RECEIVING THE PRIESTHOOD MEANS ALWAYS LIVING CELIBACY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2002 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon was the Pope's Message addressed to Archbishop Luigi de Magistris, major pro-penitentiary, and to the prelates and officials of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

In this year's Message, the Holy Father emphasizes the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance as a "beautiful exercise of the virtues" and he urges priests "to personally frequent (confession) as a real help on the path to holiness, and therefore, as a good form of spiritual direction. One can achieve holiness, and in particular priestly holiness, only by habitual, humble and trusting recourse to the Sacrament of Penance."

After recalling Jesus' teaching that the Sacrament of Penance is "irreplaceable for the life of grace," he says: "Therefore, to want to reduce the remission of sins to private and individual contact between the faithful and God is not consistent with the faith."

"In addition," he adds, "the conviction is erroneous of those who conceive of the Sacrament of Penance as something 'supererogatory', although not denying its positive value, because the Lord's forgiveness would have been given 'semel pro semper' on Calvary and therefore, the sacramental application of mercy would not be necessary to regain grace."

Referring to "specific forms of ascetism" to guide the penitent, he adds that these forms "must not be inspired by philosophical or religious concepts contrary to the Christian truth. For example, those concepts which reduce a human being to an element of nature, or on the contrary, exalt him to one who possesses absolute freedom. One could easily recognize, above all in this last case, a renewed form of Pelagianism."

"The Sacrament of Penance is the main instrument for discerning one's vocation. In order to continue toward the goal of the priesthood, solid and mature virtue is necessary, which guarantees in the future, as far as humanly possible, a solid perspective of perseverance."

"For this reason," he concludes, "those who are responsible for authorizing a candidate to join the priesthood must be 'hic et nunc' certain of his real suitability for the post. If this applies to all virtues and moral habits, it is clear that it is all the more necessary in the case of chastity, given that when the candidate receives holy orders, he must live in perpetual celibacy."

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