C.C.C. Credo

1. I am first and above all a priest (or deacon) of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church.

2. My Ordination was conferred by the Sacrament of Holy Orders through the imposition of hands and Apostolic Succession, by which I received an indelible character (not shared by the common priesthood of the Faithful), empowering me to act in Persona Christi whenever I celebrate the Sacraments of the Church.

3. By this sacred ordination I am empowered to exercise the sacred ministry as a co-worker of the episcopal order -- to preach the Gospel and shepherd the Faithful as well as to celebrate Divine Worship and administer the Sacraments as a true Priest of the New Testament.

4. By the celebration of Mass I offer Christ's sacrifice sacramentally; I confect the Most Blessed Eucharist, in which is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church viz., Christ Himself, our Pasch and the Living Bread which gives life to men through His Flesh -- that Flesh which is given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit. (for priests only)

5. In the context of the Eucharist as the source and summit of all preaching of the Gospel, I exercise my sacred ministry as teacher and servant of the Word of God -- that Word which comes to me from Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, as authenticated by the one true (ordinary and extraordinary) Magisterium of the Church.

6. I recognize and reverence in the Roman Pontiff the primacy of the teaching and governing office of the Church, by which he has full, supreme, immediate and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise without hindrance, and for the fulfillment of which office I pledge to his person my total filial loyalty and love.

7. Within and under this obedience of faith and charity regarding Holy Mother Church and her pastor, I see in my Bishop (and/or Religious Superior) the authority of Christ the Supreme Shepherd, and to this father and friend I renew my Ordination promise of loving obedience and respect.

8. No matter how they may apparently differ, I see my work as a Priest profoundly and necessarily connected with the work of all my fellow Priests, for the Priesthood is indivisible in the one Priesthood of Christ; and therefore I foster this sense of fellowship and fraternity by welcoming Priestly companionship, and seeing in it a special help toward the integral fulfillment of my priestly vocation. (for priests only)

8a. As a Deacon, I see my ordained ministry as one of service to Holy Mother Church, especially my local bishop. My foremost duty is to proclaim and preach the Gospel of Christ and as an Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist, along with the Priests and Bishops, I am to safeguard the Blessed Sacrament, practice and promote reverence for the Holy Eucharist and assist liturgically whenever I am able so as to lend greater dignity and solemnity to the celebration of the Holy Mass. Furthermore, whenever I baptize or officiate at weddings, I do so as a Servant of God, assisting the sacerdotal ministry of the Priest and Bishop. (for deacons only)

9. As an accredited preacher and teacher of the Word of God, I acknowledge my responsibility to study "the inexhaustible riches of Christ" and the many-sided wisdom of God by every means, natural and supernatural, at my disposal; among which means I recognize a realistically disciplined review of my formal training in philosophy and theology, and its application especially to the questions posed by the contemporary world.

10. Being bound by the special reason of my consecration as a living instrument of Christ the Eternal High Priest, I aspire to that genuine perfection to which He calls me, by living to its fullness the mystery of Christ; and therefore I find in prayer -- pre-eminently Eucharistic prayer, both liturgical and private, and its ancillary Marian prayer -- (under the perennial patronage of the Mother and Queen of the Clergy) my highest and dearest good.