In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders include the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox (ιερωσύνη [hierōsynē], ιεράτευμα [hierateuma], Священство [Svyashchenstvo]), Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, Independent Catholic and some Lutheran churches. Except for some Lutherans and Anglicans, these churches regard ordination as a sacrament (the sacramentum ordinis).
Denominations have varied conceptions of holy orders. In some Lutheran and Anglican churches the traditional orders of bishop, priest and deacon are bestowed using ordination rites contained within ordinals. The extent to which ordination is considered sacramental in these traditions has, however, been a matter of some internal dispute. Baptists are among the denominations that do not consider ministry as being sacramental in nature and would not think of it in terms of "holy orders" as such. Historically, the word "order" (Latin ordo) designated an established civil body or corporation with a Hierarchy, and ordinatio meant legal incorporation into an ordo. The word "holy" refers to the church. In context, therefore, a holy order is set apart for ministry in the church. Other positions, such as pope, patriarch, cardinal, monsignor, archbishop, archimandrite, archpriest, protopresbyter, hieromonk, protodeacon and archdeacon, are not sacramental orders but specialized ministries.
Anglicanism The Anglican churches hold their bishops to be in apostolic succession, although there is some difference of opinion with regard to whether ordination is to be regarded as a sacrament. The Anglican Articles of Religion hold that only baptism and the Lord's Supper are to be counted as sacraments of the gospel, and assert that other rites 'commonly called sacraments' by other denominations (e.g. Catholicism), were not ordained by Christ in the Gospel. They do not have the nature of a sacrament of the Gospel in the absence of any physical matter such as the water in baptism and the bread and wine in the Eucharist. Various editions of the Book of Common Prayer and other Anglican liturgical texts provide rites for ordination of bishops, priests and deacons. Only bishops may ordain people. Within Anglicanism, three bishops are normally required for ordination to the episcopate, while one bishop is sufficient for performing ordinations to the priesthood and diaconate.
Catholicism
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos.Catechism 1547 "The fullness of the sacrament of orders" belongs only to Bishops: presbyters and deacons, who are also "ordained", are nevertheless dependent upon bishops in the exercise of their authority.Second Vatican Council, Christus dominus, section 15, published on 28 October 1965, accessed on 8 August 2026 The ordained priesthood and common priesthood (or priesthood of all the baptized) are different in function and essence.Lumen Gentium 10
A distinction is made between priest and presbyter. In the 1983 Code of Canon Law, "The Latin words sacerdos and sacerdotium are used to refer in general to the ministerial priesthood shared by bishops and presbyters. The words presbyter, presbyterium and presbyteratus refer to priests [in the English use of the word] and presbyters". see also De ordinatione
While the consecrated life is neither clerical nor lay by definition,can. 588, CIC 1983 clerics can also be incardinated in an institute of consecrated life or society endowed with this faculty from the Apostolic see.can. 266, CIC 1983
Eastern Orthodoxy
The Eastern Orthodox Church considers ordination (known as cheirotonia, "laying on of hands") to be a sacred mystery (μυστήριο, what in the West is called a sacrament). Although all other mysteries may be performed by a presbyter, ordination may only be conferred by a bishop, and the ordination of a bishop may only be performed by several bishops together. Cheirotonia always takes place during the divine liturgy.
The Eastern Orthodox teach that it was the mission of the apostles to go forth into all the world and preach the Gospel, baptizing those who believed in the name of the Holy Trinity.Bible, In the early Church those who presided over congregations were referred to variously as episcopos (bishop) or presbyteros (priest). These successors of the apostles were ordained to their office by the laying on of hands, and according to Eastern Orthodox theology formed a living, organic link with the apostles, and through them with Jesus Christ himself.
The Eastern Orthodox Church also has ordination to minor orders (known as cheirothesia, "imposition of hands") which is performed outside of the Divine Liturgy, typically by a bishop, although certain archimandrites of stavropegial monasteries may bestow cheirothesia on members of their communities.
In Eastern Orthodoxy, a bishop is the collector of the money of the diocese and the living Vessel of Grace through whom the energeia (divine grace) of the Holy Spirit flows into the rest of the church. A bishop is consecrated through the laying on of hands by several bishops; although, with the consent of several other bishops, a single bishop has performed the ordination of another bishop in emergency situations, such as times of persecution.
