Q. I was at the Chrism Mass and the programs said that the priests there renewed their “promises.” I thought priests took vows. Am I wrong or are the words just interchangeable?
A. In the Catholic Church it is not uncommon to find multiple terms used to describe the same thing. Calling the Sacrament of Reconciliation “confession” or “penance” is a clear example of this. Usually, it doesn’t really matter because the terms are essentially interchangeable. Sometimes though they are not, and it can lead to some misunderstanding.
Such is the case when referring to “priestly vows.” A vow is a “deliberate and free promise made to God about a possible and better good” (c. 1191 §1). The clearest example of public, solemn vows are the vows made by consecrated religious of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Because of the pre-eminent place these vows hold in the Church, they are easily conflated with the promises made by priests at their ordination.
Diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty. Despite this, diocesan priests are not to live lives of opulence. Living as we do “in the world,” diocesan priests are free to use the money we make freely. For a lot of priests this means saving up for vacations, or golfing, or hunting, or other hobbies and activities that cost money. Priests, like all people, need to be mindful of their spending (and the obligation of giving to charity) and careful that the good things of the world do not distract them from their fulfilling their calling, but at the same time “A worker deserves his pay” (1 Timothy 5:18).
Similarly, Latin Catholic diocesan priests do not take a vow of chastity. When ordained to the transitional diaconate (meaning they are intending to be ordained priests in the future), the deacons promise to live celibately, that is, to not get married. All persons are called to live the virtue of chastity according to their state in life, including diocesan priests, and since Latin Catholic diocesan priests cannot be married, and since sexual activity can only legitimately occur within the context of marriage, this means that, for priests, the way that we live chastity is through continence or the complete forgoing of all sexual activity. Even though a vow is not made, this does not exempt a priest from living chastity.
Diocesan priests also do not make of vow of obedience. Instead, we make a promise of obedience. It is in this context where interchanging the words promise and vow can cause the greatest confusion. When a consecrated religious makes a vow of obedience, he or she is making it to God and, by extension, to the superior, and is allowing that he or she be “governed throughout his or her life by another for the sake of God” (Catholic Encyclopedia). Superiors, acting in the place of God, have considerable control over the lives and actions of those consecrated religious subject to them. While this has limits (superiors cannot command a religious to commit a sin), it is wide-reaching.
Diocesan priests make a promise of respect and obedience to the bishop and his successors. This promise is a promise to observe juridic or canonical obedience. This means that a priest promises to obey all of the authority of the bishop, given to the bishop by canon law. The clearest example of this is when it comes to assignments. Canon law gives the bishop the authority to assign a priest to a certain parish or ministry, and a priest, as a result of his promise of obedience, is bound to fulfill his assignment and, if he does not, he has broken his promise and is subject to the penalties allowed for by canon law.
Juridic obedience has more limits than the form of obedience that consecrated religious live. While again a bishop cannot command a priest in obedience to commit a sin, he also cannot command a priest to do something that he does not have the authority granted by the law of the Church to command. Priest and lay people have rights given them by canon law and the bishop cannot infringe upon these rights simply because he is the bishop. The promise of obedience does not give the diocesan bishop total control over the lives of his priests.
Notably absent from the promises a priest makes is to celebrate Mass every day. Priests are not obligated to say Mass every day (although we should, for obvious reasons). Priests are obligated to pray the Liturgy of the Hours every day and promise to do so during their ordination to the diaconate.
There are additional “resolutions” that are made prior to being ordained deacons and priests that do not rise to the level of a promise but are still important, to be taken seriously by priests, most notably the resolution to “be united more closely every day to Christ High Priest, who offered himself for us as a pure sacrifice, and with him to consecrate yourselves to God for the salvation of all” (Rite of Ordination). This is a lofty goal and one not easily fulfilled, so please pray for your priests, that we may live out what we have been called to.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
