Vatican City, 11 November 2014 (VIS) –
Yesterday afternoon, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa,
Italy, read the message sent by Pope Francis to the participants in
the 67th General Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, of
which Cardinal Bagnasco is president. The meeting, which will finish
next Thursday, is being held at the Domus Pacis of St. Mary of the
Angels in Assisi, and is dedicated to the life and formation of
priests.
In his message, the Holy Father writes
that convening in Assisi recalls “the great love and veneration
that St. Francis nurtured for the hierarchical Holy Mother Church,
and in particular for priests … through whom the maternity of the
Church reaches the entire People of God. How many of them we have
known!” he exclaims. “We have seen them spending their lives
amongst the people of our parishes, educating the young, accompanying
families, visiting the sick at home and in hospital, and taking care
of the poor”, in the knowledge that the gravest error is to
separate oneself from others.
“Holy priests are sinners who have
been forgiven, and instruments of forgiveness. Their existence speaks
the language of patience and perseverance; they are not tourists of
the spirit, eternally undecided and unsatisfied, as they know that
they are in the hands of He Who never fails in His promises, and
whose Providence ensures that nothing can ever separate them from
their belonging. … Yes, it is still the time for priests of this
substance, 'bridges' enabling the encounter between God and the
world”.
“Priests like this cannot be
improvised: they are forged through the valuable formative work of
the Seminary, and Ordination consecrates them forever as men of God
and servants of His people”. However, “the identity of the
presbyter, precisely as it comes from above, demands he follow a
daily itinerary of reappropriation, starting from that which made of
him a minister of Jesus Christ. … The formation of which we speak
…. is without end, as priests never cease to be disciples of Jesus
and to follow Him. Therefore, formation as discipleship accompanies
the ordained minister throughout his life”, writes the Holy Father.
“Initial and continuing formation are two parts of a single entity:
the path of the presbyter disciple, enamoured of his Lord and
constantly following him”.
“You are aware that there is no need
for clerical priests whose behaviour risks distancing people from the
Lord, or functionary priests who, while they fulfil their role, seek
their consolation far from Him. Only those who keep a steady gaze on
what is truly essential may renew their acceptance of the gift they
have received. … Only those who allow themselves to conform to the
Good Shepherd find unity, peace and strength in the obedience of
service; only those who take their breath in presbyteral fraternity
leave behind the falsehood of a conscience that claims to be the
epicentre of everything, the sole measure of their feelings and
actions”.
The Pontiff concluded by expressing his
hope that the participants in the Assembly would experience “days
of listening and comparison, leading to the definition of itineraries
of permanent formation, able to link spiritual and cultural,
communicative and pastoral dimensions: these are the pillars of life
formed according to the Gospel, preserved in daily discipline, in
prayer, in the guardianship of the senses, in care for oneself, in
humble and prophetic witness; lives that restore to the Church the
trust that she first placed in them”.
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