There is a visible and external priesthood in the New Testament. It consists in the power of consecrating and offering the Body and Blood of the Lord, and of remitting and of retaining sins. The priesthood, therefore, is not only an office and simple ministry of preaching. Orders, or holy ordination, is truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ our Lord. There is a divinely instituted hierarchy consisting of bishops, priests, and ministers.
Bishops are superior to priests and have power to confirm and ordain.
The power they have is not common to both them and to priests. Building on these principles of doctrine, the Second Vatican Council stressed the need for priests to cooperate with the bishops. Together with their bishop, priests form a unique priestly community, although dedicated to a variety of different duties. Yet the constant tradition of the Catholic church recognizes the office of deacon as a divine institution. Among the duties of deacons in the first centuries of the Church, the following stand out.