What is the hierarchy order of the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

Answer:

The following is an outline of how the Catholic Church is organised.

Parish

This is the local level; each parish is headed by pastor, possibly assisted by other clergy. A parish has a council, a group of people elected the people; the council advises the clergy on almost all parish matters. The parish is where most Catholics experience Church through such things as worship, Scripture groups, youth organisations, funerals, weddings and social gatherings

Diocese

Parishes are grouped into a diocese, which is headed by a bishop who is regarded as the spiritual father of the diocese. It is his calling to make sure things run smoothly in his area and he appoints pastors to parishes, sometimes being assisted by a clergy personnel office. He is assisted by a council of priests and several offices such religious education, Catholic schools and justice + peace. A bishop is officially chosen by the Pope, but this is done only after the Pope's representative in a particular country, has done a significant amount of listening and searching.

Province

If there are quite a few dioceses in a country, they are arranged into geographical provinces, each headed by an archbishop (and honorary title). The province simply provides the opportunity for dioceses to collaborate. Sometimes their bishops make a joint statement on an issue that affects their area in a particular way e.g. the bishops of Southern California on the matter of illegal immigrants.

Conference

This refers to all the bishops of a particular country. They are responsible for a variety of matters including, but not limited to: speaking out on national matters of justice, liturgical adaptations within the nation, approving translations of The Bible for use in the country and establishing relevant policies to be followed nationally e.g. Canon Law states that a boy may not marry until he is 16 and girl until she is 14; a national conference can establish its own higher age limits.

The Curia

The Roman Curia comprises several departments, each responsible for given aspect of the Church on a universal level such as: bishops, priests + religious, ecumenism, interpretation of Canon Law, justice + peace, doctrine, worship + sacraments. Each department is headed by a cardinal; the cardinals function as close advisors to the Pope. It is also their job to select a new pope after the present one dies.

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Each local Church building is called the "parish." A Catholic will "belong" to one parish, but may visit any Catholic Church. Each parish has one or more priests assigned to celebrate the Sacraments in that place and for that particular group of people. A group of parishes, called a Diocese, will be under the jurisdiction of a Bishop. An Archbishop just is a Bishop in charge of a particularly large diocese. The Pope is the Bishop of the city of Rome. The Pope and the other Bishops have a somewhat complex relationship---the Pope is not really the "boss" of the other Bishops, but is still accorded more respect than any other individual Bishop. Some Bishops are also Cardinals, that is, they belong to a group of Bishops that elect the next Pope.

There are also Religious Orders. Dominicans, for example, are fond of education; Franciscans place a particular emphasis on poverty; Passionists have a particular devotion to the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross. Orders can be Active (missionaries, running schools or hospitals, etc.) Contemplative (living in a Monastery and praying for 5 or 6 hours a day). Members of Active Orders are called Brothers or Sisters. Members of Contemplative orders are called Monks or Nuns. Some Monks and Brothers end up being ordained Priests. Some Orders are only for men; some only for women, some for both. Som of the larger Orders (e.g. Dominicans, Franciscans) allow lay people to join as well. Each Order has a Superior who is the "boss" of everyone in that Order. The Orders are in some ways independent of the Bishops---the members "report" to the Superior of the Order, for example---but if an Order is to set up a school or hospital or Monastery on some piece of land somewhere they have to get permission from the Bishop of that area to do so.

By 600 AD there were five primary "centres" (called Patriarchates) of the Catholic Church all in communion (agreement) with each other and these Patriarchates with their own "rites" formed the Holy Catholic Church (notice the use of upper case letters): Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Rome.

Each major Patriarchate had its own Bishop, and no religious decisions were made unless all five Bishops agreed - the Roman Bishop (known as The Pope), was one of several Bishops who made decisions regarding the Catholic church. In 1054, The Church was rocked by a political division which essentially split The Church geographically, and realigned allegiances for most, but not all of the Patriarchates.

Most US Catholics think the Latin Rite is the only Catholic rite. But there are kinds of Catholics all of whom are true and very real Catholics in communion (with or without Rome's approval) - and even the Latin Rite has several sub-rites such as the Braga Catholics, the Rite Lyonais, and Gallican-Mozarabics and others. Most American Catholics have never heard of these Latin Catholic rites, and even the Byzantines frequently share the very same church buildings as Roman Catholics.

Currently, even the Pope recognizes about 35 Catholic "rites" within the Roman Catholic Church. Other Catholic bishops recognize a few more than Rome. Even the Pope in Rome recognizes the Patriarch of Antioch in Damascus, Syria; the Maronites whose Patriarch lives in Bekerkeh, Lebanon, and the Coptic Rite Catholics whose Patriarch lives in Cario, as his equals and co-leaders of The Catholic Church.

The Eastern Rites (Russian, and Greek), are also true Catholics, but many of the Orthodox rites are not currently in communion with Rome (something the late Pope John Paul II, worked very hard to correct).

