The Sacrament of Holy Orders


Contact Father Philip Raether
(or the Archdiocese of Seattle Associate Director for Seminarians, Deacon Candidates, and Vocations - Richard Shively at (206) 382-4595)
for information regarding vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.
(CCC 1536)

The Three Degrees of the Sacrament of Holy Orders

"The divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times have been called bishops, priests, and deacons." 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. 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.
(CCC 1554)