Through their Baptism all Christians share in the one priesthood of Christ, a common priesthood. The biblical foundation for that statement is found in Exodus 19:6, where Israel is called a priestly people because of the covenant. In 1 Peter 2:5, we are called living stones being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church states: “The faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist.” (10) The function of the ordained priesthood is to minister in the name of Christ to the entire body with the threefold ministry of the Word, the sacraments, and community leadership. Ordained priests act sacramentally in the person of Christ, the head and shepherd of the Church. Priests exercise these functions in union with the bishop, who has received the fullness of the ordained priesthood.