Catholic Treasury Network
Part IIIa SupplementOrder (Holy Orders)Question 38

The Minister of Holy Orders

  1. The bishop alone has the power to confer the sacrament of orders.

  2. This power is not taken from a bishop. He retains it always. Even should he lapse into heresy or schism, he does not lose this power. A heretical or schismatical bishop would singravely by exercising the power to confer holy order.

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Full Summa Text · III Suppl., Q. 38
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