Feb 25 Wed
What kind of priests does the Church need today?
In a letter to the priests of Madrid and the entire Church, Pope Leo XIV outlined his vision of the “type of priests that the entire Church needs at this time.”
Let's ask God for priests at the measure of the Heart of Christ. Such priests, he wrote, are godly, men who are in the world but not of it, and characterized by fraternal charity. They are faithful to the living Tradition of the Church guarded by the Magisterium, celebrate the sacraments with faith and dignity, and go to Confession themselves. They appreciate the diversity of charisms and spiritualities within the Church. Above all, they are men of prayer centered on the Eucharist, on the altar, and in the tabernacle.
The Pontiff analyzed how many people, especially the young, are searching for deeper meaning.
In the hearts of many people, especially young people, a new restlessness is opening up today. The exclusive concern for well-being has not brought them the expected happiness; a freedom detached from the truth has not generated the promised fullness; and material progress, by itself, has not succeeded in fulfilling the deep desire of the human heart.
The priests the Church needs are certainly not men defined by the multiplication of tasks, but men configured to Christ, capable of sustaining their ministry from a living relationship with Him, nourished by the Eucharist, and expressed in a pastoral charity marked by the sincere gift of self.
The priesthood, in its most authentic nucleus, is being ‘alter Christus’ -another Christ.
The Pope said that priests should be:
- Christ centered: The priest is never an end in himself. He must refer his whole life to God, without usurping His place.
- Being in the world, but not of the world: Priestly life is marked by commitments that allows the priest to belong entirely to God without ceasing to walk among men.
- Living fraternity: Knowing that we are responsible for one another, resisting the individualism that impoverishes the heart and weakens the mission.
- Faithful to Catholic teaching: When the priest remains anchored in the living Tradition of the Church, and guarded by the Magisterium, he avoids building on the quick sands of partial interpretations.
- Focused on the Sacraments: These are the real and effective force of the priestly ministry. The priest must celebrate the sacraments with dignity and faith. “But do not forget that you are not the fountain, but the channel, and that you also need to drink of that water. Therefore, do not cease from going to Confession, to always return to the mercy you proclaim.”
- Appreciative of the Church’s different charisms and diverse spiritualities.
- Centered on the Eucharist: “Here is what gives meaning to what you do every day and from which your ministry springs. On the altar, through your hands, Christ’s sacrifice is actualized in the highest action entrusted to human hands; in the tabernacle, He whom you have offered, is entrusted once again to your care. Be worshippers, men of deep prayer, and teach your people to do the same.”