Home > Minor orders

• porter (or doorkeeper),
• lector,
• exorcist, and
• acolyte.

These four were called "minor orders" because perpetual celibacy was not a requirement for them. If a seminarian quit the seminary before becoming a subdeacon, he could still get married. After receiving all the minor orders, a seminarian could receive the major orders.

None of the minor orders were a part of the sacrament of Holy OrdersThis article is about the sacrament. Holy Orders was also the title of a 1908 book by Marie Corelli. Holy Orders in the modern Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Anglican churches, includes three degrees: bishops, priests,, but were instead viewed as preparatory offices. This system was abolished after the Second Vatican CouncilThe Second Vatican Council or Vatican II was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. It is not accepted by all who call themselves Catholics. Some attribute to it a les by Paul VI, though candidates for the priesthood must still receive the "ministries" of lector and acolyte before ordination. The duties formerly performed by members of the minor orders are now usually performed by the laityIn religious organizations , the laity comprises all lay persons, i. non- clergy, collectively. The term is often used more generally, in the context of any specialized profession, to refer to those who are not members of that profession. Roman Catholicis; see Catholic ministerUnlike in several Protestant churches, in the Roman Catholic Church the term minister is not commonly used to refer to a member of the clergy nor as a common term of address. In some parishes of the Catholic church in the United States there are ministers.

See also Holy OrdersThis article is about the sacrament. Holy Orders was also the title of a 1908 book by Marie Corelli. Holy Orders in the modern Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Anglican churches, includes three degrees: bishops, priests,.