Pope closes “Year for Priests”

(June 11, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI urged the world’s priests on Friday to beg forgiveness from God and from victims for clerical abuse of children, promising to do everything possible to ensure such abuse never occur again. The Pope’s pledge came during an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome at which an estimated 15,000 priests from some 97 countries of the world concelebrated, to mark the closing of the Year for Priests. A tapestry of French Saint John Mary Vianney, the patron of parish priests, hung from the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica. The yearlong celebration of the priesthood, which began June 19 last year, has been marred by revelations of hundreds of new cases of clerical sex abuse and accusations of cover-up and Vatican inaction to root out paedophiles. In his homily at Friday’s Mass, the Holy Father lamented that “in this very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light – particularly the abuse of the little ones, in which the priesthood, whose task is to manifest God’s concern for our good, turns into its very opposite.” He said, “We too insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again. “In admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation,” he said, “we will do everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation and make every effort to accompany priests along their journey, so that the Lord will protect them and watch over them in troubled situations and amid life’s dangers.” Pope Benedict stressed that the priesthood is not simply an “office” but sacrament. A priest does something which no human being can do of his own power, i.e. in Christ’s name he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins and utters His words which make Him present in body and blood. Conscious of our weakness and infirmities, he explained, God nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in his stead. This the Pope described as the audacity of God and the true grandeur concealed in the word “priesthood”. Friday’s liturgy marked the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a day the Church observes as World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. Pope Benedict therefore urged priests to imitate the Good Shepherd who assures the faithful that God personally looks after them, even in the darkest valleys of temptation, discouragement and trial. He said the Good Shepherd shows us the right way to be human, and teaches us the art of being a person.
At the end of the Mass marking the conclusion of the Year for Priests, Pope Benedict greeted the crowd in several languages, including in English.

Listen:
I now wish to greet all the English-speaking priests present at today’s celebration! My dear brothers, as I thank you for your love of Christ and of his bride the Church, I ask you again solemnly to be faithful to your promises. Serve God and your people with holiness and courage, and always conform your lives on the mystery of the Lord’s cross. May God bless your apostolic labours abundantly!