Extensive Definition
According to Roman
Catholic Church teaching, a sacramental character is an
indelible spiritual mark (the meaning of the word character in
Latin)
imprinted by three of the seven
sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Holy
Orders.
This teaching is expressed as follows in the
Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 1121:
The characters these three sacraments imprint are
held to differ from each other, with each character remaining
indelible, so that nobody can receive the sacrament in question
more than once. The doctrine of the sacramental character is thus a
particular expression of the long-established teaching that
baptism, confirmation, and holy orders may not be repeated.
One who receives a lower grade of holy orders may
receive a higher. Thus, though one who has been ordained a deacon
may not again be ordained a deacon, he may be ordained a priest.
Similarly, while a priest may not again be ordained a priest, he
may be ordained a bishop. There is no higher grade to which a
bishop may be ordained. Each higher grade is considered to confer a
deepening or intensification of the character of holy orders.
If it is doubtful whether a person has received
one of the three sacraments in question, the sacrament may be
administered conditionally,
but not, properly speaking, repeated.
The doctrine of the sacramental character was
dogmatically
defined at the 16th century
Council of
Trent, but was held for at least 1000 years before, and was
written about by Augustine
of Hippo.
The
of the Catholic Church, 698 explains as follows the
significance of the image of "seal", used as an alternative to that
of "character":
External links
irremovability in Spanish: Carácter
sacramental
irremovability in Swedish: Sakramental
karaktär