Proprium et commune

James of Viterbo ( From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought ) distinguishes between two modes of priesthood. “Individual” ( proprium ) priesthood belongs to “each of the faithful” insofar as each “offers to God for himself a spiritual sacrifice, whether of a contrite heart or of mortification of the flesh of of any good work” (384).

Commune or “public” priesthood belongs to those who “are ordained in the church to sacrifice to God for the salvation of of the people and to offer up to him its desires and prayers.”

To which we can only shout, with Paul, me genoito !

There is no proprium priesthood in the church, no priest whose priesthood is only for himself. Each is a public priest, using Spiritual gifts for the good of the whole body.