pope tells priests in Poland

 

By Gerard O'Connell5/26/2006
UCANews (www.ucanews.com)
WARSAW, Poland (UCAN) – Pope Benedict XVI, on the first day of his visit to Poland to honor the late Pope John Paul II, reserved his strongest words for priests.

The pope told them they should "reject the desire to identify only with those who are sinless" and should specialize not in economics or politics but "in promoting the encounter between man and God."
He presented his vision of the priesthood when he addressed hundreds of priests in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw on May 25, hours after his arrival and warm welcome from the overwhelmingly Catholic nation of 38 million people.
Pope Benedict told the priests that he had longed to see them and share "some spiritual gift" with them. As he spoke, he showed that he is well aware that priests in Poland, like in other parts of the world, are tempted to get involved in politics and other secular matters, and he wants to prevent this deviation from what he sees as the essential task of their ministry.
The vision he shared carries forward a longstanding conviction he expressed in lectures and writings before he became pope. In his view, a main reason why so many priests – an estimated 100,000 – abandoned the ministry in the decades following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was their excessive involvement in "the world," to the detriment of spiritual matters.
Pope Benedict is determined to prevent a recurrence in Poland and in other places. He began his address to the priests by telling them, "I have come to the homeland of my great predecessor Pope John Paul II in order to inhale – as he used to do – this atmosphere of faith in which you live."
He recalled their "many trials" under Nazi rule (1939-45) and subsequent communist rule for more than four decades. Expressing his "appreciation and gratitude" for "those who did not let themselves be overwhelmed by the forces of darkness," the pope said, "Let us learn from them the courage to be consistent and constant in our adherence to the gospel of Christ."
Pope Benedict then went to the heart of his message: "The faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in promoting the encounter between man and God."
A priest, he said, "is not asked to be an expert in economics, construction or politics," but he "is expected to be an expert in the spiritual life."
He elaborated: "In the face of the temptations of relativism or the permissive society, there is absolutely no need for the priest to know all the latest, changing currents of thought. What the faithful expect from him is that he be a witness to the eternal wisdom contained in the revealed word."
The pope urged priests to dedicate time to prayer. "Let us not be consumed with haste, as if time dedicated to Christ in silent prayer were wasted. On the contrary, it is precisely then that the most wonderful fruits of pastoral service comes to birth," he told them.
"We grow in affective maturity when our hearts adhere to God," the pope said, adding that "Christ needs priests who are mature, virile, capable of cultivating an authentic spiritual paternity."
Pope Benedict then addressed – in an indirect but incisive manner – one of the most vexing issues in Poland today, and a matter in which some priests too are involved. The question concerns those who collaborated with Communist authorities during "the dark years" of totalitarian rule and, in particular, how to deal with them now.
Seeking to avert a wave of recrimination, he began by reminding priests and the wider public that Pope John Paul II had "frequently," and especially during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, "exhorted Christians to do penance for infidelities of the past."
The pope recalled that Catholics believe "the church is holy, but that there are sinners among her members." Therefore, "We need to reject the desire to identify only with those who are sinless," Pope Benedict said. "How could the church have excluded sinners from her ranks?" he asked, when "it is for their salvation that Jesus took flesh, died and rose again."
He told the clergy, "We must guard against the arrogant claim of setting ourselves up to judge earlier generations, who lived in different times and different circumstances."
According to Pope Benedict, "Humble sincerity is needed in order not to deny the sins of the past, and at the same time not to indulge in facile accusations in the absence of real evidence or without regard for the different preconceptions of the time."
In conclusion he said, "As we ask pardon for the wrong that was done in the past, we must also remember the good accomplished with the help of divine grace which, even if contained in earthenware vessels, has borne fruit that is often excellent."