The sacrament of ordination, and its control of and impact on clergy and laity, have been on the radar of the Church and on my mind of late, especially with the elections of a number of bishops worldwide and the surrounding debates about hierarchy, jurisdiction, and authority. However, the theology of ordination has frequently become so convoluted and clouded— by mysticism, misinterpretation, and even sometimes malevolence—that it invariably distorts any meaningful conversation about priesthood, power, and primacy in the Church.