"Servus Christi" and "vox Christi": on mentioning the "two definitions" with which "Saint Augustine tried to explain the essence of the task of the ordained minister", in the text written for the meeting with the presbyters and the permanent deacons in the Cathedral of Freising, emphasised how "to qualify the priest as ‘servus Christi’ means to underline that his life has an essential ‘relational connotation’: in every fibre, he is relative to Christ". This "does not mean he is any less connected with the community, it actually is the foundation of such connection": "because of the sacramental character received in his Ordination, he belongs to Christ and shares His unconditional devotion to the ‘body’ of the Church". Also, the definition "vox Christi" shows, highlighted the Pope in the unread text, the "relational connotation" of the minister: as a "voice", he is relative to the "Word" that is Christ. This reveals "the greatness and the humbleness of the ordained ministry", because, "like John the Baptist, the priest and the deacon are but the forerunners, the servants of the Word. The focus is not them, but Christ, of which they must be the "voice", with all their life".
