In a religion that has a priesthood tradition, like the Catholic church, a real priest is one that has been ordained (I'm not sure what the correct catholic ter

In a religion that has a priesthood tradition, like the Catholic church, a real priest is one that has been ordained (I'm not sure what the correct catholic terminology would be) by someone else that has authority to do so. You can't just declare yourself a catholic priest. You have to be made a catholic priest by someone higher up.