What are the Catholic ranks?

Question

I know the "pastor" of a local catholic church is considered a "father." But what other titles are there and what are their ranks? If you do well as a "father," do you get promoted to something else?

Answer 1

A "Deacon" is a man who has been ordained through the sacrament of Holy Orders (the first portion of the sacrament) to serve God, Holy Mother Church, and the people. A deacon may preside over the sacraments of Baptism and Marriage. A deacon may be married at the moment of his ordination but may not marry after his ordination without permission from the Church. A deacon assists the presiding priest during the sacrifice of the Mass, he may offer the homily, and he reads the Gospel. He may administer the Eucharist after consecration. A large part of his ministry is spent in counseling, hospital visits, and religious instruction.

A "Priest" is a man who has been ordained through the sacrament (after first being ordained a deacon) of Holy Orders to serve God, Holy Mother Church, and the people. A priest may preside over the sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Marriage, and Blessing of the Sick. With his bishop's permission he may preside over the sacrament of Confirmation. A priest may not marry, but a married man may, with the permission of the Holy Father, become a priest. A priest's chief purpose is to confect the Eucharist during Mass. A priest may become Pastor of a Parish with the responsibilty of administering all aspects of that parish. He may have one or more priests assigned to his parish as Parochial Vicars.

A priest may be given an honorific title of "Monsignor". There is no added responsibilty or duty; the title is given in recognition of effort and results. The title of Monsignor is honorific and does not require a sacrament to be realised.

A "Bishop" is a man who has been ordained through the sacrament of Holy Orders (after being ordained a priest; a bishop has received the fullest realization of the sacrament) to serve God, Holy Mother Church, and the people. A bishop may confer all seven sacraments: Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and annointing of the Sick. A bishop may be given charge of a Dioscese which is a group of parishes. An Archbishop may preside over an Archdioscese, a larger or more populous dioscese. A bishop has a Cathedral church (Latin "Cathedra" = "seat") as the spiritual/administrative center of his dioscese. A bishop is responsible for the spiritual health of his flock and will be held accountable before God for it.

A "Cardinal" is a bishop or archbishop chosen by the Holy Father as one of his advisors. The College of Cardinals has the responsibility to elect the Pope. The title of Cardinal is honorific and does not require a sacrament to be realised.

The Pope is the head of the Church. In modern times he has been chosen from among the College of Cardinals but this is not a requirement. The Pope is also referred to as the "Pontiff" (bridge builder, referring to his function as a mediator), and "Holy Father" because he is responsible for God's children on earth.

It is not really correct to consider these as "ranks" like in an army, but I think I understand your question and I hope this answer has been helpful. May God bless you!

Answer 2

Ho boy, you'd think I'd know this.

A Catholic clergyman is called a Priest. A parish consists of one church. Commonly, several Priests serve one parish. The Priest in charge of the parish is the parish's Pastor. Due to declining ranks in the Priesthood, today many parishes have only one Priest. Sometimes there is only one Priest for two or more parishes.

A diocese is a group of parishes in a geographic region. The head of a diocese is a Bishop. A Bishop wears the pointed hat (miter) and carries a staff (can't think of the word, it is something in latin like cruizere). The staff is reminiscent of a shepherd's staff. The Bishop is the shepherd and the people are his flock. A Bishop wears a purple skullcap and sash with his black frock (don't snicker, that's what it's called). Only a Bishop can perform a confirmation and only a Bishop can ordain a Priest or Deacon.

Some Bishops are made Cardinals. Only the Pope can elevate a Bishop to become a Cardinal. There is no set number of Cardinals and no set criteria. Cardinals wear a red skullcap and sash. Upon the death of the Pope, Cardinals elect the next Pope. Cardinals are addressed as "John Cardinal Doe".

The Bishop of Rome has come to be known as The Pope and is the most powerful Bishop.

The Pope and all Cardinals are Bishops (and Priests) but not the other way around.

I have left some things out. Large and important Diocese are known as Archdiocese and are led by an Archbishop. Don't know if there is any set criteria.

Only a Priest (or higher) can say Mass and hear confession. A Deacon can perform a marriage (if there is no Mass) and perform a Baptism (again, if there is no mass).

Opening a can of worms here I know - Priests cannot marry and take vows of celibacy. Let's just leave it at that.

Not sure what to say about Deacons, Monks, Abbotts and Nuns. Deacons are ordained but not Priests. They cannot say Mass but are active in the church, can cousel parishoners etc. Deacon is very much a part-time job, they have careers, families homes etc.

