Priests and Deacons

Authority level: Dogma
Disciplinary status: Church discipline
This article contains claims at more than one doctrinal grade. The summary shows the highest represented grade.
GuideThe sacrament and its degrees are doctrine; the conditions and exercise of clerical ministry also involve changeable discipline.
Contents

Priests and Deacons is Two distinct ordained ministries that cooperate with the bishop in pastoral care, worship, proclamation, and charity.

Presbyters

Priests, also called presbyters, share in the bishop's ministry and form one presbyterate with him. They ordinarily preach, celebrate the Eucharist, reconcile penitents, anoint the sick, and shepherd communities, but they do not possess the fullness of Holy Orders or ordain other ministers.[1][2]

A pastor is a priest entrusted with a parish; not every priest is a pastor. Religious priests also live according to the constitutions of their institute, while diocesan priests are incardinated in a diocese or other canonical structure.

Deacons

Deacons are ordained not to priesthood but to a ministry of service. They proclaim the Gospel, assist at the altar, may baptize and witness marriages according to law, preside at certain prayers and funerals, and exercise works of charity. The permanent diaconate can be conferred on married men; discipline differs among the Catholic churches.

References

  1. 1.Presbyterorum ordinis — Vatican II decree on priestly ministry and life
  2. 2.Catechism: Three Degrees of Holy Orders — Paragraphs 1554–1571 on bishops, priests, and deacons