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Holy Orders

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)

Ministerial priesthood consists of three orders:

• the order of the episcoporum - Bishop

• the order of the presbyterorum - Priest

• the order of the diaconorum - Deacon

Admission into one of these three orders is not just a matter of election, delegation, designation, or institution, but rather as a gift of the Holy Spirit, which comes from Christ through His Church. (Source: The Essential Catholic Handbook of the Sacraments)