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In the course of the Church’s history, three ministries
have emerged as ministries to which access comes through ordination.
These
are the three so called holy orders.
We know them as the episcopacy,
priesthood and diaconate.
Though different in scope, all three are part of
the one sacrament of holy orders.
The Second Vatican Council
speaks of one ‘divinely established ministry which is exercised on
three levels by those who from antiquity have been called bishops, priests and
deacons’ (Lumen Gentium § 28). |
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