The consecration of a bishop takes place near the beginning of the liturgy, since a bishop can, in addition to performing the mystery of the Eucharist, also ordain priests and deacons. Before the commencement of the liturgy, the bishop-elect professes, in the middle of the church before the seated bishops who will consecrate him, in detail the doctrines of the Eastern Orthodox faith and pledges to observe the canons of the apostles and councils, the Typikon and customs of the Eastern Orthodox Church and to obey ecclesiastical authority. After the Little Entrance, the archpriest and archdeacon conduct the bishop-elect before the church's royal gates where he is met by the bishops and kneels before the altar on both knees. The Gospel Book is laid over his head and the consecrating bishops lay their hands upon the Gospel Book, while the prayers of ordination are read by the eldest bishop. After this, the newly consecrated bishop ascends the synthranon (bishop's throne in the sanctuary) for the first time. Customarily, the newly consecrated bishop ordains a priest and a deacon at the liturgy during which he is consecrated.
A priest may serve only at the pleasure of his bishop. A bishop bestows faculties (permission to minister within his diocese) giving a priest chrism and an antimins; he may withdraw faculties and demand the return of these items. The ordination of a priest occurs before the Anaphora (Eucharistic Prayer) in order that he may on the same day take part in the celebration of the Eucharist: during the Great Entrance, the candidate for ordination carries the Aër (chalice veil) over his head (rather than on his shoulder, as a deacon otherwise carries it then) as a symbol of giving up his diaconate, and comes last in the procession and stands at the end of the pair of lines of the priests. After the Aër is taken from the candidate to cover the chalice and diskos, a chair is brought for the bishop to sit on by the northeast corner of the holy table (altar). Two deacons go to priest-elect who, at that point, had been standing alone in the middle of the church, and bow him down to the west (to the people) and to the east (to the clergy), asking their consent by saying "Command ye!" and then lead him through the holy doors of the altar where the archdeacon asks the bishop's consent, saying, "Command, most sacred master!" after which a priest escorts the candidate three times around the altar, during which he kisses each corner of the altar or holy table as well as the bishop's epigonation and right hand and prostrates himself before the holy table at each circuit. The candidate is then taken to the southeast corner of the holy table and kneels on both knees, resting his forehead on the edge of the Holy Table. The ordaining bishop then places his omophor and right hand over the ordinand's head and recites aloud the first Prayer of Cheirotonia and then prays silently the other two prayers of cheirotonia while a deacon quietly recites a litany and the clergy, then the congregation, chant "Lord, have mercy". Afterwards, the bishop brings the newly ordained priest to stand in the holy doors and presents him to the faithful. He then clothes the priest in each of his sacerdotal vestments, at each of which the people sing, Worthy!. Later, after the epiklesis of the liturgy, the bishop hands him a portion of the Lamb (Host) saying:
A deacon may not perform any sacrament and performs no liturgical services on his own but serves only as an assistant to a priest and may not even vest without the blessing of a priest. The ordination of a deacon occurs after the anaphora (eucharistic prayer) since his role is not in performing the mystery or sacrament but consists only in serving; the ceremony is much the same as at the ordination of a priest, but the deacon-elect is presented to the people and escorted to the holy doors by two sub-deacons (his peers, analogous to the two deacons who so present a priest-elect), is escorted three times around the altar by a deacon, and he kneels on only one knee during the Prayer of Cheirotonia. After being vested as a deacon and given a liturgical fan (ripidion or hexapterygion), he is led to the side of the altar where he uses the ripidion to gently fan the holy gifts (the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ).
Lutheranism
Ordination to holy orders is considered to be either a sacrament or rite in the Lutheran churches, depending on the churchmanship. According to the Book of Concord, an explication of the doctrine of the Lutheran churches: "But if ordination be understood as applying to the ministry of the Word, we are not unwilling to call ordination a sacrament. For the ministry of the Word has God's command and glorious promises, Rom. 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Likewise, Isa. 55:11: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. ...If ordination be understood in this way, neither will we refuse to call the imposition of hands a sacrament. For the Church has the command to appoint ministers, which should be most pleasing to us, because we know that God approves this ministry, and is present in the ministry [that God will preach and work through men and those who have been chosen by men]."
The Lutheran reforms are considered to be the most conservative of those that emerged in the Reformation. As such, much of Lutheranism follows the threefold office of deacon, priest, and bishop. The Lutheran archbishops of Finland, Sweden, etc. and Baltic countries are the historic national primates and some ancient cathedrals and parishes in the Lutheran church were constructed many centuries before the Reformation.
Lutherans universally believe that "no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called".Augsburg Confession, Ecclesiastical Order The Lutheran churches in Scandinavia, and those established in other parts of the world as a result of Scandinavian Lutheran missionary activity (such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya), practice episcopal succession in which the bishop whose holy orders can be traced back to the Apostles, performs ordinations.