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In the Heart of the Church |
Opening Address for Plenary Assembly
"The Missionary Identity of
the Priest in the Church as an Intrinsic Dimension of the Exercise of
the Tria Munera"
Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo,
Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
March 16, 2009
Eminent Cardinals, venerated brothers in the Episcopacy
and the Priesthood
Introduction
I wish to give a heartfelt welcome to all the Members of the
Congregation, in particular to the new Members who are participating in
the Plenary Assembly for the very first time. I wish to extend my
appreciation to all of you who have made many sacrifices to meet in the
Eternal City.
I wish to join you in thanking the Lord who has enabled us to gather in
this location cum Petro et sub Petro, and under the protection of the
Apostle Paul, especially in this Pauline Year, in a spirit of communion,
faith and love, which unites us in the service of the Church for the
good of our priests, deacons and the entire People of God.
In recent years this Dicastery has made a significant contribution
within the area of its competence. One recalls the important Directory
for the Ministry and Life of Priests issued in 1994; the Circular Letter
The Priest and the Third Christian Millennium: Teacher of the Word,
Minister of the Sacraments and Leader of the Community, issued in 1999;
the Instruction, The Priest, Pastor and Leader of the Community of 2002;
and finally, in 2004, the Plenary Assembly which directed its attention
to organs of collaboration in the Particular Churches, at the diocesan
and parochial level, and to The Apostolate of Sanctuaries, seeking to
underline clearly and comprehensively the specific theological and
sacramental foundation which is at the root of the codified norm and the
recent Magisterial provisions concerning diocesan and parochial bodies;
in this way the Plenary Assembly indicated the means by which to restore
to their proper nature or to remove inappropriate arrangements or
practical implementation of the organs of participation at the diocesan
and local level of the Particular Church, which at times are a
mischaracterisation or indeed contrary to the universal law of the
Church.
In harmony with the Magisterium of the Church and in a particular way
with the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and the recent
interventions of the Holy Father, the Congregation today proposes a
theme which it considers to be of particular relevance for the Church at
this time: the missionary identity of the Priest within the Church as an
intrinsic dimension of the exercise of the tria munera. The essential
objective is to emphasise the relevance of the missionary identity of
the Priest in the contemporary context of the life of the Church.
2. Missionary Urgency in the Contemporary World
The Church is missionary of her very nature insofar as, according to the
will of God the Father, she draws her origin from the mission of the Son
and the mission of the Holy Spirit (Ad Gentes, 2). Her missionary nature
is intrinsic, rooted ultimately in the Trinitarian missions: “Go into
the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15),
and in the same command to the Apostle to the Gentiles, “Go, I shall
send you far away to the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21).
The missionary urgency is renewed in our contemporary circumstances, and
taking a glance at the whole world, this is true not only ad gentes but
also within the flock that is constituted by the Church.
Since the beginning of his Pontificate Pope Benedict XVI has constantly
reiterated the theme of the new circumstances in which the Church finds
herself in post-modern society. We find ourselves before a society whose
culture seeks to deny God and is profoundly marked by secularism,
relativism, scientism, religious indifference, agnosticism, and by an
often militant and anti-religious laicism. While this new post-modern
culture is spreading especially in the countries of the West, and is
dominant in the media, it is also expanding progressively to all peoples
through the mobility of modern life and through modern means of
communication.
The Pope, speaking to the German Bishops during World Youth Day in 2005
said, “We know that secularism and dechristianization are gaining
ground, that relativism is growing and that the influence of Catholic
ethics and morals is in constant decline. Many people abandon the Church
or, if they stay, accept only a part of Catholic teaching, picking and
choosing between only certain aspects of Christianity. […]Dear Brothers,
as you yourselves said […]:"We have become a mission land". […] we
should give serious thought as to how to achieve a true evangelization
[…] it is not enough for us to strive to preserve the existing flock,
although this is very important […].I believe we must all try together
to find new ways of bringing the Gospel to the contemporary world, of
proclaiming Christ anew and of implanting the faith”. (Address to the
German Bishops in the Piussaal of the Seminary of Cologne, 21st August
2005).
