There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic

theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are
visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all
those who receive them with the proper disposition. The sevenfold list of
sacraments is often organized into three groups: the sacraments of initiation
(into the Church, the body of Christ), consisting of Baptism, Confirmation, and
the Eucharist; the sacraments of healing, consisting of Penance and Anointing of
the Sick; and the sacraments of service: Holy Orders and Matrimony.[1]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists the sacraments as follows: "The whole
liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the
sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the Church: Baptism, Confirmation or
Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and
Matrimony."[2]

These seven sacraments were codified in the documents of the Council of

Trent[citation needed] (15451563), which stated:

CANON I.- If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not all
instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or that they are more, or less, than seven, to
wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and
Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a
sacrament; let him be anathema.

CANON IV.- If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law are not
necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that, without them, or without the
desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification;
-though all (the sacraments) are not necessary for every individual; let him be
anathema.[3]
The Catholic Church teaches that the sacraments are "efficacious signs of grace,
instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed
to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make
present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who
receive them with the required dispositions."[4]

While the Church itself is the universal sacrament of salvation,[5][6] the

sacraments of the Catholic Church in the strict sense[7] are seven sacraments
that "touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they
give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith".[8]
"The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are
necessary for salvation", although not all are necessary for every individual,[9]
and has placed under anathema those who deny it: "If any one saith, that the
sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous;
and that, without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God,
through faith alone, the grace of justification;-though all (the sacraments) are not
ineed necessary for every individual; let him be anathema."[10]

The Church further teaches that the effect of a sacrament comes ex opere
operato, by the very fact of being administered, regardless of the personal
holiness of the minister administering it.[11] However, a recipient's own lack of
proper disposition to receive the grace conveyed can block the effectiveness of
the sacrament in that person. The sacraments presuppose faith and through
their words and ritual elements, nourish, strengthen and give expression to faith.
[12]