The function of the bishops' ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to priests by Christ." (PO 2 ¶ 2). Through the sacrament of ordination, priests "are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the priest in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the Head." (PO 2 ¶ 3) "They are consecrated in order to preach the Gospel and shepherd the faithful as well as to celebrate divine worship as true priests of the New Testament." (LG 28 ¶ 1) They exercise in "a supreme degree" their sacred office in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, where, "acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they...make present again and apply, until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of Christ offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father."(LG 28 ¶ 1) "All priests, who are constituted in the order of priesthood by the sacrament of orders, are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood, but in a special way they form one priestly body in the diocese to which they are attached under their own bishop...." (PO 8 ¶ 1)