Holy Orders
Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, men are entrusted with the same mission that Christ gave to his apostles. There are three degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders: diaconate, presbyterate, and episcopacy (deacons, priests, and bishops).
While all Christians are anointed as priest, prophet and king through the Sacrament of Baptism, the Sacrament of Holy Orders configures to the ministerial priesthood that Christ Jesus Himself instituted. Priests are configured to the person of Christ the head, who is priest, teacher, and pastor (see CCC 1581). It has been the Roman Church's practice since apostolic times that only celibate men can be ordained to the ministerial priesthood, in imitation of Christ, who was unmarried and a virgin.