VATICAN CITY, OCT 25, 1999 (VIS) - Shortly after noon today, in the Clementine Hall, the Pope welcomed professors and seminarians from Paris, accompanied by their archbishop, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger who, he recalled, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his episcopal ordination on December 8.
John Paul II, addressing them in French, praised "the attention the diocese of Paris gives to priestly formation, the importance of which is capital. The elements acquired during formation ... are for each priest like a charter of his priestly life."
"Your formation in the seminary and your permanent formation," the Pope went on, "make you ready for your mission. What you have started to practice with regularity must remain the rule of your life: meeting the Lord in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, trusting love towards the Church, liturgical and personal prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, fraternal behavior, which is like the soul of the priesthood, and solicitude towards the people of God, especially the poor."
"Through priestly ordination you will be configured to Christ, Head and Pastor," concluded the Pope. "Love the Church, just as the Lord loved it, devoting Himself to her."
AC;PRIESTLY FORMATION;...;PARIS; LUSTIGER;VIS;19991025;Word: 200;
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