Question and Answer Session
at the End of the Priestly Year
H.H. Benedict XVI
June 11, 2010
www.zenit.org
Question 1: The Priest Does Not Just Do a Job ... He Is a Man
Impassioned for Christ
[Father Jose Eduardo Oliveira y Silva, America]
Most Blessed Father, I am Father Jose Eduardo Oliveira y Silva and I
come from America, specifically from Brazil. The majority of us here
present are involved in direct pastoral care in the parish, and not only
with one community, but at times we are parish priests of more parishes,
or of particularly extensive communities. With all good will we seek to
meet the needs of a society that is very changed, no longer wholly
Christian, but we are aware that our "doing" is not enough. How should
we proceed, Holiness? In what direction?
[Benedict XVI:]
Dear friends, first of all I
would like to express my great joy because gathered here are priests
from all parts of the world, in the joy of our vocation and our
willingness to serve the Lord with all our strength in this, our time.
In regard to the question: I am well aware that today it is very
difficult to be a parish priest, also and above all in countries of
ancient Christianity; parishes become increasingly more extensive,
pastoral unity ... it is impossible to know everyone, it is impossible
to do all the works that are expected of a parish priest. And thus, we
really ask ourselves how we should proceed, as you have said.
But I would like to say first of all: I know that there are so many
parish priests in the world that give all their strength to
evangelization, to have the presence of the Lord and of his sacraments,
and to these I would like to say a big "thank you," at this time. I have
said that it isn't possible to do all that one wishes to do, which
perhaps should be done, because our strengths are limited and the
situations are difficult in a society that is increasingly diversified,
more complicated. Above all, I think it is important that the faithful
can see that the priest does not just do a job, hours of work, and then
is free and lives only for himself, but that he is a man impassioned for
Christ, who bears in himself the fire of the love of Christ.
If the faithful see that he is full of the joy of the Lord, they also
understand that he cannot do everything, they accept the limitations,
and help the parish priest. This it seems to me is the most important
point: that one be able to see and feel that the parish priest really
feels himself called by the Lord; and is full of love of the Lord and of
his own. If this is the case, one understands and can also see the
impossibility of doing everything. Hence, the first condition is to be
full of the joy of the Gospel with our whole being. Then choices must be
made, priorities set, to see how much is possible and how much is
impossible.
I would say that we know the three fundamental priorities: they are the
three columns of our being priests. First, the Eucharist, the
sacraments: to render the Eucharist possible and present, above all to
offer Sunday Mass, in so far as possible, for all, and to celebrate it
in a way that it really becomes the visible act of love of the Lord for
us. Then, the proclamation of the Word in all the dimensions: from
personal dialogue to the homily. The third point is "caritas," the love
of Christ: to be present for the suffering, for the little ones, for
children, for persons in difficulty, for the marginalized; to really
render present the love of the Good Shepherd.
And then, a very important priority also is the personal relationship
with Christ. In the Breviary, on Nov. 4, we read a beautiful text of St.
Charles Borromeo, great pastor, who truly gave all of himself, and who
says to us, to all priests: "Do not neglect your own soul: if your soul
is neglected, you cannot even give to others what you should give them.
Hence, also for yourself, for your soul, there must be time," or, in
other words, the relationship with Christ, personal conversation with
Christ is a fundamental pastoral priority, it is the condition of our
work for others! And prayer is not something marginal: it is in fact the
"profession" of the priest to pray, also as representative of the people
who do not know how to pray and do not find the time to pray. Personal
prayer, above all the Prayer of the Hours, is essential nourishment for
our soul, for all our action.
And, finally, to recognize our limitations, to open ourselves also to
this humility. Let us recall a scene of Mark, Chapter 6, where the
disciples are "stressed," they want to do everything, and the Lord says:
"Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while" (cf. Mark
6:31). This also is work -- I would say -- pastoral work: to find and to
have the humility, the courage to rest. Hence, I think that passion for
the Lord, love of the Lord, shows us the priorities, the choices, helps
us to find the way. The Lord will help us. Thank you all!
