Vocations after Vatican II Council

A Theological Reflection – Fr. Casmir Odundo

Is the Day of Consecrated Life also a Day for Diocesan Priests? Are Diocesan Priests Consecrated?

I often say that, to understand many of the difficulties the Church faces today, particularly in the modern context, it is essential to immerse ourselves in the teaching of the Vatican II Council.

One significant shift introduced by the Council concerns the way states of life within the Church are understood. Traditionally, drawing on St Thomas Aquinas, religious life had often been described using the category of vita perfecta. The Council Fathers, while not rejecting St Thomas himself, deliberately moved away from defining religious life as a “perfect life”. Their concern was that such language could suggest a hierarchy of holiness that risked diminishing other vocations within the Church. This was especially problematic since, in Lumen Gentium, they articulated the universal call to holiness:

“All the faithful of Christ, of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (LG 40).

Closely connected to this is the Council’s teaching on the common priesthood of all the baptised (LG 10), which emphasises that baptism itself is the foundational consecration of every Christian. Within this renewed ecclesiology, there emerged a clear need to rethink and renew religious life.

This renewal is explicitly addressed in Perfectae Caritatis, where the Council stresses that religious life is not a sacrament, but a particular way of living out baptismal consecration. The public profession of the evangelical counsels constitutes a radicalisation of baptism, not an additional sacramental consecration. As the Council teaches, religious are called to follow Christ “more closely” through vows that are rooted in baptism and oriented towards charity and ecclesial service (PC 1).

It is within this theological framework that the term consecrated life gained greater prominence. The Council laid the foundations for a broader and more inclusive understanding of consecration, later developed in canon law, which recognises different forms of consecrated life while maintaining their baptismal foundation.

Turning to the priesthood, Vatican II also brought important doctrinal clarification. In Lumen Gentium 21, the Council taught that episcopal consecration is truly sacramental ordination, conferring the fullness of the Sacrament of Orders. While earlier theological and canonical language sometimes spoke of episcopal consecration in a more functional or juridical sense, Vatican II clarified definitively that the bishop possesses the fullness of the priesthood. This marked a shift from speaking merely of consecration to speaking clearly of ordination, without denying the legitimacy of earlier terminology.

This clarification helps us return to the central question: are diocesan priests consecrated? The answer is unequivocally yes, but not in the same way as religious. Diocesan priests are consecrated sacramentally through Holy Orders and are configured to Christ as Head and Shepherd of the Church. This is affirmed in Presbyterorum Ordinis.

At the same time, the Council clearly teaches that the ministerial priesthood differs from the common priesthood not only in degree but in essence (LG 10). This distinction is crucial for understanding the specific form of consecration proper to diocesan priests.

But what of religious priests? Religious priests, by contrast, participate in a twofold consecration: first, through the public profession of the evangelical counsels, which places them within consecrated life, and secondly, through sacramental ordination. Diocesan priests, however, while truly consecrated, do not belong to consecrated life in the strict canonical or juridical sense, because they do not profess the evangelical counsels within a public religious institute.

This distinction is not merely technical. It reflects a deeper ecclesial reality. Diocesan priests are secular clergy and their secularity is not a deficiency but a defining characteristic of their vocation. Their consecration shapes a form of apostolate that is embedded in the local Church, marked by pastoral availability, proximity to the people and engagement with the world from within it.

Of course, emphasising these distinctions does not undermine communion. On the contrary, mutual participation in important celebrations is a sign of ecclesial solidarity. Just as religious show solidarity with diocesan priests and other priests, particularly on Holy Thursday and other significant moments, so too shared celebrations of consecrated life can strengthen communion within diversity.

Nevertheless, it remains important to articulate these differences clearly, not to create confusion, but to foster a deeper appreciation of the richness of vocations in the Church. People need to understand religious life for what it truly is and diocesan priesthood for what it is. Above all, they need to understand the secularity of diocesan priests, which fundamentally shapes their mission and their way of carrying out apostolate in the world.

The author is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru, Kenya.