Priests are the servants of the Church who are clothed with the priestly dignity. In the Orthodox Christian tradition, there are three degrees of worship.
All Orthodox clergy can be divided into three groups according to the degree of their service. The first order of the priesthood is deaconhood, the second is the priesthood, and the third is the episcopacy.
Deaconism is the lowest level in the Orthodox priesthood. However, one should not assume that this determines the uselessness of deacons in the Church. Deacons are the priest's chief assistants in the performance of the ordinances. They decorate church services with their participation. Most of the exclamations uttered in the service are given to the deacons.
The priesthood is perhaps the largest group of Orthodox clergy. Unlike deacons, priests have the right to perform all the ordinances themselves, except for ordination to the priesthood. Priests are also called priests. They are considered the shepherds of the people, they are responsible for the preaching of Christian truths and the foundations of the doctrine.
The highest level of the Orthodox clergy is the bishopric. The bishop is the head of the earthly Church. The patriarch himself is the first bishop among equals. The bishops administer the ecclesiastical regions (districts) entrusted to them by the patriarch. The latter in the Christian tradition are called dioceses. Therefore, bishops can be called otherwise diocesan bishops.
Bishops have the right not only to perform the sacraments, but also to ordain priests and deacons to the priesthood. It should be noted that only those clergy who have monastic tonsure are ordained bishops.
