St. Thomas

Question: Father, if both priests and deacons are ordained, why are they different?
Answer:  : Actually, deacons, priests and bishops are all ordained – they are the three orders of the clergy. Ordination is the conferral of the office of ministry to an individual trained in the practice of the faith and dedicated to the service of God within the Church. All three ordinations are performed by the same action, a laying on of hands. This physical connection goes back through the Church to the earliest Apostles who were given the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They laid hands upon those chosen to lead after them, and those men did the same for further generations. This creates an unbroken, apostolic line working to unite the Church spread throughout the world. A bishop lays hands on the head of a candidate to ordain him a deacon. At a later date, the bishop would lay hands on the head of a transitional deacon to ordain him a priest. For a bishop, several bishops must be present to lay hands on his head. What makes each ordination different is the ceremony. When presented for orders, the candidate is asked questions in which he has to make promises to fulfill duties and obligations unique to the order he is entering. Permanent deacons would be commissioned to preach, baptize and perform marriages. A priest would be commissioned to consecrate the Eucharist, forgive sins and anoint the sick, plus he promises celibacy. Bishops are commissioned to confirm and ordain. Each order has a function unique to its own. While the physical gesture is always the same, the intention is different. The bishop and the candidate intend for this ordination to be for a specific order in union with the whole Church. The Church, through years of education, formation, and investigation, agrees that the candidate is worthy or objects if not. All clergy must be ordained to each order in sequence. All clergy have been ordained deacons. Many deacons then are ordained priests. Some priests will be ordained bishops. They share all in the line of apostolic succession, but each is chosen and ordained for a special task for the service of the Church. So all are ordained the same way; the difference comes through the intention of the unique orders.