Editing Holy orders (section)

== Process and sequence ==
[[File:Priestly ordination.jpg|thumb|200px|left|At priestly ordination the [[bishop]] imposes hands upon the [[deacon]] who is by that matter and the form of the consecratory [[Preface (liturgy)|preface]] ordained to the [[priesthood]]. Pictured is the third imposition of hands as in the pre-1968 [[Roman Pontifical]], in 1999, [[Fontgombault Abbey]], [[France]].]]

The sequence in which holy orders are received are: [[minor orders]], deacon, priest, bishop.

For Catholics, it is typical in the years of [[seminary]] training that a man will be ordained to the diaconate, which Catholics since the Second Vatican Council sometimes call the "transitional diaconate" to distinguish men bound for priesthood from [[permanent deacon]]s. They are licensed to preach sermons (under certain circumstances a permanent deacon may not receive faculties to preach), to perform [[baptism]]s, and to witness [[Catholic marriage]]s, but to perform no other sacraments. They assist at the [[Eucharist]] or the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], but are not able to consecrate the bread and wine. Normally, after six months or more as a transitional deacon, a man will be ordained to the priesthood. Priests are able to [[Preaching|preach]], perform [[baptism]]s, [[confirmation|confirm]] (with special dispensation from their ordinary), witness marriages, hear [[Confession (religion)|confessions]] and give [[absolution]]s, [[unction|anoint the sick]], and celebrate the [[Eucharist]] or the Mass.

Orthodox seminarians are typically [[tonsure]]d as [[Reader (liturgy)|readers]] before entering the seminary, and may later be made subdeacons or deacons; customs vary between seminaries and between Orthodox jurisdictions. Some deacons remain permanently in the diaconate while most subsequently are ordained as priests. Orthodox clergy are typically either married or [[Monasticism|monastic]]. Monastic deacons are called [[hierodeacon]]s, monastic priests are called [[hieromonk]]s. Orthodox clergy who marry must do so prior to ordination to the subdiaconate (or diaconate, according to local custom) and typically one is either tonsured a monk or married before ordination. A deacon or priest may not marry, or remarry if widowed, without abandoning his clerical office. Often, widowed priests take [[monastic vows]]. Orthodox bishops are always monks; a single or widowed man may be elected a bishop but he must be tonsured a monk before consecration as a bishop.

For Anglicans, a person is usually ordained a [[deacon]] once he (or she) has completed training at a theological college. The historic practice of a bishop tutoring a candidate himself ("reading for orders") is still to be found. The candidate then typically serves as an assistant [[curate]] and may later be ordained as a [[priest]] at the discretion of the bishop. Other deacons may choose to remain in this order. Anglican deacons can preach sermons, perform [[baptism]]s and conduct funerals, but, unlike priests, cannot celebrate the [[Eucharist]]. In most branches of the Anglican church, women can be ordained as priests, and in some of them, can also be ordained [[bishop]]s.

[[File:Ordination sacerdotale.jpg|thumb|right|Anointment of the hands of a newly ordained priest.]]

[[Bishop]]s are chosen from among priests in churches that adhere to Catholic usage. In the Catholic Church, bishops, like priests, are celibate and thus unmarried; further, a bishop is said to possess the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders, empowering him to ordain deacons, priests, and – with papal consent – other bishops. If a bishop, especially one acting as an ordinary – a head of a diocese or archdiocese – is to be ordained, three bishops must usually co-consecrate him with one bishop, usually an archbishop or the bishop of the place, being the chief consecrating prelate.

Among Eastern Rite Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, which permit married priests, bishops must either be unmarried or agree to abstain from contact with their wives. It is a common misconception that all such bishops come from [[religious orders]]; while this is generally true, it is not an absolute rule. In the case of both Catholics – (Western and) Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox, they are usually leaders of territorial units called [[diocese]]s (or its equivalent in the east, an [[eparchy]]). Only bishops can validly administer the sacrament of holy orders.

===Recognition of other churches' orders===
The Catholic Church unconditionally recognizes the validity of ordinations in the Eastern churches. Some Eastern Orthodox churches reordain Catholic priests who convert while others accept their Catholic ordination using the concept of [[Economy (Eastern Orthodoxy)|economia (church economy)]].

