“I wished to meet you to get to know you personally, and to begin walking with you”, said Leo XVI addressing the clergy of the diocese of Rome who greeted him with a long round of applause in Paul VI Hall on Thursday, to which the Pope responded with a request for a round of applause for all those present. “Unity and communion” are the first two words that the Pope dedicated to a “truly particular” diocese, marked by universality and mutual acceptance.
“The presbyter is called to be a man of communion because he is the first to live it and continually nurtures it.”
“We know that this communion today is hindered by a cultural climate that favours isolation or self-absorption. None of us is exempt from these pitfalls that threaten the solidity of our spiritual life and the strength of our ministry”, is the profile outlined by the Pope. “But we must be vigilant because, in addition to the cultural context, communion and fraternity among us also encounter some obstacles that are, so to speak, “internal”, which relate to the ecclesial life of the diocese, interpersonal relationships, and also what resides in the heart, especially that feeling of weariness that arises because we have experienced particular hardships, because we do not feel we are understood and heard, or for other reasons”, he cautioned.
“I would like to help you, to walk with you, so that each person may regain serenity in his own ministry”,
the Pope assured: “but it is precisely for this reason that I ask you for zeal in priestly fraternity.”
“I ask you, with the heart of a father and of a pastor, let us all undertake to be credible and exemplary priests!”
It is the second appeal of the Pontiff, starting with the importance of the “transparency of life.” “We are aware of the limits of our nature and the Lord knows us in depth; but we have received an extraordinary grace; we have been entrusted with a precious treasure of which we are the ministers, the servants. And fidelity is required of the servant”, remarked Leo XIV:
“None of us is exempt from the suggestions of the world, and the city, with its thousands of offerings, could even draw us away from the desire for a holy life, inducing a levelling down in which the profound values of being a priest are lost.”
“Let yourselves be drawn once again by the call of the Master, to feel and live the love of the first hour, that which drove you to make important choices and courageous sacrifices”, the Pope said, followed by an exhortation:
“If together we try to be exemplary in a humble life, then we will be able to express the renewing force of the Gospel for every man and for every woman.”
The Pope referred to current events in the second part of his address:
“We are concerned and saddened by everything that happens every day in the world: we are hurt by the violence that generates death, we are challenged by inequalities, poverty, many forms of social marginalization, the widespread suffering that assumes the features of an unease that no longer spares anyone.”
“And these are not distant realities, far from us, but rather they affect even our city of Rome, marked by multiple forms of poverty and grave emergencies such as the issue of housing”, the Pope said denouncing the housing crisis in the capital city: “A city in which, as Pope Francis remarked, the ‘great beauty’ and charm of art must also be matched by ‘simple decorum and the normal functioning of places and situations in ordinary, everyday life. Because a city that is more liveable for its citizens is also more welcoming to everyone”. “The Lord wanted us in this time filled with challenges that, at times, seem to exceed our strength”, the Pope’s analysis: “We are called to embrace these challenges, to interpret them evangelically, to experience them as opportunities to bear witness. Let us not flee from them!”.
“May pastoral commitment, like that of study, become for us a school to learn how to build the Kingdom of God in today’s complex and challenging history”,
the Pope’s auspicious wish. “In recent times we have had the example of holy priests who have been able to combine a passion for history with the proclamation of the Gospel, such as Don Primo Mazzolari and Don Lorenzo Milani, prophets of peace and justice”, pointed out Leo XIV: “And here in Rome we have had Don Luigi Di Liegro who, faced with so much poverty, devoted his life to seeking ways of justice and human advancement.” “Let us draw on the strength of these examples to continue sowing seeds of holiness in our city”, his invitation to the those present: “I assure you of my closeness, my affection and my readiness to walk with you. Let us entrust our priestly life to the Lord, and let us ask him to be able to grow in unity, exemplarity and in prophetic commitment to serve our time.” The Holy Father concluded his address with a quotation from Saint Augustine: “Love this Church, be ye in this holy Church, be ye this Church; love the Good Shepherd, the Spouse so fair, who deceiveth no one, who desireth no one to perish. Pray too for the scattered sheep; that they too may come, that they too may acknowledge Him, that they too may love Him; that there may be One Flock and One Shepherd.”
