Pope tells Brazilian bishops
priests are irreplaceable
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Sept. 17 - The Holy Father today addressed the bishops from the northeast sector of Brazil who are making their ad-limina visit. He met with the bishops of West Brazil last week. Here is a translation of the address, which was delivered in Portuguese.
Venerated brothers in the Episcopate,
Like the Apostle Paul in the early church, you have come, dear pastors of the ecclesiastical provinces of Olinda and Recife, Paraiba, Mozaio and Natal, to visit Peter (cfr Gal 1,18).
I welcome and greet each of you, starting with Mons. Antônio Munoz Fernandes, archbishop of Maceió, whom I thank for the sentiments which he expressed in behalf of you all, speaking as well of the joys, th edifficulties and the hopes of the pilgrim people of God in Northeast Sector 2. In your individual persons, I embrace the priests and faithful in your diocesan communities.
With her faithful and her ministers, the Church is the priestly community on this earth that is organically structured as the Body of Christ, in order to carry out effectively, in union with its head, her historical mission of salvation.
Thus St. Paul instructs us: "Now you are Christ's body, and individually parts of it" (1 Cor 12,27). But the parts do not all have the same function: this is what constitutes the beauty and the life of the body (cfr 1 Cor 12,14-17).
It is in the fundamental difference between the ministerial priesthood and the common priesthood that one understands the specific identity of ordained and lay faithful. That is why it is necessary to avoid the secularization of priests and the clericalization of the laity.
In this perspective, the lay faithful should be committed to expressing in reality, even through political involvement, of the Christian anthropological vision and the social doctrine of the Church.
On the contrary, priests should keep away from personal involvement in politics, in order to promote unity and communion among all the faithful and thus be a point of reference for everyone.
It is important to make this awareness grow in priests, religious and the lay faithful, encouraging them to be vigilant so that each one may feel motivated and act according to his own status.
The harmonious, correct and clear understanding of the relationship between the common priesthood and the ministerial constitutes today one of the most delicate points in the being and life of the Church.
The sparse number of priests could in fact lead the community to resign itself to such a deficiency, comforting itself at times with the fact that such a lack would better highlight the role of the lay faithful.
But it is not lack of priests that justifies a more active and consistent participation of the faithful. Indeed, the more lay faithful become aware of their responsibilities in the Church, the clearer the specific identity and irreplaceable role of the priest as pastor in the community and witness to the authenticity of faith and as the dispenser, in the name of Christ the Head, the mysteries of salvation.
We know that "the mission of salvation entrusted by the Father to his own incarnated Son was passed on to the apostles, and from them, to their successors - they receive the Spirit of Jesus in order to do theirt work in his name and person.
The ordained ministry is therefore the sacramental bond that connects liturgical action to what the apostles said and did, and through them, to what Christ - spring and foundation of the sacrament - said and did" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 112).
Therefore, the function of the priest is essential and irreplaceable for the announcement of the Word and for the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, memorial of Christ's supreme sacrifice, who gave his own Body and Blood.
That is why we must ask the Lord to send laborers for his harvest. Beyond this, it is necessary that priests manifest joy in their faithfulness to their own identity with the enthusiasm of mission.
Beloved brothers, I am sure that, in your pastoral solicitude and prudence, you seek particularly to assure the communities of your dioceses the presence of an ordained minister.
It is important to avoid that the present situation, when many of you are forced to organize the life of the Church with few priests, not be considered normal or typical of the future.
As I reminded the first group of Brazilian bishops last week, you must concentrate your efforts to awaken new priestly vocations and find the pastors indispensable for your dioceses, helping each other so that everyone may avail of more and better trained priests to sustain the life of faith and the apostolic mission of the faithful.
On the other hand, even those who have received Holy Orders are called on to live consistently and fully the grace and the commitments of Baptism - to offer themselves and their lives in union with Christ's sacrifice.
Daily celebration of the sacrifice on the altar and the daily praying of the Liturgy of Hours must always be accompanied by the witness of an existence that gives itself to God and to others, thus serving as orientation for the faithful.
