Holy Orders

Three Orders in One Sacrament

To ordain a man is to place him in one of the three Orders in this Sacrament: bishop, priest, or deacon.

All three orders are part of the priesthood.

Bishop

The English word, "bishop", comes from the Greek, epi-, "over," plus skopos, "watcher." The job of the bishop is to "watch over" the flock.

Bishops are the successors of the apostles.

Bishops are the high priests of their diocese.

The diocese is the basic building block of the Church--it is the smallest unit of the Church because only bishops can provide all seven sacraments.

Greek NT

Acts 20:28
Phil 1:1
1 Tim 3:2
Titus 1:7
1 Peter 2:25

Other languages

French	évêque
Spanish	obispo
Latin	episcopus
German	Bischof
Italian	vescovo

Priest

The English word, "priest", comes from the Greek, presbyteros, "elder."

Online Etymology Dictionary, "priest"

Old English preost, shortened from the older Germanic form represented by Old Saxon, Old High German prestar, Old Frisian prestere, from Vulgar Latin *prester "priest," from Late Latin presbyter "presbyter, elder," from Gk. presbyteros (see Presbyterian). In O.T. sense, a translation of Hebrew kohen, Greek hiereus, Latin sacerdos.

Deacon

The English word, "deacon", comes from the Greek diaconos, "servant."

Only men may be ordained

• "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis"--May 22, 1994.
• "Concerning the Teaching Contained in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis Responsum ad Dubium"--Ratzinger, CDF, October 28, 1995.