The essential act is silence: the bishop lays both hands on the candidate's head and says nothing, and the prayer follows. Every priest already ordained who is present then lays on hands in turn, which makes the point that the man is being joined to an order rather than given a job. The technical question of whether a particular bishop stands in an unbroken chain from the apostles is what apostolic succession means in practice, and it is the sticking point in almost every ecumenical negotiation: Rome declared Anglican orders null in 1896, the Orthodox churches take various positions, and most Protestant churches reject the premise that the chain matters. Ordination is also the point where the sharpest current arguments land — who may be ordained, whether they may marry, and whether a church that ordains women or partnered gay clergy can still be recognised by one that does not.