“You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…” (Jn. 15:16)
All Christians, by right of their baptism, share in the common priesthood of Christ but some men are called to serve Christ and the Church in the sacrament of Holy Orders. There is a three-fold hierarchy of this sacrament: bishop, priest and deacon. The bishop shares in the fullness of Holy Orders and the priest and deacon are ordained to assist the bishop in his ministry.
A man interested in priesthood or the permanent diaconate must be Catholic, have been Catholic for at least three years and living a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.