What is the Oath of Fidelity?

This item in The Boston Pilot caught my eye this morning:

Six candidates for Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate and their wives participated in the Ceremony of Sacred Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity on Aug. 9 at the Bethany Chapel at the Pastoral Center in Braintree. This ceremony is the final step for these six deacon candidates before they receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders on Oct. 15 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

The men are Paul Breadmore from St. Bridget’s Parish in Abington; Joseph Cooley from St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Woburn; John Czajkowski from St. Peter Parish in Cambridge; John Koza from St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish in Danvers; Charles Hanafin from St. Margaret of Antioch Parish in Burlington; and John Kobrenski from St. Lucy Parish in Methuen.

Episcopal Vicar for Clergy Father Bryan K. Parrish presided at Evening Prayer with Director of Diaconal Life and Ministries Deacon Patrick Guerrini, and Deacon Christopher Connelly, Director of Diaconate Formation assisted.

It occurs to me that many may not know about the Profession of Faith/Oath of Fidelity that is required of every man approaching Holy Orders. But it’s not just for clergy. From The Code of Canon Law: 

Can. 833 The following are obliged personally to make a profession of faith according to the formula approved by the Apostolic See:

1/ in the presence of the president or his delegate, all those who attend with either a deliberative or consultative vote an ecumenical or particular council, a synod of bishops, and adiocesan synod; the president, however, makes it in the presence of the council or synod;

2/ those promoted to the cardinalatial dignity, according to the statutes of the sacred college;

3/ in the presence of the one delegated by the Apostolic See, all those promoted to the episcopate as well as those who are equivalent to a diocesan bishop;

4/ in the presence of the college of consultors, the diocesan administrator;

5/ in the presence of the diocesan bishop or his delegate, vicars general, episcopal vicars, and judicial vicars;

6/ in the presence of the local ordinary or his delegate and at the beginning of their function, pastors, the rector of a seminary, and teachers of theology and philosophy in seminaries; those to be promoted to the order of the diaconate;

7/ in the presence of the grand chancellor or, in his absence, in the presence of the local ordinary or their delegates, the rector of an ecclesiastical or Catholic university, when therector’s function begins; in the presence of the rector if he is a priest or in the presence of the local ordinary or their delegates, teachers in any universities whatsoever who teachdisciplines pertaining to faith or morals, when they begin their function;

8/ Superiors in clerical religious institutes and societies of apostolic life, according to the norm of the constitutions.

As I remember it, I made this profession a few weeks before ordination at my parish during Mass. After, I signed a document affirming everything I said; it was co-signed by my pastor at the altar. In some places, it is done during Evening Prayer; in others, it is done as a group or a class.

Here’s the Profession and Oath, from the Vatican website. The deacon candidate recites this with his hand placed upon the Book of the Gospels.

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

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day 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, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to 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.

OATH OF FIDELITY
ON ASSUMING AN OFFICE
TO BE EXERCISED IN THE NAME OF THE CHURCH

(Formula to be used by the Christian faithful mentioned in canon 833)

I, N., in assuming the office of ………, 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.

(Variations in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the formulary,
for use by those members of the Christian faithful indicated in can. 833, n. 8)

I shall foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall insist on 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 — with due regard for the character and purpose of my institute — 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.