A Catholic priest is a minister of the Catholic cult. In Catholicism, as in the Orthodox Church, priests belong to the second degree of priesthood. The basis of the church cult is the visible manifestations of God's grace - the sacraments, which are called the actions established by Jesus Christ for the beneficial salvation of people. The symbolism of the sacraments helps believers to comprehend God's love for man. According to church teaching, by participating in the sacraments, a person receives miraculous help from above.
The Catholic Church, as well as the Orthodox, allows seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation (chrismation), Eucharist, anointing, repentance, marriage and priesthood. A priest of the Orthodox and Catholic Church has the authority to perform five sacraments, except for priesthood (ordination) and chrismation (this requires special permission from the bishop of the diocese in which the minister is incardinated). Ordination to the Catholic ministry occurs through the ordination of a bishop.
Catholic priest can refer to either black or white clergy. The black clergy implies monasticism - in accordance with the vow of an ascetic lifestyle surrounded by a monastic community (or in a hermitage). The white clergy is a service in the territory of the diocese. According to the totality of liturgical customs in the Latin Catholic rite, for all priests, a mandatory rule is celibacy - a vow of celibacy. The liturgical rites of the Eastern Catholic Church celibacy refers to the obligatory rules only of monastic priests, as well as bishops.
According to church traditions of the Catholic clergy, the clothes of a Catholic priest are a cassock, a long outer garment with long sleeves that a minister must wear outside of worship. The sutan is fastened with a row of buttons, has a stand-up collar and a length reaching the heels. The color is determined according to the hierarchical position. A priest's cassock should be black, a bishop's should be purple, a cardinal should wear a purple cassock, and a pope should wear a white cassock.
A Catholic priest during the liturgy must be dressed in a white alba, ornate and table. Alba is a long robe of Catholic and Lutheran clergy, which they gird with a rope. Alba is sewn from fine wool, cotton or linen. Ornat (kazula) is a symbolically embroidered cloak of a priest, which is his main attire during the liturgy. Stola is a silk ribbon up to 2 meters long and up to 10 centimeters wide, with crosses sewn on it. Crosses on the tableshould be located at its ends and in the center.
The Catholic priest, the Pope, also wears a rocceta, a white pleated short robe trimmed with lace. This element of vestment looks like a shirt with narrow knee-length sleeves. The roccetta is worn over the cassock. The Pope, cardinals, bishops and abbots still wear the mozzeta, a short cape with a hood. Mozzetta is supposed to be worn with a cassock. Its color depends on the rank of the priest, bishops wear purple, cardinals wear scarlet. The Pope wears a variety of mozzettas, one satin and the other velvet crimson adorned with ermine.