Question 2: True Theology ... Seeks to Enter More Profoundly in
Communion With Christ
[Mathias
Agnero, Africa]
Holiness, I am Mathias Agnero and I come from Africa, specifically
from the Ivory Coast. You are a theologian-Pope, while we, when we
succeed, barely read some book of theology for formation. It seems
to us, however, that a break has been created between theology and
doctrine and, even more so, between theology and spirituality. One
feels the need that study not be wholly academic, but that it
nourish our spirituality. We feel the need of it in the pastoral
ministry itself.
At times, theology does not seem to have God at the center and Jesus
Christ in the first "theological place," but there are instead
diffuse tastes and tendencies; and the consequence is the
proliferation of suggestive opinions that allow the introduction in
the Church of non-Catholic thought. How can we not be disoriented in
our life and in our ministry, when it is the world that judges the
faith and not vice versa? We feel ourselves disoriented!
[Benedict XVI:]
Thank
you. You touch upon a very difficult and painful problem. There
really is a theology that above all seeks to be academic, to appear
scientific and forgets the vital reality, the presence of God, his
presence among us, his speaking today, not only in the past. St.
Bonaventure already distinguished two forms of theology in his time;
he said: "There is a theology that comes from the arrogance of
reason, which seeks to dominate everything, makes God pass from
subject to object that we study, while he should be subject that
speaks to us and guides us."
It is really this abuse of theology, which is arrogance of reason
and does not nourish faith, but obscures the presence of God in the
world. Then, there is a theology that seeks to know more out of love
for the beloved, it is stimulated by love and guided by love, it
seeks to know the loved one more. And this is true theology, which
comes from love of God, of Christ, and seeks to enter more
profoundly in communion with Christ. In reality, the temptations are
great today; imposed above all is the so-called "modern vision of
the world" (Bultmann, "moderns Weltbild"), which becomes the
criterion of all that is possible or impossible. And thus, it is
precisely with this criterion that everything is as always, that all
historical events are of the same sort, excluded in fact is the
novelty of the Gospel, the eruption of God is excluded, the true
novelty which is the joy of our faith.
What should be done? I would say first of all to theologians: Have
courage! And I would like to say a big thank you also to so many
theologians who do a good job. There are abuses, we know it, but in
all parts of the world there are so many theologians who truly live
by the Word of God, nourish themselves by meditation, live the faith
of the Church and wish to help so that the faith is present in our
day. To these theologians I would like to say a big "thank you."
And I would say to theologians in general: "do not be afraid of this
specter of scientific nature!" I follow the theology of '46; I began
to study theology in January of '46 and hence I have seen almost
three generations of theologians, and I can say: the theories that
at that time, and then in the '60s and '80s, were the newest,
absolutely scientific, absolutely almost dogmatic, in the meantime
have grown old and are not longer of any value! Many of them seem
almost ridiculous. Hence, one must have the courage to resist what
is apparently of a scientific nature, not subject oneself to all the
theories of the moment, but to really think from the great faith of
the Church, which is present in all times and opens to us access to
truth.
Above all, also, we must not think that positivist reason, which
excludes the transcendent -- which cannot be accessible -- is true
reason! This weak reason, which presents only things that can be
experienced, is really an insufficient reason. We theologians must
use the great reason, which is open to the grandeur of God. We must
have the courage to go beyond positivism to the question of the
roots of being. This seems to me to be of great importance. Hence,
one must have the courage of the great, ample reason, have the
humility not to subject oneself to all the theories of the moment,
to live from the great faith of the Church of all times. There is no
majority against the majority of the saints: the true majority are
the saints of the Church and we must be oriented to the saints!
Then, to seminarians and priests I say the same thing: think that
sacred Scripture is not an isolated book: it is living in the living
community of the Church, which is the same subject in all centuries
and guarantees the presence of the Word of God. The Lord has given
us the Church as living subject, with the structure of bishops in
communion with the Pope, and this great reality of bishops of the
world in communion with the Pope guarantees to us the testimony of
the permanent truth. Let us have trust in this permanent magisterium
of the communion of bishops with the Pope, which represents for us
the presence of the Word. And then, let us also have trust in the
life of the Church and, above all, we must be critical.
Certainly theological formation -- I would like to say this to
seminarians -- is very important. In our time we must know sacred
Scripture well, also, in fact, against the attacks of sects; we must
be really friends of the Word. We must also know the currents of our
time to be able to respond reasonably, to be able to give -- as St.