At the present time there is a growing awareness that, apart from the
problems of post-modern culture, there is also both the problem of the
high number of Catholics who live at a remove from religious practice
and the acute problem of reduction of the number of those who, for
various reasons, consider themselves to be Catholic; moreover there is
the current problem of the extraordinary growth of so called
“evangelical-pentecostal” and other sects.
It is therefore supremely important to give a warm welcome to the Holy
Father’s invitation to a true “mission” directed towards those who,
albeit baptised by us, have not been sufficiently evangelised by us, due
to various historical circumstances. In his allocution to the Bishops of
Brazil in 2007, the Pope said, “Consequently, there is a need to engage
in apostolic activity as a true mission in the midst of the flock that
is constituted by the Catholic Church in Brazil, and to promote on every
level a methodical evangelization aimed at personal and communal
fidelity to Christ.[…] What is required, in a word, is a mission of
evangelization capable of engaging all the vital energies present in
this immense flock” (Address to the Bishops of Brazil at the Catedral da
Sé, São Paulo, 11th May 2007).
3. The Missionary Identity of the Priest and the Tria Munera
The exercise of the priestly ministry is seen to be fundamental within
the People of God for responding to situations which are in contrast
with the gospel. In this regard the foundations of the Priest’s true
missionary identity ought to be recovered in order to overcome the
problems afflicting humanity and which are reflected in the life of the
Church.
The Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis (N° 5-6), on the ministry and life of
priests develops this truth when it refers to priests as ministers of
the Word of God, ministers of sanctification through the Eucharist and
the other sacraments, and as guides and teachers of the People of God:
these are the tria munera of the Priest. Even if it is not explicit, the
missionary identity of the priest is clearly present in these texts. The
Priest who is “sent”, who participates in the mission of Christ, sent by
the Father, finds himself enveloped in a missionary dynamic without
which he could not truly live his proper identity (John Paul II,
Pastores Dabo Vobis, 26). The Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Pastores Dabo Vobis states that, even though belonging to a Particular
Church, the priest has received a spiritual gift by virtue of his
ordination, which prepares him for a universal mission, even to the ends
of the earth ( Cf. Acts 1:8), “for every priestly ministry shares in the
universality of the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles” (PDV
32). If we speak of a mission we must always remember that the one sent,
the priest in this instance, is necessarily understood in relation to
the one who sent him, and those to whom he is sent. Looking at his
relationship with Christ, the first to be sent by the Father, one must
emphasise the fact based upon the texts of the New Testament, that it is
Christ himself who sends and constitutes the ministers of His Church so
that they cannot be simply understood to be delegates of the community
or of the priestly People. “The priest finds the full truth of his
identity in being a derivation, a specific participation in and
continuation of Christ himself, the one high priest of the new and
eternal covenant” (John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, 12).
4. The Priest and the Need of a New Missionary Activity
The first truth that comes to light from this relationship with Christ
is the importance of a profound identification and closeness with Him
who consecrates and sends the priest. In fact, to be a missionary
requires that one be a disciple. The Gospel of Mark affirms this, “He
went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to
him. He appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) that they might
be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority
to drive out demons” (Mk. 3:13-15). “He summoned those whom he wanted”
and “that they might be with him”: this is discipleship! These disciples
will be sent to preach and to cast out demons: these are the
missionaries! The path of discipleship begins with the Lord’s call. The
initiative is always his. This shows that the call is always a grace,
which must be humbly and freely received and nurtured with the help of
the Holy Spirit. God loved us first. This is the primacy of grace. After
the call comes the encounter with Jesus to listen to his Word and to
experience his love for each person and for the whole of humanity. He
loves us and reveals the true God to us, who is Three and One, and who
is Love. The gospel reveals how in this encounter the Spirit of Jesus
transforms him whose heart is open. In fact, he who encounters Jesus
experiences a profound involvement with his person and with his mission
in the world, he believes in him, experiences his love, adheres to him,
decides to follow in his footsteps unconditionally wherever this should
lead him, devotes his entire life to him and, if necessary, is willing
to die for him. He comes from this encounter with a heart joyous and
enthusiastic and, fascinated by the mystery of Jesus, he sets forth to
proclaim him to the world. In this way the disciple becomes like the
Master, sent forth by him and sustained by the Holy Spirit. Pope
Benedict XVI, in commenting on this extract from Mark’s gospel, presents
the essence of the spiritual vocation of the priest as a “being with
Christ” so that he is then “being sent by Him”. Staying with Him and
being sent by Him are two things that are inextricably linked. Only he
who has stayed with him learns to know Him and can truly proclaim Him.