In these months, the Church has before its eyes the example of the Holy Curate of Ars, who invited the faithful to unite their own life to the sacrifice of Christ, and offered himself, exclaiming: "How good it is for a priest to offer himself in sacrifice to God every morning!" (Le Curé d'Ars. Sa pensée - son coeur, coord. Bernard Nodet, 1966, pagine 104).
He continues to be an actual model for your priests, in particular, living your celibacy as a requirement of the total gift of self, an expression of that pastoral charity that the Second Vatican Council presents as the unifying center of priestly being and action.
Almost at the same time, in our beloved Brazil, there lived in Sao Paolo Fra Antônio de Sant'Anna Galvão, whom I had the joy to canonize on May 11, 2007. He too left a "testimony as fervent adorer of the Eucharist, living in laus perennis [perennial praise], in constant attitude of adoration" (Homily for his canonization, No. 2).
In this way, both (the Cure D'ars and Fray Galvao) sought to imitate Christ, making themselves not only priests but also victims and oblations like Jesus.
Beloved brothers in the Episcopate, there are already numerous signs of hope visible for the future of your local Churches, a future that God is preparing through the zeal and fidelity with which you carry out your episcopal ministry.
I wish to assure you of my fraternal support, and at the same time, I ask for your prayers so that I may be allowed to confirm everyone in the apostolic faith (cfr Lk 22,32).
May the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for all the People of God in Brazil, so that pastors and faithful may, with courage and joy, "openly announce the mystery of the Gospel" (cfr Eph 6,19).
With this prayer, I impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to the priests and faithful of your dioceses. "Peace to all of you who are in Christ" (1 Pt 5,14).
CNA had a good report on the Pope's address:
Priests cannot be
replaced by the laity
Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sep 17, 2009 (CNA).- In an audience this morning with bishops visiting from Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI advised them on how to respond to the lack of priests, emphasizing that the shortage cannot be solved by having lay people substitute for the clergy.
The Holy Father began his address to the Brazilian prelates by pointing out the difference between the identity of priests and the laity. While the lay faithful share in the "common priesthood," they are not ordained ministers of Christ and His Church.
"Hence," the Pope cautioned, "it is important to avoid the secularization of clergy and the 'clericalization' of the laity."
Fulfilling the lay vocation, he explained, involves working to "give expression in real life - also through political commitment - to the Christian view of anthropology and the social doctrine of the Church."
On the other hand, "priests must distance themselves from politics in order to favor the unity and communion of all the faithful, thus becoming a point of reference for everyone," Benedict said.
When dioceses are faced with a lack of priests, the Pope emphasized that they should not resort to "a more active and abundant participation of the laity" since it could take away from their own calling.
"The truth is that the greater the faithful's awareness of their own responsibilities within the Church, the clearer becomes the specific identity and inimitable role of the priest as pastor of the entire community, witness to the authenticity of the faith, and dispenser of the mysteries of salvation in the name of Christ the Head," Benedict XVI stated.
"The function of the clergy is essential and irreplaceable in announcing the Word and celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist," he insisted, saying that for this reason it is "vital to ask the Lord to send workers for His harvest; and it is necessary that priests express joy in their faithfulness to their identity."
Looking to the future, the Pope made it clear that "the shortage of priests must not come to be considered as a normal or typical state of affairs."
He exhorted the bishops resolve the crisis by combining efforts to "encourage new priestly vocations and find the pastors your dioceses need, helping one another so that all of you have better-trained and more numerous priests to support the life of faith and the apostolic mission."
As the Church celebrates the Year for Priests and the 150th anniversary of the death of the "Cure of Ars," Pope Benedict pointed to the French priest as a model for priests, "especially in living a life of celibacy as a requirement for the total giving of self." This total gift of self is "expressed through that pastoral charity which Vatican Council II presents as the unifying center of a priest's being and actions," he reminded.
The Holy Father ended his address on a positive note, assuring the prelates that "many signs of hope" exist for the future of particular Churches. This future, he said is one that "God is preparing through the dedication and the faithfulness with which you exercise your episcopal ministry.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/09/2009 13:54]