Peter says -- "reason of our faith." Formation is very important.
But we must also be critical: the criterion of the faith is also the
criterion with which to see theologians and theologies. Pope John
Paul II gave an absolutely sure criterion in the Catechism of the
Catholic Church: Here we see the synthesis of our faith, and this
Catechism is truly the criterion to see where there is an acceptable
or not acceptable theology. Hence, I recommend reading, the study of
this text, and thus we can go forward with a critical theology in
the positive sense, that is, criticism against the tendencies in
vogue and open to the true novelties, with the inexhaustible
profundity of the Word of God, which reveals itself new in all
times, also in our time.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Question 3: Celibacy ... Is a Great Sign of Faith
[Father Karol Mikloski, Europe]
Holy Father, I am Karol Mikloski and I come from Europe,
specifically from Slovakia, and I am a missionary in Russia. When I
celebrate the Holy Mass, I find myself, and I understand that I find
my identity there and the root and energy of my ministry. The
sacrifice of the cross reveals to me the Good Shepherd who gives
everything for the flock, for each sheep, and when I say: "This is
by Body ... this is my Blood" given and shed in sacrifice for you,
then I understand the beauty of celibacy and of obedience, which I
freely promised at the moment of ordination.
Although with the natural difficulties, celibacy seems obvious to
me, looking at Christ, but I find myself bewildered in reading so
many worldly criticisms of this gift. I ask you humbly, Holy Father,
to share with us your reflections on the profundity and authentic
meaning of ecclesiastical celibacy.
[Benedict XVI:]
Thank
you for the two parts of your question: for the first, where you
touch upon the permanent and vital foundation of our celibacy, and
for the second, which demonstrates the difficulties in which we find
ourselves in these times.
The first part is important as the daily celebration of the Holy
Eucharist should truly be at the center of our lives. Central here
are the words of the consecration -- "This is my Body, this is my
Blood" -- in that we speak "in persona Christi." Christ allows us to
use his "I" -- we speak with the "I" of Christ -- Christ "draws us
into himself" and allows us to unite ourselves, he unites us with
his "I." And thus, through this action, this fact that he "draws" us
into himself, so that our "I" becomes united to his, realizes the
permanence, the oneness of his priesthood. Thus Christ is truly and
always the only priest, and yet very present in the world, because
he "draws" us into himself and thus renders present the priestly
mission.
This means that we are "drawn" into the God of Christ: It is this
union with his "I" that is realized in the words of consecration.
Also in the "I absolve you" -- because none of us could absolve from
sins -- it is the "I" of Christ, of God, which alone can absolve.
This unification of his "I" with ours implies that we are "drawn"
also into his reality of the Risen One, we go forward toward the
full life of the resurrection, of which Jesus speaks to the
Sadducees in Matthew 22: it is a "new" life, in which we are already
beyond marriage (cf. Matthew 22:23-32).
It is important that we always allow ourselves to be penetrated
again by this identification of the "I" of Christ with us, by this
being "drawn outside" toward the world of the Resurrection. In this
sense, celibacy is an anticipation. We transcend this time and go
forward, and thus we "draw" ourselves and our time toward the world
of the Resurrection, toward the novelty of Christ, toward the new
and true life. Hence, celibacy is an anticipation made possible by
the grace of the Lord who "draws" us to himself toward the world of
the resurrection; he invites us always anew to transcend ourselves,
this present, toward the true present of the future, which becomes
present today.
And here we are at a very important point. A great problem of
Christianity in today's world is that thought is no longer given to
the future of God: the present of this world seems to be enough. We
only want to have this world, to live only in this world. Thus we
close the doors to the true grandeur of our existence. The meaning
of celibacy as anticipation of the future is precisely to open these
doors, to render the world greater, to show the reality of the
future that is already lived by us as present. To live thus is a
witness to the faith: We really believe that God is, that God enters
my life, that I can base my life on Christ, on the future life.
