Ecclesiastical Hierarchy
Ecclesiastical hierarchy is the complex of persons who share in the Church’s power. The word *gerarchia* is Greek (ἐπὶ ἀρχή) and means “sacred principate.”
The power conferred by Jesus Christ upon the Church (v.) is divided into the power of order and the power of jurisdiction. The former has as its immediate purpose the glorification of God in the offering of the Mass and the sanctification of souls through the administration of the sacraments; the latter has as its direct end the governance of the faithful with a view to attaining eternal life, and it is exercised in the infallible teaching of revealed truths (magisterium), in the promulgation of canon laws (legislative power), in deciding cases arising among the faithful (judicial power), and in applying penal sanctions against transgressors of the law (coercive power). These powers are to be regarded as different functions of the same *sacrum imperium* with which the Church, as a perfect society, is invested.
Jurisdiction is divided: a) into the power of the external forum, when it is directed primarily to the common good by regulating the social relations of members and producing public juridical effects; and the power of the internal forum, when it is directed primarily to private good by regulating the relations of consciences with God and producing chiefly moral effects; b) into ordinary power, when it is ipso iure connected with an office, and delegated power, when it is given to a person by commission. Ordinary power is further subdivided into proper power, if it is joined to an office and exercised in one’s own name, and vicarious power, if it is attached to an office but exercised in the name of another.
From this twofold sacred power there arises a twofold hierarchy: of order and of jurisdiction (cf. can. 108 § 3). The hierarchy of order consists of that complex of persons who are invested with the power to offer sacrifice and to administer the sacraments, conferred by sacramental ordination. The hierarchy of jurisdiction consists of the series of those persons who are endowed with the power to teach and to govern, transmitted to them according to juridical norms. In both hierarchies there are fundamental grades that have their origin in divine law: the episcopate, the presbyterate, and the diaconate in the hierarchy of order; the papacy and the episcopate in the hierarchy of jurisdiction. Alongside these fundamental grades there are various secondary grades instituted by the Church; for example, in the hierarchy of order there are the four grades that result from the minor orders (ostiariate, lectorate, exorcistate, acolytate).
The two hierarchies are truly distinct, though closely related. They differ in origin: for the power of order is conferred by a special sacrament, whereas jurisdiction is granted by canonical mission; they differ also in their properties, because the valid exercise of the power of order, in most cases, cannot be withdrawn, whereas jurisdiction can be revoked.
The two hierarchies, however, stand in mutual relation, first because jurisdiction, ordinarily, presupposes the power of order, while the exercise of the powers of order is directed by jurisdiction; and second, because both proceed from God, to whom, directly or indirectly, the souls of the faithful are oriented.
Those members of the Church who belong to the twofold hierarchy are called clerics (from Gk. χ λ η̂ ρ ° ς = lot, i.e., *in sortem Domini vocati*), while all others are called laity (from Gk. λ χ ἀ ς : people). Since the Church, by divine right, truly distinguishes within itself superiors and subjects, it is an unequal society, in which the members do not have equal rights and duties.
The individual grades and powers of the twofold hierarchy are treated under the following headings: ACCOLYTATE; DEACON AND ARCHDEACON; EXORCIST AND EXORCISTATE; INFALLIBILITY OF THE CHURCH AND OF THE POPE; LECTORATE; SACRED ORDER; OSTIARIATE; POPE, PAPACY, PRESBYTERATE; SUBDIACONATE; BISHOP.