Pope Benedict XVI Lived True "Priestly Life" says Fr Lombardi
(June 23, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI's 60th anniversary as a priest on June 29, is an
event the entire Church is preparing to celebrate with joy, says a Vatican spokesman.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office and Vatican
Radio said that Congregation for the Clergy has asked the bishops' conferences around
the world to "promote celebrations of thanksgiving as well as prayers, centred especially
on Eucharistic Adoration, for priestly vocations -- asking the Lord of the Harvest
to send new labourers into his vineyard." Reflecting on the vocation of Joseph Ratzinger,
Father Lombardi said that the life of the Pope "is truly a priestly life." The Jesuit
explained that the present Pope received his vocation when he was very young, his
seminary training was interrupted only by the dramatic experience of the Second World
War, and he was ordained when he was 24, along with his older brother and a large
group of young people who had already proved their loyalty to God and the Church.
Blessed Alojs Andrìtzki, his companion was killed at Dachau in 1943 at the age of
31, for his fidelity to priesthood. Father Lombardi also mentioned some of the reflections
Pope Benedict XVI himself has given on the priesthood, "spring from the very depths
of his own personal experience of grace, received and cultivated with loyalty." Inviting
all to join the Pontiff in prayer, Father Lombardi concluded saying: "We ask for the
grace to follow his example of humility and joyful loyalty in serving this audacious
God, in effectively inspiring new vocations and promoting the holiness of all priests."