October 17, 2007
By Juanita Jimenez / 11 News
Word that Archbishop Daniel DiNardo was named Cardinal is spreading like wildfire.
To understand what this honor means, first you need to understand the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
It goes like this: Deacon, Priest, Bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal and Pope.
Deacons are ordained ministers in the Church. They can be married. They can also perform baptisms, marriages, funerals, ministers of the Body and Blood of Christ, preach, proclaim the Gospel and assist in a specified role. They can’t consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ at mass, hear confessions and anoint the sick.
A Priest is ordained. He makes a promise to be obedient to the bishop and his successors and to be celibate. He has the authority to consecrate the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ at the altar. He also hears and absolves sin in the confessional and anoints the sick for healing. There are two levels of priests (1) the pastor, who is responsible for the parish for which he is assigned; (2) a parochial vicar, used to be associate pastor, who works with the pastor in the day to day operation of the parish. A can be a Monsignor, but not all priests are Monsignors. This is a courtesy title. It's a title given to priests who have served their church exceptionally well.
A Bishop is responsible for the regulation of his diocese in matters of rules for liturgy, marriages, education and just about everything else. Each bishop is an independent leader of his diocese. He is assigned to dioceses.
The Archbishop is like a distinguished bishop and is in charge of an archdiocese. He has the power to call a council of his bishops to rule on teachings and to rule on diocesan appeal court matters.
A Cardinal doesn’t always have to be an Archbishop before being named. He can be a deacon or a priest. He joins other Cardinals in advising the Holy Father or the Pope who also names them. They make up a College of Cardinals from around the world. They elect the Pope after the present one dies.
There is only one pope in the Catholic Church. He is elected and heads the Church and the College of Cardinals.
Currently, there are more than one billion Roman Catholics in the world. About two million of these Catholics make up the Diocese of Galveston/Houston.
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