Monks and Nuns take vows, different orders have different rules. All Monks and Nuns take a vow of celibacy. An Abbott is the leader of an order of Monks. Different groups use different names.

There is also the title Monsignior. I am unclear about this. I believe it is an honorary title given to a well-loved (OK poor choice of words here) and long-time Priest. A Monsignior has a red trim (don't start) on his frock. A Monsignior is not a Bishop.

With the exception of Nuns, all are men.

I'm sure there is quite a bit I've left out.

Answer 3

Theres a Priest who does all the church services/sacraments such as baptisms, The Consecration of the Holy Eucharist, the whole mass, witness marriages, listen to confessions and retain or absolve sins, and do the sacrament of the annoinment of the sick, he can't get married though..... Theres a deacon who can do all that except Consecrate the Eucharist and say the homily at the mass, he also can't perform the sacrament of Reconcilliation( confession), he can't perform the sacrament of Anoniment of the sick aswell... but he can get married.... Then theres a bishop hes the leader of the Diocese and He gets to decide everything about the Diocese he must visit the pope once a year and give a report he also performs the sacrament of Confrimation and he also ordanes priest (he has alot of other jobs but thats what it is mostly), Then theres a cardinal who is the one who elects the pope thats his biggest job he can also be ellected for pope, Then theres the pope the vicar of Christ he decides what goes for the whole church he the guy who "feeds the flock" for Jesus as Peter did he also if there is a reason makes a new Doctorine or Dogma he has alot of jobs we consider him infalliable that doesnt mean he's perfect at all but we believe if he were to take ex-cathedra from the chair of saint Peter by the Power of the Holy Spirit he could not tell a lie.

Theres also Friars, Monks
Sisters, and Nuns

they devote theyre life to God and some help the community by teaching, working at food banks, helping poor people, orthans, getting kids perprared for the sacraments and other stuff

then theres those who are cloistered meaning they life secluted living in there convents mostly praying.. then there are those who are clostiered but interact with the others in there convents .....i didnt give official names but thats how it is basically ooo and there is a third order lay person who is like a Nun of Friar but lives also another life and can have a marriage unlike normal nuns friars sisters and monks who take a vow of poverty and chasity/celibacy.

Answer 4

There are three "ranks" in the Catholic church, in terms of clerical roles. They are the bishop, the presbyter or priest, and the deacon.

You don't really get promoted in the Catholic Church. There are also additional roles, which go by various names, for people who hold administrative responsibility for larger groups. A bishop is ordained to succed the apostles in responsibility. Each Catholic bishop can directly trace his ordination back to the twelve, beginning with Mathias in Acts 1:46.

A presbyter and a deacon both are helpers to the bishop. The presbyter stands in the bishops role in the local church, the deacon sees to the charitable needs of the community and helps in proclaiming the word.

In addition to these core functions, some priests are responsible for performing administrative functions over an area. Usually the title is a dean, who administers a deanery. In addition, often a single deacon holds administrative responsibilities over all other deacons in the bishop's territory. This person is often called an archdeacon.

Outside the bishop's territory, there are regional synods for bishops called metropolia. The lead bishop of a metropolia is called an archbishop or metropolitan. Most metropolia are also organized into larger synods called patriarchates. Patriarchates are the largest administrative level in the Catholic Church. They are almost always managed by apostolic sees, or churches founded by an apostle such as Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Kerala etc. They are the largest single self-governing unit.

The bishop of Rome is the Patriarch of most western Catholic churches and is the court of last appeal for all Christians. In English, he is called the Pope, but that just means father.

So you get promoted from "father," and if you get to be "pope," all you get is called "father," again.

Catholicism is very flat, each bishop's territory is largely self governing. No one really outranks a bishop, although the larger territories have governing rules and generally make the broader set of governing rules for operation.

You may hear "cardinals" spoken of. That is not a rank, it is a designation that the person is among the people responsible for selecting the next pope of Rome. In addition, they may become responsible for administrative roles in addition to their normal ministries or may in fact move entirely into administrative or diplomatic roles.

Answer 5

The head of a parish is a priest. The Pope appoints a bishop to lead a diocese, which is a collection of parishes. The Pope selects certain bishops to advise him and these people are called cardinals. At the death of a Pope, the cardinals gather and after praying to God to guide them, they select the new Pope.