Section I: Of Clerics in General

§ 1. Those who have been assigned to divine ministries by at least first tonsure are called clerics.

§ 2. They are not all in the same grade, but among them there is a sacred hierarchy in which some are subordinate to others.

§ 3. By divine institution the sacred hierarchy, by reason of order, consists of Bishops, presbyters, and ministers; by reason of jurisdiction, of the supreme pontificate and the subordinate episcopate; but by institution of the Church other grades also have been added.

Those who are enrolled in the ecclesiastical hierarchy are not chosen by the consent or calling of the people or of secular power; but in the grades of the power of order they are constituted by sacred ordination; in the supreme pontificate, by divine law itself, once the condition of legitimate election and its acceptance has been fulfilled; in the remaining grades of jurisdiction, by canonical mission.

Although, for the sake of honor, some clerics are also given the title of Prelate by the Apostolic See without any jurisdiction, nevertheless in law, in the proper sense, clerics, whether secular or religious, who obtain ordinary jurisdiction in the external forum are called Prelates.