The view of the Roman Catholic Church is that Protestant denominations cannot be considered churches but rather that they are ecclesial communities or specific faith-believing communities because their ordinances and doctrines are not historically the same as the Catholic sacraments and dogmas, and the Protestant communities have no sacramental ministerial priesthood and therefore lack <answer>true apostolic succession</answer>. According to Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev) the Eastern Orthodox Church shares the same view on the subject.
What is lacking in Protestantism, according to the Roman Catholic Church?
true apostolic succession