Una fedelt\u00e0 che genera future<\/b><\/a> (\u201cA fidelity that generates the future\u201d) signed on the feast of the Immaculate Conception and released today, 22 December.<\/p>\nThe Letter was occasioned by the sixtieth anniversary of the conciliar decrees Optatam totius and Presbyterorum ordinis: documents the Pope said, \u201cthat constitute a milestone in theological reflection on the nature and mission of pastoral ministry and preparation for it,\u201d and that retain their \u201cgreat newness and relevance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must therefore keep this memory [of the Council\u2019s intentions] alive by embracing the mandate these Decrees have given to the whole Church,\u201d the Pope says. This involves reinvigorating the priestly ministry every day, drawing strength from its root, which is the bond between Christ and the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
Priestly formation to combat abuse and abandonment of ministry <\/p>\n
According to Pope Leo, doing so means, first and foremost, drawing on the voice of the Spirit that originally nourished the desire for this pastoral calling, which is always \u201ca free and gratuitous gift from God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pope invites the Church to promote initiatives for the ongoing formation of priests, such as the conference held in February last year, which brought together more than 800 participants from some 80 countries.<\/p>\n
He goes on to say that seminaries are meant to be training grounds \u201cto help a seminarian attend to his own heart.\u201d \u201cOnly priests and consecrated eprsons who are humanly mature and spiritually solid,\u201d the Pope says, \u201ccan take on the commitment of celibacy and credibly proclaim the Gospel of the Risen One.\u201d<\/p>\n
In particular, the Pope does not ignore the open wounds that continue to afflict the Church:<\/p>\n
10. In recent decades, the crisis of trust in the Church caused by abuses committed by members of the clergy has filled us with shame and called us to humility.\u00a0 It has made us even more aware of the urgent need for a comprehensive formation that ensures the personal growth and maturity of candidates for the priesthood, together with a rich and solid spiritual life.<\/p>\n
11. The issue of formation is also central to addressing the phenomenon of those who, after a few years or even decades, leave the priestly ministry.\u00a0 This painful reality should not be interpreted solely in legal terms, but requires us to look carefully and compassionately at the history of these brothers and the many reasons that may have led them to such a decision.\u00a0 The appropriate response is, first and foremost, a renewed commitment to formation, whose objective is \u201ca journey of growth in intimacy with the Lord.<\/p>\n
\u2018No pastor exists on his own!\u2019 <\/p>\n
Pope Leo warns against the temptation to self-referentiality, which must be avoided because the priestly vocation is always relational: \u201cNo shepherd exists alone!\u201d A vocation, he said, \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0is never a purely individual path but commits us to caring for one another.\u00a0 This dynamic is always a work of grace that embraces our fragile humanity, healing it from narcissism and selfishness.\u00a0 With faith, hope and charity, we are called to follow Christ every day, placing all our trust in the Lord.\u00a0 Communion, synodality and mission cannot be achieved if, in the hearts of priests, the temptation to self-referentiality does not yield to the mindset of listening and service.<\/p>\n
Presbyteral fraternity, the text continues, is not just an ideal or a slogan, but must be considered \u201ca constitutive element of the identity of ministers\u2026 an aspect to be pursued with renewed vigour.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this regard, the Pontiff says, although much has already been done to implement the recommendations of Presbyterorum ordinis, more remains to be done. He goes into detail on some issues, including \u201ceconomic equalisation between those who serve poor parishes and those who carry out their ministry in wealthy communities\u201d and health and old-age care, which in some dioceses or countries is not yet guaranteed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMutual care, especially attention to our most lonely and isolated brothers, as well as those who are sick and elderly,\u201d Pope Leo says, \u201ccannot be considered less important than the care given to the people entrusted to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Promoting forms of community life <\/p>\n
The Pope then refers to one of the \u201cdangers\u201d that can affect priestly life, namely, loneliness, \u201cwhich dampens their apostolic zeal and can lead to a sad withdrawal into themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
For this reason too, the Pope says,<\/p>\n
following the instructions of my Predecessors, I hope that in all local Churches a renewed commitment may arise to investing in and promoting possible forms of community life, \u201cin order to enable priests to find mutual help in cultivating the intellectual and spiritual life, to promote better cooperation among them in the ministry, to safeguard them from possible dangers arising from loneliness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pope goes on to highlight the ministry of the permanent diaconate:<\/p>\n
In a time of great fragility, all ordained ministers are called to live communion by returning to the essentials and drawing close to people, in order to preserve the hope that takes shape in humble and concrete service. In this horizon, the ministry of the permanent deacon, configured to Christ the Servant, is a living sign of a love that does not remain on the surface, but bends down, listens and gives itself. The beauty of a Church made up of priests and deacons who collaborate, united by the same passion for the Gospel and attentive to the poorest, becomes a luminous witness of communion.<\/p>\n
Valuing the diaconate and the lay faithful <\/p>\n
The diaconate, \u201ca discreet but essential service\u201d \u201cespecially when lived in communion with one\u2019s family, is a gift to be understood, valued, and supported, Pope Leo says.<\/p>\n
Similarly, he continues in his Letter, the role of the lay faithful must be valued in a fully synodal perspective. In this regard, he calls for \u201cappropriate initiatives\u201d to be undertaken \u201cin all the particular Churches\u2026 so that priests can familiarize themselves with the guiding principles\u201d of the Final Document of the Synod.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo goes on to make concrete recommendations:<\/p>\n
In order to implement an ecclesiology of communion ever more effectively, the ministry of the priest must move beyond the model of exclusive leadership, which leads to the centralization of pastoral activities and the burden of all responsibilities entrusted to him alone.\u00a0 Instead, the ministry should move toward an increasingly collegial leadership, with cooperation between priests, deacons and the entire People of God resulting in mutual enrichment that is the fruit of the various charisms bestowed by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 As Evangelii Gaudium reminds us, the ministerial priesthood and configuration to Christ the Bridegroom must not lead us to equate sacramental authority with power\u2026<\/p>\n
The temptations of that undermine fidelity to the mission <\/p>\n
The priestly vocation unfolds, Pope Leo concludes, in the joy of serving one\u2019s brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n
However, observing some of common trends in contemporary societies, notably hyper-connectivity, the Pope warns against a twofold temptation that might undermine priestly ministry: efficiency for its own sake \u2013 which often goes hand in hand with excessive media exposure \u2013 and \u201ca kind of quietism\u201d.<\/p>\n
Evangelization is not measured by the number of projects carried out, explains the Pope, nor by the number of services offered. On the other hand, a \u201clazy and defeatist\u201d approach is equally inappropriate. \u201cIn all situations, priests are called to respond effectively to the great hunger for authentic and sincere relationships that is found in contemporary society through the witness of a modest and chaste life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harmony between contemplation and action is to be sought not through the frantic adoption of operational plans or through a simple balancing of activities, but by putting the Paschal dimension at the center of ministry.\u00a0 Giving oneself unreservedly, however, cannot and must not mean giving up prayer, study or priestly fraternity.\u00a0 On the contrary, prayer becomes the horizon in which everything is included to the extent that it is oriented toward the Lord Jesus, who died and rose again for the salvation of the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council\u2019s decrees on priestly training and on priestly life and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":467694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18485,212648,50,3417,21611,212649,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-467693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-anniversary","9":"tag-apostolic-letter","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pope-leo-xiv","12":"tag-priests","13":"tag-second-vatican-council","14":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}