Quotations

"Today, because of their number, priests by themselves cannot fulfil this complete three-fold role of evangelising, sanctifying and shepherding, especially in big parishes where the needs are too great, too numerous and too various.   The decline in vocations to priesthood is therefore, not only a challenge to pray for more priests, but also a challenge to avail of the talents of many lay people...But just as the priest needs the cooperation of the laity to fulfill his role, the laity too, need the priest to fulfill theirs. First and foremost they need him for his proclamation of the Word and his celebration of the Eucharist."

(Saint Josephs Young Priests Society)


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Year for Priests

Anno Sacerdotale

Pope Benedict XVI announced that following the current “Year of St. Paul” the Church will observe a “Year for Priests”.  Here are the initial details published by the Vatican Information Service:

{CLICK PICTURE FOR LINK TO VIDEO OF ANNOUNCEMENT}
This morning in the Vatican the Holy Father received members of the Congregation for the Clergy, who are currently celebrating their plenary assembly.  "I have”, he said, “decided to call a special ‘Year for Priests’ which will run from 19 June 2009 to 19 June 2010″. This year marks “the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly ‘Cure of Ars’, Jean Marie Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock”.  {CLICK PICTURE FOR LINK TO VIDEO OF ANNOUNCEMENT} “The ecclesial, communional, hierarchical and doctrinal dimension is absolutely indispensable for any authentic mission, and this alone guarantees its spiritual effectiveness”, he said.
  • “The mission is ‘ecclesial’”, said the Pope, “because no-one announces or brings themselves, … but brings Another, God Himself, to the world. God is the only wealth that, definitively, mankind wishes to find in a priest.
  • “The mission is ‘communional’ because it takes place in a unity and communion which only at a secondary level possess important aspects of social visibility. …
  • The ‘hierarchical’ and ‘doctrinal’ dimensions emphasise the importance of ecclesiastical discipline (a term related to that of ‘disciple’) and of doctrinal (not just theological, initial and permanent) formation”.
Benedict XVI stressed the need to “have care for the formation of candidates to the priesthood”, a formation that must maintain “communion with unbroken ecclesial Tradition, without pausing or being tempted by discontinuity. In this context, it is important to encourage priests, especially the young generations, to a correct reading of the texts of Vatican Council II, interpreted in the light of all the Church’s doctrinal inheritance”.

Priests must be “present, identifiable and recognisable - for their judgement of faith, personal virtues and attire - in the fields of culture and of charity which have always been at the heart of the Church’s mission”.

“The centrality of Christ leads to a correct valuation of priestly ministry, without which there would be no Eucharist, no mission, not even the Church. It is necessary then, to ensure that ‘new structures’ or pastoral organisations are not planned for a time in which it will be possible to ‘do without’ ordained ministry, on the basis of an erroneous interpretation of the promotion of the laity, because this would lay the foundations for a further dilution in priestly ministry, and any supposed ’solutions’ would, in fact, dramatically coincide with the real causes of the problems currently affecting the ministry”.

Information & Resources for the 'Year' will be provided here when they become available.
 
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