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. [For Priests Only] 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.
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. [For Priests Only] 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 Deacons Only]
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.

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.

I.   PROFESSION OF FAITH

I, N., with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the Symbol of faith: namely:

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.

I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.

Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act.

II.   OATH OF FIDELITY

I, N., promise that in my words and in my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church.

With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the duties incumbent on me toward the Church, both universal and particular, in which, according to the provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service.

In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.

I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall maintain the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.

With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish.

I shall also faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.

So help me God, and God’s Holy Gospels on which I place my hand.