He who stays with him cannot keep to himself that which he has found but
must pass it on. Otherwise one falls into an “activist void”; we know
this from experience: where priests have allowed the being with the Lord
to be evermore reduced on account of the increasing burden of work, they
eventually lose the interior strength that sustains them,
notwithstanding their heroic work. Their work becomes an empty activism”
(Address to the seminarians, priests, male and female religious and
members of the Pontifical Work for Vocations of Special Consecration,
Apostolic Journey to Germany, 11th September 2006). For the Priest the
“being with Him” always renews him, particularly and in an absolutely
unique manner in the daily celebration of the Eucharist, but also in the
daily prayerful reading of the Bible, in praying faithfully the Liturgy
of the Hours, in personal and common prayer, in receiving the Sacrament
of Reconciliation, in solidarity with the poor, and in many other ways.
It is a task of “staying with Him” so as to become his true disciples
and thus proclaim him with vigour and effectiveness! “Staying with Him”
so as then to proclaim Him to others: this is the central task of the
Priest! In the final analysis it is a question of living a life centred
upon God. “If this centrality of God in a priest's life is lost, little
by little the zeal in his actions is lost” (Pope Benedict XVI To the
Members of the Roman Curia, December 22nd 2006). The missionary vocation
of Priests arises from this deep and intimate experience of God. In the
present day this mission is necessarily developed in two spheres, that
is: “ad gentes” and amongst the flock that already constitutes the
Church, namely the baptised. The horizon of the mission ad gentes is
ever expanding and requires a renewed missionary impulse. The Church
looks with love, hope and care towards Africa and Asia, and especially
China. Priests are called to hearken to the breath of the Spirit and to
share this concern of the Universal Church. On the other hand, amongst
the flock that is constituted by the Church in so-called Christian lands
where sadly more than half of the baptised fail to participate in the
life of the Church, having been so little evangelised, a missionary
evangelization has become an urgent priority which can no longer be
delayed. It is to this mission within the flock that we wish to give our
attention in this Plenary Assembly. The mission “ad gentes” is, of
course, the particular competence of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of the Peoples.
5. The Priest, Disciple and Missionary in the exercise of the “Tria
Munera”
The Second Vatican Council presents the Priest as minister of the Word,
minister of sanctification through the Sacraments, and through the
Eucharist in a unique way, and as pastor, guide and teacher of the
People of God (Cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, nn. 4-6). The “tria munera”
are the context of his being a disciple and a missionary.
5.1. In the Sphere of the Munus Docendi
To be a true missionary within the flock of the Church in the present
circumstances it is essential and indispensable for the priest to decide
not only to evangelise and to welcome those who seek him in the parish
or elsewhere, out but also to “arise and go forth” first of all in
search of the baptised who no longer take part in the life of the
ecclesial community, as well as those who know little or nothing of
Jesus Christ. This new mission ought to be received with an ongoing
enthusiasm in each parish with a zeal capable of reaching out to all the
baptised of one’s territory and also to the non-baptised. The Kerigma
must be given particular emphasis in this specifically missionary
proclamation of the Gospel. This initial or renewed kerigmatic
proclamation of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen one, and of his
Kingdom is undoubtedly marked by a unique zeal and anointing of the Holy
Spirit. The Kerigma is the content par excellence of missionary
preaching. In the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio (1990), John Paul II
wrote: “In the complex reality of mission, initial proclamation has a
central and irreplaceable role, since it introduces man "into the
mystery of the love of God, who invites him to enter into a personal
relationship with himself in Christ" and opens the way to conversion.
