The Ranking of Angels

Q: In the July issue of St. Anthony Messenger you explained the meaning of the word Seraph. I did not know until then there were nine different types of angels. In your answer you listed all nine choirs and said something to the fact that Seraphim were on the top.

Can we assume that the list you gave, of the nine categories or choirs of angels, is in the order of importance or ranking, with Seraphim ranking first followed by Cherubim and then Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels and Angels ranking last?

A: According to Ludwig Ott in Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, the division of angels into nine orders is not a truth of faith but a free theological opinion.

At the turn of the sixth century Pseudo-Dionysius, drawing on references to angels in the Scriptures, divided the angels into three hierarchies with three choirs in each hierarchy. That became the common teaching of theologians and the Church.

According to Adolf Tanquerey in A Manual of Dogmatic Theology, St. Thomas puts the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones in the first hierarchy. In the second are the Dominations, Virtues and Powers. The third is composed of Principalities, Archangels and Angels.

Tanquerey, following St. Thomas, says the "Seraphim excel in the supreme excellence of all, in being united to God through charity."