When Catholics hear the word “priesthood,” our minds often jump to the parish priest at the altar. Yet, the Church teaches that all the baptized share in the one priesthood of Christ. This truth, while ancient, is often misunderstood, overlooked, or reduced to a vague notion of “service.” The priesthood of the baptized is not a lesser version of ordained ministry—it is a distinct, ontological participation in Christ’s own priesthood with its own dignity, power, and mission.

This article explores the biblical and theological foundations of the common priesthood, its relationship to the ministerial priesthood, and what this means for our daily Christian life and formation.

Biblical Roots: Christ the High Priest

The Letter to the Hebrews offers the clearest New Testament teaching on Jesus as high priest.[1] Unlike the Levitical priests, Christ’s priesthood is “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 6:20)—unique, eternal, and perfect. Two qualities define his priesthood:

• Full humanity: “He had to be made like his brethren in every respect” (Heb 2:17). Christ stands in solidarity with us, able to sympathize with our weakness.
   
• Perfect holiness: By virtue of the Incarnation, his human nature was united to his divine person and wholly sanctified from the first moment of conception.

Christ’s priestly mission was to reconcile humanity to God—not merely by offering a sacrifice but by offering himself as the sacrifice (Heb 9:14). This priestly action began with his obedience to the Father at the Incarnation, was manifested at his baptism in the Jordan, and reached its climax in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Participation in Christ’s Priesthood

The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, teaches: “Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ.”[2]

How do we enter this priesthood? Through baptism,
which one might say configures us to Christ cum sensu Christo, “with the mind of Christ” (see 1 Cor 2:14–16), in the mode of his earthly priesthood. Confirmation deepens this configuration, empowering us cum voce Christo, “with the voice of Christ” (see Lk 10:16), for public witness and apostolic mission (see CCC 1777).

These sacraments imprint an indelible sacramental character on the soul: a permanent ontological capacity to worship God and to be an instrument of his grace.[3] In the common priesthood, this character allows the faithful to offer “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God” (1 Pt 2:5) in every circumstance of life—at home, at work, in society—not just in liturgical settings.