Sacred ministers, those who serve the spiritual needs of others, in the Catholic Church are ordained by a bishop and by means of a special sacrament called Holy Orders.

This sacrament can only be received once, just like Baptism and Confirmation, but a man may also be ordained to a higher order up to the third degree.

Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Holy Orders at the Last Supper simultaneously with his institution of the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. In order to be able to change bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ, you need priests who have been given this power by virtue of their ordination.