And we now know the worldly criticisms of which you have spoken. It
is true that for the agnostic world, the world in which God is not
considered, celibacy is a great scandal, because it shows precisely
that God is considered and lived as reality. With the eschatological
life of celibacy, the future world of God enters in the reality of
our time. And this should disappear! In a certain sense, this
permanent criticism against celibacy can surprise, at a time when it
is ever more fashionable not to marry. However, this not marrying is
something totally, fundamentally different from celibacy, because
not marrying is based on the will to live alone for oneself, not to
accept a definitive bond, to have life at every moment in full
autonomy, to decide at every moment what to do, what to take from
life; and hence, a "no" to the bond, a "no" to definitiveness, a
having life only for oneself. Whereas celibacy is precisely the
opposite: it is a definitive "yes," it is letting oneself be taken
by God by the hand, giving oneself into the hands of the Lord, into
his "I," and hence it is an act of fidelity and trust, an act that
implies also the fidelity of marriage; it is in fact the opposite of
this "no," of this autonomy which does not wish to oblige itself,
which does not want to enter a bond; it is in fact the definitive
"yes" that implies, that confirms the definitive "yes" of marriage.
And this marriage is the biblical form, the natural form of being
man and woman, foundation of the great Christian culture, of the
great cultures of the world. And if this disappears, the root of our
culture will be destroyed. That is why celibacy confirms the "yes"
of marriage with its "yes" to the future world, and thus we wish to
go forward and render present this scandal of a faith that places
the whole of existence on God. We know that next to this great
scandal, which the world does not wish to see, there are also the
secondary scandals of our insufficiency, of our sins, which obscure
the true and great scandal, and make one think: "But, they don't
really live on the foundation of God!"
However, there is so much fidelity! Celibacy, the criticisms in fact
show it, is a great sign of faith, of God's presence in the world.
Let us pray to the Lord to help us to be free of the secondary
scandals, to render present the great scandal of our faith: trust,
the strength of our life, founded on God and on Christ Jesus!
Question 4: The Eucharist Makes Present the Adventure of the Love of
God
[Father Atsushi Yamashita, Asia]
Holy Father, I am Atsushi Yamashita and I come from Asia,
specifically from Japan. The priestly model Your Holiness proposed
in this year, the Curé of Ars, sees at the center of existence and
of the mystery of the Eucharist, a sacramental and personal penance
and a love of worship worthily celebrated. I have before my eyes the
signs of the austere poverty of St. John Vianney, together with his
passion for the precious things of worship. How can we live these
fundamental dimensions of our priestly existence, without falling
into clericalism or into becoming extraneousness to reality, which
the world today does not allow us?
[Benedict XVI:]
Thank
you. Hence, the question is how to live the centrality of the
Eucharist without being lost in a purely devotional life, foreign to
the everyday life of other persons. We know that clericalism has
been a temptation of priests in all centuries, also today; hence, it
is all the more important to find the true way of living the
Eucharist, which is not a closing to the world, but in fact an
opening to the needs of the world. We must have present the fact
that in the Eucharist is realized this great drama of God who comes
out of himself, he leaves -- as the Letter to the Philippians says
-- his own glory, he comes out and comes down to be one of us and
comes down to death on the Cross (cf. Philippians 2). The adventure
of the love of God, who leaves, abandons himself to be with us --
this becomes present in the Eucharist; the great act, the great
adventure of the love of God is the humility of God who gives
himself to us.
In this sense, the Eucharist is to be considered as entering into
this way of God. St. Augustine says, in De Civitate Dei, book X:
"Hoc est sacrificium Christianorum: multi unum corpus in Christo,"
that is, the sacrifice of Christians is to be united by the love of
Christ in the unity of the one body of Christ. Sacrifice consists
precisely in coming out of ourselves, in allowing ourselves to be
drawn into the communion of the one bread, of the one Body, and thus
to enter into the great adventure of the love of God. Thus we should
celebrate, live, meditate always on the Eucharist, as the school of
liberation from my "I": to enter into the one bread, which is bread
of all, which unites us in the one Body of Christ. Hence, the
Eucharist is, in itself, an act of love, which obliges us to this
reality of love for others: the sacrifice of Christ is the communion
of all in his Body. Hence, we must learn the Eucharist in this way,
which is, precisely, the opposite of clericalism, of being shut in
on oneself.