[[Anglican]] churches claim to have maintained apostolic succession.<ref>[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgbmxd/patriarc.htm The Ecumenical Patriarch on Anglican Orders<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020125091106/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgbmxd/patriarc.htm |date=2002-01-25 }}</ref> The succession of Anglican bishops is not universally recognized, however. The Catholic Church judged Anglican orders invalid when [[Pope Leo XIII]] in 1896 wrote in ''[[Apostolicae curae]]'' that Anglican orders lack validity because the rite by which priests were ordained was not correctly worded from 1547 to 1553 and from 1559 to the time of Archbishop [[William Laud]] (Archbishop of Canterbury 1633–1645). The papacy claimed the form and matter was inadequate to make a Catholic bishop. The actual "mechanical" succession, prayer and laying on hands, was not disputed. Two of the four consecrators of [[Matthew Parker]] in 1559 had been consecrated using the [[Edwardine Ordinals]] and two using the [[Roman Pontifical]]. Nonetheless, they believed that this caused a break of continuity in apostolic succession, making all further ordinations null and void.

[[Eastern Orthodox]] bishops have, on occasion, granted "economy" when Anglican priests convert to Orthodoxy. Various Orthodox churches have also declared Anglican orders valid subject to a finding that the bishops in question did indeed maintain the true faith, the Orthodox concept of apostolic succession being one in which the faith must be properly adhered to and transmitted, not simply that the ceremony by which a man is made a bishop is conducted correctly.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=E. R. |title=Orthodox Statements on Anglican Orders |publisher=Morehouse-Gorham Co. |year=1946 |language=English}}</ref> Some Eastern Orthodox have also considered holy orders from canonically disputed or independent Eastern Orthodox churches as valid.<ref name="Anson2006">{{Cite book |last=Anson |first=Peter F |author-link=Peter Anson |url={{GBurl|lTD_PAAACAAJ}} |title=Bishops at large |publisher=Apocryphile Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-977146-18-5 |edition=1st Apocryphile |series=Independent Catholic Heritage |location=[[Berkeley, California]] |pages=504–506 |oclc=72443681 |orig-year=1964 |lang=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Namee |first=Matthew |date=2011-03-15 |title=Bishop Joseph Zuk: A brief biographical overview |url=https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2011/03/15/bishop-joseph-zuk-a-brief-biographical-overview/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307181036/https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2011/03/15/bishop-joseph-zuk-a-brief-biographical-overview/ |archive-date=2025-03-07 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Orthodox History |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.uocofusa.org/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307181610/https://www.uocofusa.org/history |archive-date=2025-03-07 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA |quote=In 1928 a second group of Ukrainian Orthodox faithful in the USA initiated a movement toward Orthodoxy. Because of the questions surrounding the status of Archbishop John, the group hesitated in affiliating itself with his already established jurisdiction even though it was thriving. The first Sobor of this group met in Allentown, PA in the spring of 1929 and established itself as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America. Rev. Dr. Joseph Zuk was elected as administrator to organize the diocese and at its second Sobor of 1931 in New York City he was elected as its first Bishop. Two hierarchs of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the USA consecrated Bishop Zuk in 1932 at St. Volodymyr Cathedral, on 14th Street in New York City. Unfortunately, Bishop Joseph lived less than two years following his consecration.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Damick |first=Fr Andrew Stephen |date=2009-07-18 |title=From Aftimios Ofiesh to The Satan Seller |url=https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2009/07/17/from-aftimios-ofiesh-to-the-satan-seller/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250308020702/https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2009/07/17/from-aftimios-ofiesh-to-the-satan-seller/ |archive-date=2025-03-08 |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=Orthodox History |language=en-US}}</ref>

