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Questions & Answers

Ordination

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › The Sacraments › Ordination

The question

To my understanding, the mystery of holy Priesthood is normally conferred in consecutive steps with one normally ordained to the Diaconate first before being ordained a priest. But, what if an Orthodox Bishop were to ordain a person directly as a priest without first ordaining him to the Diaconate, would such a direct ordination be a real ordination? Would that person be a real priest?

The answer

In the early Church, especially in the first three centuries, the common performance was to ordain priests directly. Later on, the Church established the hierarchical and conciliar order that is still in place until today: chanter, reader, sub-deacon, deacon, archdeacon, and priest. Typically, ordination should take place in this order. Sometimes a layman is ordained in more than one office in the course of a few days; skipping ranks on the way. Today, the normal practice is to ordain a person deacon before ordaining him a priest.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 1197 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.