ, the head of the Church, and therefore as representative and agent of the Church community before God and the world (Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, at Synod of Bishops, 1990).

Holy Orders is the means that Christ uses to provide the faithful with true shepherds after His own heart. It is received in three degrees: deacon, priest, bishop. The Pope is both a bishop and the leader of all bishops; he is the successor to Saint Peter. By ordination, a bishop becomes a true successor to the first Apostles. Priests are ordained to be assistants to the bishops and to offer the faithful the Gospel and the Sacraments. Deacons assist both bishops and priests; they are appointed to serve the faithful in works of mercy and to preach the Gospel. Ordained persons have a role in the Church that is not given to the laity. Consecrated persons (monks and nuns) are non-ordained members of the laity.