Let us also think of Mother Teresa, truly the great example in this
century, in this time, of a love which leaves itself, which leaves
every type of clericalism, of extraneousness to the world, which
goes to the most marginalized, to the poorest, to persons close to
death and gives itself totally to love for the poor, for the
marginalized. But Mother Teresa who has given us this example, the
community that follows her footprints, always understood the
presence of a tabernacle as the first condition of one of her
foundations. Without the presence of the love of God who gives
himself, it would not have been possible to realize that apostolate,
it would not have been possible to live in that abandonment of
oneself; only by inserting themselves in this abandonment of self in
God, in this adventure of God, in this humility of God, were they
able and are able to carry out today this great act of love, this
openness to all. In this sense, I would say: to live the Eucharist
in its original meaning, in its true profundity, is a school of
life, it is the most sure protection against every temptation to
clericalism.
Question 5: We Must Knock At the Heart of God so that He Will
Give Us Priests
[Father Anthony Denton, Oceania]
Most Holy Father, I am Anthony Denton and I come from Oceania, from
Australia. Here, this evening, we are so many priests. We know,
however, that our seminaries are not full and that, in the future,
in several parts of the world, a drop is expected, even a sharp
drop. What can be done that is truly effective for vocations? How
can we propose our life, and that which is great and beautiful about
it, to a youth of our time?
[Benedict XVI:]
Thank
you. Really you touch upon, again, a great and painful problem of
our time: the lack of vocations, because of which local Churches are
in danger of withering, as the Word of life is lacking, the presence
of the sacrament of the Eucharist and of the other sacraments is
lacking.
What to do? The temptation is great to take the matter into our own
hands, to transform the priesthood -- the sacrament of Christ, being
chosen by him -- into a normal profession, into a job that has its
hours, and for the rest of the time one belongs to oneself, thus
rendering it, as any other vocation, accessible and easy. But this
is a temptation, which does not resolve the problem. It makes me
think of the story of Saul, the king of Israel, who before the
battle against the Philistines waits for Samuel for the necessary
sacrifice to God. And when Samuel does not come at that very moment,
he carries out the sacrifice himself, though he was not a priest
(cf. 1 Samuel 13); he thus thinks of resolving the problem, which of
course he does not resolve, because he takes into his own hands what
he cannot do, he makes himself God, or almost so, and it cannot be
expected that things will really go in God's way. Thus, we also, if
we only carried out a profession like others, giving up the
sacredness, the novelty, the difference of the sacrament that only
God gives, which can only come from his vocation and not from our
"doing," we won't resolve anything. So much more must we -- as the
Lord invites us -- pray to God, knock at the door, at the heart of
God, so that he will give us vocations; pray with great insistence,
with great determination, with great conviction, also because God
does not close himself to an insistent, permanent, trusting prayer,
even if he lets one do, wait, like Saul, beyond the times that we
had foreseen.
This, it seems to me, is the first point: to encourage the faithful
to have this humility, this trust, this courage to pray with
insistence for vocations, to knock at the heart of God so that he
will give us priests. Beyond this, I would mention perhaps three
points. The first: each one of us should do everything possible to
live our priesthood in such a way that it is convincing, in such a
way that young men can say: This is a true vocation, I can live like
this, thus one can do an essential thing for the world. I think none
of us would have become a priest if he did not know convincing
priests in which the fire of the love of God burned. Hence, this is
the first point: Let us seek to be convincing priests ourselves.
The second point is that we must invite, as I already said, others
to the initiative of prayer, to have this humility, this trust of
speaking with God with force, with determination. The third point:
to have the courage to speak with young men if they think that God
is calling them, because often a human word is necessary to open the
hearing to the divine vocation; to speak with young men and above
all to help them find a vital context in which they can live.
Today's world is such that it almost seems to exclude the maturing
of a priestly vocation; young people need environments in which the
faith is lived, in which the beauty of the faith appears, in which
it appears that this is a model of life, "the" model of life, and
hence to help them find movements, or the parish -- the community in
the parish -- or other contexts where they really are surrounded by
faith, by the love of God, and can then be open so that the vocation
of God will come and help them. On the other hand, we thank the Lord
for all the seminarians of our time, for young priests, and we pray.
The Lord will help us! Thank you all!
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
