Priest

====Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy====
{{Main|Priesthood in the Catholic Church|Priesthood (Eastern Orthodox Church)}}
[[File:Orthodox priest family.jpg|thumb|[[Clerical marriage|Married Eastern Orthodox priest]] from [[Jerusalem]] with his family (three generations), {{circa|1893}}]]
The most significant [[Christian liturgy|liturgical]] acts reserved to priests in these traditions are the administration of the [[Sacrament]]s, including the celebration of the [[Mass (liturgy)|Holy Mass]] or [[Divine Liturgy]] (the terms for the celebration of the [[Eucharist]] in the [[Latin Church|Latin]] and Byzantine traditions, respectively), and the [[Sacrament of Reconciliation]], also called [[Confession (religion)|Confession]]. The sacraments of [[Anointing of the Sick]] ([[Extreme Unction]]) and [[Confirmation (Catholic Church)|Confirmation]] are also administered by priests, though in the Western tradition Confirmation is ordinarily celebrated by a [[bishop]]. In the East, Chrismation is performed by the priest (using oil specially [[consecrated]] by a bishop) immediately after Baptism, and [[Unction]] is normally performed by several priests (ideally seven), but may be performed by one if necessary. In the West, [[Baptism|Holy Baptism]] may be celebrated by anyone. The Vatican catechism states that "According to Latin tradition, the spouses as ministers of Christ's grace mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of [[Catholic marriage|Matrimony]]".<ref name="vatican">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – The sacrament of Matrimony |publisher=vatican.va |access-date=2015-07-25}}</ref> Thus marriage is a sacrament administered by the couple to themselves, but may be witnessed and blessed by a deacon, or priest (who usually administers the ceremony). In the East, Holy Baptism and Marriage (which is called "Crowning") may be performed only by a priest. If a person is baptized ''in extremis'' (i.e., when in fear of immediate death), only the actual threefold immersion together with the scriptural words<ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|28:19|KJV}}</ref> may be performed by a layperson or deacon. The remainder of the rite, and [[Chrismation]], must still be performed by a priest, if the person survives. The only sacrament which may be celebrated only by a bishop is that of [[Ordination]] (''cheirotonia'', "Laying-on of Hands"), or [[Holy orders in the Catholic Church|Holy Orders]].{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In these traditions, only men who meet certain requirements may become priests. In Catholicism, the [[canon law|canonical]] minimum age is twenty-five. Bishops may dispense with this rule and ordain men up to one year younger. Dispensations of more than a year are reserved to the [[Holy See]] (Can. 1031 §§1, 4.) A Catholic priest must be [[Incardination and excardination|incardinated]] by his bishop or his major religious [[Superior (hierarchy)|superior]] in order to engage in public ministry. [[Secular clergy|Secular priests]] are incardinated into a [[diocese]], whereas religious priests live the [[consecrated life]] and can work anywhere in the world that their specific community operates.

In Orthodoxy, the normal minimum age is thirty (Can. 11 of Neocaesarea) but a bishop may dispense with this if needed. In neither tradition may priests marry after ordination. In the Catholic Church, priests in the Latin Church must be [[clerical celibacy|celibate]] except under special rules for married clergy converting from certain other Christian confessions.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Peoria diocese ordains its first married priest
|last=Miller
|first=Michael
|work=[[Peoria Journal Star]]
|date=May 17, 2008
|page=C8
|url=https://rentapriest.blogspot.com/2008/05/peoria-diocese-ordains-its-first.html
|access-date=2013-06-14
|quote=About 100 [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] priests, many of them married, have become Roman Catholic priests since a "pastoral provision" was created by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1980, said [Doug] Grandon, director of catechetics for the diocese. [...] His family life will remain the same, he said. Contrary to popular misunderstandings, he won't have to be celibate.}}</ref> Married men may become priests in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] and the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], but in neither case may they marry after ordination, even if they become widowed. Candidates for bishop are chosen only from among the celibate. Orthodox priests will either wear a [[clerical collar]] similar to the above-mentioned, or simply a very loose black robe that does not have a collar.