Movements make plans for close of Priests' Year

(April 28, 2010) In preparation for the official closing ceremonies of the Year for Priests, scheduled for June in the Vatican, three lay Catholic movements are joining together to host an afternoon for priests. Focolare, Schonstatt and the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movements, with other ecclesial associations, are organizing an event called "Priests Today" on June 9 in Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, the same day that the official closing ceremonies will begin. Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, will preside over vespers, which will bring the movements' afternoon to a close. The Priests Today ceremony is an attempt "to give an answer, using above all the language of testimony and art, to the great challenges that the Church and society present today to priests," said the organizers.
The official closing celebrations of the Year for Priests are June 9-11 in Rome. The program will take priests to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to reflect on the theme "Conversion and Mission." On another day, the priests will meet in St. Peter's Square for testimonies, music and dialogue with Pope Benedict XVI and Eucharistic adoration and benediction. Finally, on June 11, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the theme will be "With Peter, in Ecclesial Communion." That day, there will be Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, celebrated by the Pope.