Faith is born of preaching […]. The subject of proclamation is Christ
who was crucified, died and is risen: through him is accomplished our
full and authentic liberation from evil, sin and death; through him God
bestows "new life" that is divine and eternal. This is the "Good News"
which changes man and his history, and which all peoples have a right to
hear. This proclamation is to be made within the context of the lives of
the individuals and peoples who receive it. It is to be made with an
attitude of love and esteem toward those who hear it, in language which
is practical and adapted to the situation. In this proclamation the
Spirit is at work and establishes a communion between the missionary and
his hearers, a communion which is possible inasmuch as both enter into
communion with God the Father through Christ” (N°44). Hence it is
necessary to undertake once again “in season and out of season” this
initial proclamation with perseverance, conviction, evangelising joy, be
that in homilies, during Holy Mass or in other evangelising moments, by
catechesis, home visitation, within the public square, in the means of
social communication, within encounters with our baptised who no longer
attend to the life of the ecclesial community; all in all, wherever the
Spirit leads us and where He gives us an opportunity that ought to be
grasped. This missionary commitment shall be directed to the poor as
matter of preference. As Jesus himself has said: “The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the
poor” (Lk. 4:18). The above-mentioned address to the Bishops of Brazil,
Benedict XVI stated: “A particular problem which you face as Pastors is
surely the issue of those Catholics who have abandoned the life of the
Church. It seems clear that the principal cause of this problem is to be
found in the lack of an evangelization completely centred on Christ and
his Church […] In the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, I stated that "being
Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but
the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon
and a decisive direction" (no. 1). Consequently, there is a need to
engage in apostolic activity as a true mission in the midst of the flock
that is constituted by the Catholic Church (…) to promote on every level
a methodical evangelization aimed at personal and communal fidelity to
Christ. No effort should be spared in seeking out those Catholics who
have fallen away and those who know little or nothing of Jesus Christ
[…]In this work of evangelization the ecclesial community should be
clearly marked by pastoral initiatives, especially by sending
missionaries, lay or religious, to homes on the outskirts of the cities
and in the interior, to enter into dialogue with everyone in a spirit of
understanding, sensitivity and charity. On the other hand, if the
persons they encounter are living in poverty, it is necessary to help
them, as the first Christian communities did, by practising solidarity
and making them feel truly loved. The poor living in the outskirts of
the cities or the countryside need to feel that the Church is close to
them, providing for their most urgent needs, defending their rights and
working together with them to build a society founded on justice and
peace. The Gospel is addressed in a special way to the poor, and the
Bishop, modelled on the Good Shepherd, must be particularly concerned
with offering them the divine consolation of the faith, without
overlooking their need for "material bread". As I wished to stress in
the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, "the Church cannot neglect the service
of charity any more than she can neglect the sacraments and the word"
(no. 22)”” (N°3).
5.2. In the Sphere of the Munus Sanctificandi
The proclamation of the Word of God is part of all Sacramental
celebration, since the Sacrament demands faith from the one who receives
it. This indicates that the celebration of the Sacraments and of the
Eucharist in particular, has an intrinsic missionary dimension that can
be conveyed in the proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom
to those who have been scarcely or not at all evangelised by us. It must
be equally underlined that the Eucharist is the centre and life of the
Church and of that of all the Christian faithful. In this point one can
say that the Eucharist is the culmination of the mission. The missionary
seeks out individuals and peoples to bring them to the Supper of the
Lord, the primary eschatological proclamation of the Banquet of Eternal
Life with God in Heaven, which will be the fulfilment of salvation
according to the Father’s plan of redemption. The Eucharist also has the
quality of a missionary mandate: every Mass ends with the sending of
each participant to missionary work within society. In celebrating the
Eucharist and upon receiving the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of
Jesus, the Christian Community is deeply united to the Lord and filled
with His boundless love. At the same time over and over again the
Faithful receive Jesus’ commandment, “love one another as I have loved
you”, and feel compelled by the Spirit to go forth and proclaim to all
creation the Good News of God’s love and of unfaltering hope in His
saving mercy. The Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis of the Second Vatican
Council states: “the Eucharist shows itself as the source and the apex
of the whole work of preaching the Gospel” (N°5). The beautiful, serene,
dignified, devoted celebration of the Eucharist and the other Sacraments
according to the liturgical norms becomes a special evangelisation for
the Faithful who are present. All of the Sacraments receive their
sanctifying strength from the death and resurrection of Christ and they
proclaim the unceasing mercy of God. Their essence and their missionary
effectiveness must be constantly underlined.
