I read with interest what Pope Francis said on February 17 to the priests present at a three-day meeting in the Vatican, organized by the Congregation for Bishops.
I agree with the reflections of the Holy Father especially when, dealing with the priestly crisis, he stressed that: “At the origin there is a scarce life of prayer, a lack of intimacy with the Lord, a reduction of the spiritual life”. And then he recalls that: “Without the intimacy of prayer, of spiritual life, of concrete closeness with God, through listening to the Word, the Eucharistic celebration, the silence of adoration, entrustment to Mary, wise accompaniment of a guide, the sacrament of reconciliation… a priest is, so to speak, a tired worker who does not enjoy the benefits of the Lord’s friends ”.
Certainly the strength for a shepherd of souls is his constantly feeling the need for an authentic interior life and his being among the people of God as a brother, who bears witness to the primacy of God in the journey of life. In order to be and to live all this, the pastor needs a time to “listen” to what the laying on of hands and the mandate of ministry have accomplished in him for the people and to be “alter Christus”, a servant out of love.
Before giving his commitment, the priest needs to be one with Christ the head and shepherd, and constantly feel what he has answered the call for: mind, heart and sensitivity of Christ who knows how to give his life for the flock.
In this lies the secret of fidelity to Christ the good shepherd. The presbyter needs his spaces for prayerful silence, for the deepening of the revealed data, for the oblative pastoral activity towards children and adults, rich and poor, men and women, healthy and sick, for a sincere relationship with the confreres and a human and priestly understanding with his Bishop, who – as Pope Francis says – cannot be “a school vigilante but a father”. It would be enough that between the Bishop and the diocesan presbytery there was a respectful fraternity, where the presbyters do not feel they are “interchangeable workers”, but pater familias to be listened to and encouraged. Of course there is and must be fraternal correction.
Unfortunately, even today in the life of priests, Pope Francis says, they are reached by attitudes that are the fruit of envy or gossip and this can also seriously undermine the trust and sometimes the very closeness between the confreres and even with the superiors.
When the priest feels not duly considered, his bond with the Bishop is often undermined and there the human and spiritual problem begins. It is very important for those who are close collaborators of the Bishop to know how to make priests aware of the true soul of the Pastor and what led to certain decisions, but it is equally important to present to the Bishop the situation in which a confrere acted. and spoke in a certain way.
Many of the priestly crises arise from human misunderstandings which then, unfortunately, also involve a relaxation of both prayer and spiritual life. Affective compensations then often emerge from there. Certainly it is not a justification, we must always be aware of the gift of the ministry and of the trust that Christ places in those he has called to the priesthood.
There is another danger, highlighted by Pope Francis, and that is excessive efficiency. This is certainly a “drug” that can hide the difficulty in seeking those spaces which are the bread for the priest’s interior life.
Today, however, due to the lack of clergy, they entrust super-activities to a presbyter: more parishes, more oratories, more offices, more inter-diocesan, inter-parochial positions, so much so that little or almost no time for family meetings. with the confreres, to gather in study or prayer and therefore, in this situation, the habit of an official makes its way into the soul of the presbyter and therefore risks becoming a trader of rites and meetings.
How much sadness in all this!
It is more than necessary that the entire ecclesial community, pastors and laity, pause to reflect on how it “invests” the great gift of the ordained ministry of its priests; how he welcomes them; how it accompanies them. Priests in every situation should try to be aware that their person, their thinking and their love cannot be different and distant from that of Christ. And if they realize that they have “derailed”, here is the opportunity, through healthy confidentiality with some confrere or a spiritual guide or with the Bishop himself, to resume the original conviction and dedication with which he began the ordained ministry in favor of the proclamation of the kingdom of God and the sanctification of oneself and of the people to whom they are sent by the Church in the name of Christ.
* Episcopal Vicar for the Laity and Culture – Diocese of Trieste