Several Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs and Synods have recognized the validity of Anglican orders. In 1922, the Ecumenical Patriarch [[Meletius Metaxakis|Meletios IV]] issued a statement recognizing that Anglican ordinations were "of the same validity as those of the Roman, Old Catholic, and Armenian Churches."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=E.R. |url=https://anglicanhistory.org/usa/erhardy/statements1946.pdf |title=Orthodox Statements on Anglican Orders |publisher=Morehouse-Gorham Co. |year=1946 |pages=1–2}}</ref> The 1923 Synod of Constantinople reaffirmed this position. Following this statement from Constantinople, the Holy Synod of the [[Church of Cyprus]] recognized the validity of Anglican orders in 1923,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=E.R. |url=https://anglicanhistory.org/usa/erhardy/statements1946.pdf |title=Orthodox Statements on Anglican Orders |publisher=Morehouse-Gorham Co. |year=1946 |pages=8–9}}</ref> as did the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, [[Damian I of Jerusalem|Damian I]], and the Synod of his church, in the same year.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=E.R. |url=https://anglicanhistory.org/usa/erhardy/statements1946.pdf |title=Orthodox Statements on Anglican Orders |publisher=Morehouse-Gorham Co. |year=1946 |pages=6–7}}</ref> The Patriarch of Alexandria officially recognized the validity of Anglican orders in 1930.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=E.R. |url=https://anglicanhistory.org/usa/erhardy/statements1946.pdf |title=Orthodox Statements on Anglican Orders |publisher=Morehouse-Gorman Co. |year=1946 |pages=10–12}}</ref> In 1936, the Holy Synod of the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]] formally recognized the validity of Anglican orders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=E.R. |url=https://anglicanhistory.org/usa/erhardy/statements1946.pdf |title=Orthodox Statements on Anglican Orders |publisher=Morehouse-Gorham Co. |year=1946 |pages=14–16}}</ref> Ecumenical dialogues between the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican churches on the recognition of orders are ongoing.

Changes in the Anglican ordinals since King [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]], and a fuller appreciation of the pre-[[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] ordinals, suggest that the correctness of the enduring dismissal of Anglican orders is questionable.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1896-09-15 |title=On the Nullity of Anglican Orders - Papal Encyclicals |url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/leo13/l13curae.htm |access-date=2025-03-08 |language=en}}</ref> To reduce doubt concerning Anglican apostolic succession, especially since the 1931 [[Bonn Agreement (religion)|Bonn agreement]] between the Anglican and Old Catholic churches, some Anglican bishops have included among their consecrators bishops of the [[Old Catholic Church]], whose holy orders are recognised as valid and regular by the Catholic Church.

Neither Catholics nor Anglicans recognize the validity of ordinations of ministers in Protestant churches that do not maintain apostolic succession; but some Anglicans, especially Low Church or Evangelical ones, commonly treat Protestant ministers and their sacraments as valid. Rome also does not recognize the apostolic succession of those Lutheran bodies which retained apostolic succession.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

Officially, the [[Anglican Communion]] accepts the ordinations of those denominations which are in full communion with their own churches, such as the [[Lutheran]] state churches of Scandinavia. Those clergy may preside at services requiring a priest if one is not otherwise available.

===Marriage and holy orders===
{{See also|Clerical celibacy|Clerical celibacy (Catholic Church)}}

Married men may be ordained to the diaconate as permanent deacons, but in the [[Latin Church]] of the [[Catholic Church]] generally may not be ordained to the priesthood. In the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] and in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], married deacons may be ordained priests but may not become bishops. Bishops in the Eastern Rites and the Eastern Orthodox churches are almost always drawn from among [[Monasticism|monks]], who have taken a vow of celibacy. They may be widowers, though; it is not required of them never to have been married.

In some cases, widowed permanent deacons have been ordained to the priesthood. There have been some situations in which men previously married and ordained to the priesthood in an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] church or in a [[Lutheran]] church have been ordained to the Catholic priesthood and allowed to function much as an Eastern Rite priest but in a Latin Church setting. This is never ''[[sub conditione]]'' (conditionally), as there is in Catholic canon law no true priesthood in Protestant denominations. Such ordination may only happen with the approval of the priest's Bishop and a special permission by the Pope.

Anglican clergy may be married or may marry after ordination. In the [[Old Catholic Church]] and the [[Independent Catholic Churches]] there are no ordination restrictions related to marriage.