The Priesthood of the Faithful

Introduction

Although the universal Church of God is constituted of distinct orders of members, still, in spite of the many parts of its holy body, the Church subsists as an integral whole, just as the Apostle says: We are all one in Christ. No difference in office is so great that anyone can be separated, through lowliness, from the head. In the unity of faith and baptism, therefore, our community is undivided. There is a common dignity, as the apostle Peter says in these words: And you are built up as living stones into spiritual houses, a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And again: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart. 1 Peter 2:9:

For all, regenerated in Christ, are made kings by the sign of the cross; they are consecrated priests by the oil of the Holy Spirit, so that beyond the special service of our ministry as priests, all spiritual and mature Christians know that they are a royal race and are sharers in the office of the priesthood. For what is more king-like than to find yourself ruler over your body after having surrendered your soul to God? And what is more priestly than to promise the Lord a pure conscience and to offer him in love unblemished victims on the altar of one’s heart?

The above is read on November 10 each year  by all who pray the Liturgy of the Hours, which would include the Pope, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and many of the faithful.

The author? Pope St. Leo the Great who occupied the papacy from 440-61. A great reformer of rules for the ordination of clerics, Leo was the most influential member of  a group who met Attila the Hun and dissuaded him from sacking Rome.

The concept of the priesthood of the faithful and its implications for the Catholic Church is one of the hottest topics discussed in the Church today.