This article is about the sacramental doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. For those of the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic Churches, and Oriental Orthodox churches, see Sacred Mysteries.

The practice of the Roman Catholic Church includes seven sacraments. As defined by Catholics, a sacrament is a material and spoken action which confers divine grace upon a person, especially what is called sanctifying grace, i.e. a particular salvific effect.

There are seven sacraments:

• Baptism
• Penance and Reconciliation (informally called Confession)
• Eucharist (informally called Communion)
• Confirmation (in Eastern Catholic Churches and the Orthodox Church, equivalent to chrismation)
• Holy Matrimony
• Holy Orders
• Anointing of the Sick (also called Extreme Unction)

Sacraments have a form and matter. A form is the verbal and physical liturgical script. The matter refers to any material objects used. Both these need to be present and followed for the sacrament to have its effect. Many sacraments are also only supposed to be done by a specific type of person, but there are exceptions allowed for emergencies. One final criteria for the sacrament to work is that the minister has to have the same intention in performing the sacrement as the church does. Someone teaching a priest how to do a baptism is not intending to perform one. There might customarily be a large amount of ritual besides the form and matter, but nothing is strictly necessary besides the form and matter.

A rite that has the intended sacramental effect is a valid sacrament. Catholics hold that only a priest properly ordained by a bishop who is in a succession of bishops dating back to the Apostles can perform the miraculous transubstantiation necessary for the validity of the Eucharist, and only such a priest can absolve sins of penitents. Such a priest need not be a Catholic in order that those sacraments be valid; priests of the Eastern Orthodoxy also have the requisite mystical powers. Protestant ministers, as they deny the doctrine of transubstantiation, do not. (It is a debated point among Catholic theologians whether Anglican priests have maintained apostolic succession. In fact some Anglican bishop ordinations in the 19th century were carried out by Old Catholic bishops, in order to re-establish apostolic succession, which some Anglican theologians feared had been lost.)

However, validity differs from licitness. Although an unordained person--even a non-Christian--can validly baptize, that is illegal except in emergencies. After an illicit but valid baptism, the baptized person may not be baptized again; that is determined by validity, not by licitness, though if the baptized person survives, he or she can have a ceremony containing the additional rites that were left out in the emergency baptism. Similarly, a priest who is not a bishop can validly perform the sacrament of confirmation, but in Latin-rite Catholic churches, that is forbidden without an explicit permission from a bishop. Also, the ordination of a bishop by another bishop without the permission of the Pope is valid, but illicit (and also punished by automatic excommunication). Five of the seven sacraments can be validly performed only by a priest--the two exceptions being baptism and matrimony--and one only by a bishop: holy orders.

Three of the seven sacraments may be received only once in a lifetime because they make an indelible sacramental character on the recipient's soul: baptism, confirmation, and ordination to a particular order (for example, a man who has been ordained a deacon can be ordained a priest, but

Baptism

Baptism is the sacrament by which one enters the Catholic church. Once baptized, a person is washed away of all the guilt for their past sins, especially original sin. It confers sanctifying grace, and creates the responsibility to the baptized to live a holy life (see the Universal call to holiness.) The form of baptism is washing some or all of the body with water while saying the words I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It is normally administered to infants in the Church, but may be administered to any person who is not yet validly baptized. Baptism is considered to be valid even if carried out in another Christian religion, as long as pouring of or immersion in natural water was accompanied by the Trinitarian formula. Adults who convert are thus only baptized if their previous baptism was not valid. In case of doubt, a convert may be baptized sub conditione, using the word "If you are not baptized already, I baptize you..."

Sacraments are fundamentally different from what are called sacramentals (things such as normal blessings, crosses, medals, holy water). The usefulness of these depend on the subjective understanding of the people involved. Sacraments work under the system called ex opere operato. That is, 'by the work performed': a person intending to perform a baptism by sprinkling water in the name of the Trinity causes the grace of God to actually work, even though he might not fully understand the theology behind the sacrament. Indeed, by this doctrine, even a non-Christian can validly baptize. This distinction is illustrated thus: holy water, a sacramental, has no power in and of itself--it is the sacrement of baptism that holds the power. The usual minister of baptism is a deacon, a priest, or a bishop.

Eucharist

The Eucharist (Communion), is the unbloody sacrifice of Christ, marked by partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ, which replace bread and wine. The changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, held by Roman Catholic dogma to occur, is called transubstantiation. Viaticum is the Eucharist administered to a dying person for the purpose of strengthening him for his final journey. The minister of this sacrament is the priest (or bishop) who consecrates the eucharistic elements of bread and wine.

Penance and Reconciliation

Penance and Reconciliation, also called confession, involves the admitting of one's sins to a priest, who, by Christ, is given the power to absolve them. The priest (or Bishop) is acting Persona Christi, in the person or place of Jesus. By this absolution, one is reconciled to Christ, from whom he has been separated due to his sins (and whom he has wounded by his sins). The priest also assigns penance, a task the penitent should complete in order to achieve absolution (forgiveness) from God. Absolution is not complete until the penance is performed. The penitent must also make reparations to anyone he may have sinned against, if this is possible.

