A Decalogue for Priests

1. How I live as a priest is more important than what I do as a priest.

2. What Christ does through me is more important than what I do by myself.

3. It is more important that I live the unity of the priesthood than plunge myself headlong and alone into ministry.

4. The ministry of prayer and word is more important than serving at tables.

5. It is more important to nurture the spiritual welfare of those who build up the parish community than to undertake alone as many activities as possible.

6. It is more important to be present in a few key points radiating life than to be half-present everywhere and in a hurry.

7. It is more important to work in unity with others than alone, no matter how capable I may feel. In other words, communion is more important than action.

8. It is more important to value the Cross which yields true life, than to value the apparent success of human talents and efforts.

9. It is more important to have an open soul - open to the community, the diocese, the universal Church - than a soul fixed on particular interests, no matter how important they may seem.

10. It is more important to witness to my faith than to be caught up in every demand that is made upon me.

Bishop Klaus Hemmerle