An oath have I taken

Before being entrusted with an ecclesiastical office, the law of the Church requires the one who is to receive the office to take the oath of fidelity.

I first took the oath shortly before I was ordained a deacon and I will soon take it again when I assume the office of Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Virden and of St. Patrick Parish in Girard.

The oath is taken in the presence of the Diocesan Bishop or Administrator, the Vicar General the Vicar for Clergy or the Vicar Forane (commonly called the Dean of a Deanery, at least here in our Diocese).

The one taking the oath places his hand upon the Gospels, recites the oath and signs it, where it is placed in his file.

His Excellency has directed me to take the oath on September 15th, or very soon after that date. That week the priests of the Diocese will be gathered for their annual convocation so I will have to take the oath away from my parishes, but it should then be easy to find the Diocesan Administrator.

The oath that I will take reads as follows:

Oath of Fidelity on Assuming an Office
to the Exercised in the Name of the Church

I, Daren J. Zehnle, on assuming the office of pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Virden, Illinois, and of Saint Patrick Parish, Girard, Illinois, promise that I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church whether in the words in I speak or in the way I act.

With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the responsibilities by
which I am bound in relation both to the universal church and to the particular church in which I am called to exercise my service according to te requirements of the law.

In carrying out my charge, which is committed to me in the name of the
church, I shal preserve the deposit of faith in its entirety, hand it on
faithfully and make it shine forth. As a result, whatsoever teachings are
contrary I shall shun.

I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the whole church and
shall look after the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those which are contained in the Code of Canon Law.

With Christian obedience I shall associate myself with what is expressed by the holy shepherds as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith or established by them as the church's rulers. And I shall faithfully assist the diocesan bishops so that apostolic activity, to be exercised by the mandate and in the name of the church, is carried out in the communion of the same church.

May God help me in this way and the holy Gospels of God which I touch with my hands.