Answer 2

Liturgical ranks range downward: Bishop, Priest, Deacon. Only a bishop may administer the Sacrament of Holy Orders and is the preferred minister of the Sacrament of Confirmation. He is the only one empowered to absolve someone who is under excommunication for abortion. A priest may administer the other five, and Confirmation under special circumstances. A Deacon may assist in the Mass, parish duties, and preach the Gospel. Permanent deacons may be married, IF they was married prior to his diaconate, but may not marry or marry again after ordination.

Answer1. The Pope

2. The Bishops

3. Priests

4. The Laity

it is created in from the top position to the bottom, the guy in the top is more powerful. 1.pope 2.archbishops 3.bishops 4.priests, 5.laity.

Catholic AnswerIn the Catholic faith the hierarchy has a very specific meaning explained below. If you are asking for the organization of the Church, that is a little different. The Church, basically, has Jesus Christ as its Head and all the faithful as its members, defined as the whole People of God - this includes in some fashion *everyone* who has been baptized and professed their faith in Jesus Christ. This would include even Christians who do not identify themselves with the Church (i.e. protestants). Within the Church of Christ there are various ministries of service, beginning with priests who represent Christ in a very real way. Various levels of priest have various responsibilities and powers in representing Christ to the people ending with the Pope, or Holy Father, who is styled, "The servant of the servants of God". The actual hierarchy has been fixed since the very early Church, although there are different "levels" of bishops: Cardinals are usually Bishops who have the additional responsibility of electing the next pope. Archbishops are bishops in charge of an archdiocese. Priests may carry the honorary title of monsignor, but this makes no difference in their priesthood, etc. There are also several minor orders, but they are not considered clerics until they are tonsured, nuns and monks are just religious, but considered "laity" as far as the hierarchy is concerned.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Hierarchy. The successors of the Apostles under the Pope as successor of St. Peter. Three powers are included under the Catholic hierarchy: teaching, pastoral, and sacerdotal. They correspond to the threefold office laid on Christ as man for the redemption of the world; the office of prophet or teacher, the pastoral or royal office of ruler, and the priestly office of sanctifying the faithful. Christ transferred this threefold office, with the corresponding powers, to the Apostles and their successors. A man enters the hierarchy by episcopal ordination when he receives the fullness of the priesthood. But he depends on collegial union with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic hierarchy for actually being able to exercise the two other powers of teaching divine truth and of legitimately ruling the believers under his jurisdiction. (Etym. Latin hiearchia, holy authority, from Greek hierarchia, power of a hierarches, a steward or president of sacred rites.)

Answer 3

The hierarchy of the Church: God Jesus Christ The Holy Father - Christ's representative on earth Cardinals - College of Cardinals The Bishops - the successors to the apostles The Priests - their helpers The Deacons - the Priests' helpers The Laity

Answer 4

It's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church.

Deacon; Priest; (Ordinary) diocesan Bishop; Pope; minor Orders: Lector, Acolyte, Tonsure.

An Auxillary Bishop is a "helping" bishop, who works locally with the "ordinary" bishop. The "Ordinary" is the bishop who governs a diocese. There is no real difference between a Bishop and an Archbishop, other than the size of the area they govern.

The term monsignor is honorific, and the title "Cardinal" does not fall into the heirachy, as many deacons were Cardinals in the past. The only duty that is specific to a Cardinal is that they are an elector in the next Papal election.

Answer 5

Pope

Archbishop (including cardinals)

Bishop

Priest

Deacon

Laity

Pope

Archbishop

Bishop

Priest

Deacon

.

The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is as follows:

• 1 Episcopate

• 1.1 Pope
• 1.2 Patriarchs
• 1.3 Major Archbishops
• 1.4 Cardinals
• 1.5 Primates
• 1.6 Metropolitans
• 1.7 Archbishops
• 1.8 Diocesan Bishops
• 1.9 Other Bishops
• 1.10 Positions analogous to that of bishop
  • 1.10.1 Equivalents of Diocesan Bishops in law

• 2 Presbyterate

• 2.1 Priests in service outside their diocese
• 2.2 Positions within a diocese at diocesan level
• 2.3 Vicars Forane or Deans
• 2.4 Pastors
• 2.5 Parochial Vicars
• 2.6 Honorary titles

• 3 Diaconate

• 3.1 Archdeacons
• 3.2 Subdeacons

• 4 The Laity

• 4.1 Lay Ministry/Lay Apostolate
• 4.2 Religious

Answer 6

The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Bishops are in charge of a Diocese, priests are ordained for a particular diocese and take a vow of obedience to the Bishop and his successors. Deacons are ordained by the Bishop to assist the priests. An archbishop is a bishop who is over an archdiocese, a cardinal is usually a Bishop who has been chosen to choose the next pope. The Holy Father (the Pope) is over all. Cardinals are usually Archbishops before they receive the red hat of a Cardinal.

Answer 7

There are 7 hierarchical levels in the church. Based on bottom up approach, they are The Laity, Deacons, Priests, Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals and the Pope.

Answer 8

There are three main hierarchy within the Catholic Church. These three tiers includes the Pope, the Bishops and Dioceses, and then the Priests and Parishes.

Answer 9

Which church?