![]() There are only two minor orders, lectors and subdeacons, but in practice these grades of the ministry have tended to lapse. Only unmarried or widowed priests may be consecrated bishop. An unmarried priest must remain celibate. A priest may remain married if he was married before his ordination but must not remarry if his wife dies after he is ordained. In the Eastern Orthodox church a candidate must fulfill the same requirements as in the Roman Catholic church, except that celibacy is not required for the diaconate or for the priesthood. ![]() It is possible for priests to withdraw from the ministry through a process called laicization, which has become more common since the late 1960s. Since the second Vatican Council (1962–65), married men may be ordained to the permanent diaconate otherwise, celibacy is a requirement for holy orders, except in certain specified cases. A candidate for holy orders must be a baptized male who has reached the required age, has attained the appropriate academic standard, is of suitable character, and has a specific clerical position awaiting him. All eight orders were formerly found in the Roman Catholic church, but, by a motu proprio of Pope Paul VI (effective January 1, 1973), there are now only the orders of bishop, priest, and deacon and the ministries of acolyte and lector. There is theological consensus that the orders of bishop, priest, and probably deacon are sacramental in character, but there is debate as to whether these three constitute one sacrament or two or three. In the Roman Catholic church holy orders is one of the seven sacraments (e.g, baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing the sick, holy orders, matrimony) the rite is so complex, however, that all theologians do not agree that it is a single sacrament. After the 9th century it became the rule that a man must progress from a lower to a higher order. In the early church a person was evidently not required to pass by regular steps from a lower to a higher order, and a layman could pass directly to any office in the church.
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