Absolution of

This sacrament is sometimes called a tribunal. The penitent is, at once, the accuser (as he admits his sins), the accused (as he accepts responsibility), and the witness (as he testifies to what has occurred). The priest acts for Christ as judge and intercessor; a priest will only give absolution if the penitent exemplifies true sorrow for his sins and resolves not to commit them again. However, all are encouraged to confess sins, even if sorrow for his sins are imperfect and only for fear of God, for those who die in mortal sin, --as opposed to venial sin --will not reach heaven.

The priest is bound by the seal of confession. This binds the priest to never speak of what he has heard in the confessional to anyone; if he does, he automatically incurs the punishment of excommunication, no matter the content of the revalation.

Early 21st century decisions by the Church prohibit the sacrament from being administered through any electronic communications medium such as email.

Confirmation

Confirmation is a sacrament received by the baptized to impart sanctifying grace and strength to be perfect Christians. The form is the Bishop putting his hands upon the person to be confirmed. The age for the reception of confirmation varies by country or even diocese; in Latin-rite Catholic churches it ranges from seven to fifteen; recipients must have attained the age of reason. In Eastern-rite Catholic churches, as in other Eastern churches, neonates are confirmed immediately after baptism (as was done historically in the Catholic church), via the rite of chrismation.

Adult converts from Protestantism who were previously baptized with a trinitarian formula are received into communion in the Catholic Church by confirmation. Converts from Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy who were chrismated in those Eastern churches are not confirmed, because their chrismation in an Eastern church, unlike confirmation in Protestant churches, is held to be a valid confirmation, and confirming someone who has already been confirmed is forbidden by one of the doctrines of the Council of Trent.

In Latin-Rite Catholic churches, usually the bishop is the ordinary minister of this sacrament. In certain circumstances a parish priest may administer it after having received permission from the bishop. In the case of adult converts, this permission is automatic. In Eastern-Rite Catholic churches, the usual minister of this sacrament is the parish priest. When the bishop does not administer the sacrament personally, his presence is represented by the sacred chrism or myron, which the bishop blesses on Holy Thursday each year.

Matrimony

Holy Matrimony is the joining of a man and woman in marriage in the presence of the Church and of God. It is one of two sacraments that Catholics hold to be validly administered by one who is not a priest (the other is baptism), because the ministers of the sacrament are the two parties to the marriage. Catholics are required by Church discipline, however, to celebrate the sacrament with a priest or deacon as a witness.

The administration of this sacrament also plays a more mundane role in providing a sense of how active a parish church is. Bishops sometimes use a sacramental index to measure parish activity, as they allocate priests and resources to serve the needs of their parishoners.

Holy Orders

Holy Orders is the entering into the priesthood and involves a vow of celibacy in the Latin Rite, though in Eastern Rites men who married before they were ordained to the diaconate may be ordained; the sacrament of Holy Orders is given in three degrees: that of the deacon (even in the Latin Rite a permanent deacon may be married before becoming a deacon), that of the priest, and that of the bishop. Only a bishop can be the minister of this sacrament nowadays, although there is an ancient precedent for a cathedral chapter of priests consecrating one of their own.

Anointing of the Sick

The Anointing of the Sick is also known as extreme unction and involves the anointing with oil of the sick and dying (usually accompanied by the Eucharist), in order to confer special grace to spiritually strengthen the person. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, anyone expecting to undergo a serious operation, the elderly, and anyone in danger of death is encouraged to receive this sacrament. Only a priest (or higher prelate) can administer this sacrament, and it may be given on more than one occasion.

It is held that in some cases this sacrament effects a miraculous cure, but only if there are things God wishes the recipient of the sacrament to do before dying (known as divine providence). However, its essential purpose is for spiritual strengthening.

The ordinary ministers of the sacraments

1. Clergy, in this context, means a bishop, priest, or deacon.
2. The Eucharist has two parts. The first part of the Eucharistic sacrament is the consecration, or the prayer over the gifts that the priest or bishop says. This is when transubstantiation occurs, according to Catholics.
3. The second part of the Eucharist is communion, or the distribution of the consecrated elements (bread and/or wine). More people may participate as ministers in this part, so it is treated separately.
4. Since Holy Orders has special rules when ordaining a bishop, the bishop ordination is treated separately.

Anglo-Catholicism

The Anglican Churches retain seven sacraments as well. Some Anglicans consider the five sacraments other than Baptism and the Eucharist to be "sacramental rites" but the distinction is semantic.

The theology and canon law of the sacraments is similar, with a few key differences:

• Many Anglican churches hold that a woman can receive holy orders and celebrate the mass
• Anglicans differ on what change takes place in the Eucharist. Opinions range from transubstantiation to memorialism. (See lay presidency).
• Private Confession is not required. The traditional Anglican saying on the matter is "All may, none must, some should."
• There is mounting debate in the West over whether a marriage can be contracted by two persons of the same sex.
• Only bishops can confirm. This is never delegated to priests.

?? Sacramento (cattolicesimo) 聖禮