Minor Orders BY FR. LARRY RICE f you ask most Catholics about ordained ministries “Today, the Iand who does them, most would probably be able to name minor orders bishops, priests, and deacons. And today those are the ordained and tonsure orders in the Roman Catholic Church. ritual are fading But before 1972, there were ad- memories.” ditional “minor” order. As a sem- inarian progressed through his In 1972, Pope Paul VI suppressed and deacons. While the minor studies and formation, he would the minor orders, largely because orders are gone, seminarians have been inducted in the clerical they had become pro forma rituals intending on priesthood are state by a tonsure, a shaving of disconnected from the Church’s still ordained deacons-- transi- a portion of his head. Then, he life and sacraments. Today, sem- tional deacons-- often for their could have been received into inarians are “installed” as lec- last year of theological stud- the orders of Porter, Lector, Ex- tors authorized to proclaim the ies or for a pastoral internship. orcist, Acolyte, and Subdeacon. scriptures, and as acolytes who Until this last, a could still leave assist the priest at the altar. It’s Fr. Larry Rice is the former vocations formation and get married. But worth noting that both of these director for the Paulist Fathers. the subdiaconate included a vow ministries can be performed by of celibacy with precluded later lay people without any such “in- marriage. stallation,” so some pro forma rituals remain. None of these minor orders were considered sacraments, since Today the minor orders and they were not instituted by Christ tonsure ritual are fading memo- himself. ries. The ordained ministers in the church are bishops, priests, Copyright © 2018, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington USCCB DC. All rights reserved. .