Section — Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis
§ 2. On The Effects And Offices Of The Individual Orders
589. 1. On the minor orders. The minor orders in the Latin Church are four, as was said above:
a) The order of porter hands on the power, by reason of office, of opening and closing the doors of the church, of admitting the worthy and excluding the unworthy. Of how great importance this order was in the first centuries of the Church, when Christians were afflicted by such dreadful persecutions, is evident from ecclesiastical history.
b) The lectorate hands on the power, by reason of office, of reading the psalms and lessons in the pulpit of the church, of catechizing or instructing the people in the rudiments of the faith, and of blessing bread and new fruits.
c) The order of exorcist hands on the special power of expelling demons from the possessed, lest they impede them from Communion. According to the discipline in force, this power indeed cannot be exercised (at least publicly) unless there is the prior and express permission of the Ordinary.16
d) The order of acolyte hands on the power, by reason of office, of serving the subdeacon at solemn Mass, of carrying the cruets to the altar, and of kindling the lights upon it. The acolyte is sometimes called a candle-bearer.
According to modern discipline, the functions of the four minor orders (with the exception of exorcism) are often exercised by laymen.
16 Code of Canon Law, c. 1151.
590. 2. On the major orders. The major orders in the Latin Church are three, as was said:
a) The subdiaconate confers the power of preparing the matter to be consecrated in the sacred vessels, of serving the deacon at solemn Mass, of chanting the Epistle, and of washing corporals, purificators, and palls.
b) The diaconate confers the power of immediately assisting the priest at solemn Mass, of chanting the Gospel, and (by commission of the Ordinary or parish priest) of preaching.17 Under what conditions a deacon may solemnly baptize and distribute Holy Communion was said above under nn. 121 and 217.
c) The priesthood confers the power of consecrating the Body and Blood of Christ, of remitting sins, of feeding subjects by work and doctrine, and of administering the remaining sacraments which do not necessarily require the episcopal character.
d) The episcopate (although perhaps it is nothing other than the complement of the order of priesthood18), nevertheless, just as it is a special degree of the hierarchy, so also does it confer special powers, namely, of administering the sacraments of Confirmation and Order, of confecting several sacramentals (such as consecrations and blessings), and of governing the people legitimately entrusted to him.
17 Ibid., c. 1342, § 1.
18 Cf. above, n. 587.
591. Scholion. On the effects of the clerical tonsure. Although the first clerical tonsure is not itself an order, as was said, nevertheless it disposes one for receiving orders and produces several effects, namely:
a) it transfers one into the clerical state and incardinates him in a diocese;19
b) it confers the so-called clerical privileges, namely, of canon, forum, and immunity;20
c) it confers aptitude for receiving orders, exercising jurisdiction, and receiving ecclesiastical benefices and pensions.21
19 Code of Canon Law, cc. 108 and 111, § 2.
20 Cf. our Man. iur. can., q. 63.
21 Code of Canon Law, c. 118.