5.3. In the Sphere of the Munus Regendi
The current missionary urgency demands that priests lead the communities
entrusted to them towards missionary activity deeply animated by
pastoral love and fully aware of their role as ministers of Christ. The
integrating aspect of the munus regendi is the priest’s personal
capacity to sustain the missionary spirit and the sense of
co-responsibility amongst the Lay Faithful, since he depends on them for
the new evangelisation. In fact the co-responsibility and
co-participation of the Lay Faithful in the mission of the Church in no
way diminishes the fact that it is the priest who is the shepherd. In
the Pope’s meeting with the priests of the Diocese of Belluno-Feltre and
Treviso he said: “I believe that this is one of the important and
positive results of the Council: the co-responsibility of the entire
parish, for the parish priest is no longer the only one to animate
everything. Since we all form a parish together, we must all collaborate
and help so that the parish priest is not left on his own, mainly as a
coordinator, but truly discovers that he is a pastor who is backed up in
these common tasks in which, together, the parish lives and is
fulfilled” (Church of St Justin Martyr, Auronzo di Cadore, 24 July
2007). In the munus regendi the priest, insofar as it pertains to the
mission of his parish, must gather together the members of the parish
community to assume the burden of this mission with him. In virtue of
his baptism and confirmation the lay person is called by the Lord to be
an evangeliser. In this way the priest should gather together his Lay
Faithful, form them and send them out to fulfil the mission under his
guidance. The positive outcome of the parochial mission requires a good
missionary methodology. The Church has two thousand years of experience
in this regard. Nevertheless, each historical period is marked by new
circumstances that must be acknowledged for an effective missionary
activity. An authentic missionary identity also requires that the priest
highlights his genuine presence as a shepherd. In it is this context
that one can understand the pastoral importance of clerical garb which
is a sign of the universal identity of the priest. The more society is
pluralist and secularist the more it needs symbols identifying the
sacred (Cf. Paul VI, Catechesis of the General Audience of 7th September
1969; Allocution to clergy (1st March 1973); Insegnamenti of Paul VI,
VII N° 1065 (1969) and XI, N° 176; Can. 284, The Directory for the
Ministry and Life of Priests, N°66, and Circular Letter The Priest and
the Third Christian Millennium: Teacher of the Word, Minister of the
Sacraments and Leader of the Community (1999) Ch. IV, N°3). In a similar
but altogether deeper way the witness of priestly celibacy can and must
be a sign of the transcendence of the Kingdom of God. It must be noted
that the present circumstances reveal the urgent need for a profound
disposition of availability on the part of priests that they might be
able to change not only from a particular pastoral assignment but also
the city, region or country according to the different needs so as to be
open to the mission which may be necessary in every possible
circumstance and, for the love of God, going beyond their own personal
tastes and plans. The very nature of the priestly ministry, therefore,
they must imbued with and animated by a deeply missionary spirit, a
truly Catholic spirit that will make it commonplace for them to look
beyond the confines of their own Diocese, nation or rite to the needs of
the Church as a whole, and to preach the Gospel in all places. (Cf.
Vatican Council II, Decree Optatam Totius, N°20; The Catechism of the
Catholic Church, N° 1565; John Paul II Post Synodal Exhortation Pastores
Dabo Vobis, N°18).
6. The Missionary Formation of Priests and Priestly Vocations
Every priest ought to receive an appropriate missionary formation, since
the Church wishes to dedicate herself with renewed urgency and zeal to
the mission ad gentes and to missionary evangelisation towards the
baptised themselves, especially those have drifted away from the life
and activity of the ecclesial community. This formation ought to begin
in the seminary, following a systematic, wide ranging and thorough
approach. There is an ever greater need to establish a link between the
period of seminary formation and the initial stage of ministry and
ongoing formation, which must be united and harmonious with one another,
fit for the mission, since it in this work that the presbyterate becomes
ever more what it actually is: a precious and indispensable pearl
offered by Christ to the Church and to all humanity.
7. Conclusion
If missionary activity is a constitutive element of ecclesial identity,
we must be grateful to the Lord who renews, even in the recent
Pontifical Magisterium, this clear awareness throughout the Church and
amongst priests in particular. The missionary urgency in the present
time is great indeed, and it requires the renewal of pastoral care that
perceives itself to be in a permanent mission both ad gentes and where
the Church is already established, seeking out those whom we have
baptised and who have a right to the evangelised by us. Neither priests
nor the entire community of the Church must spare themselves, whether in
season or out of season, in this pressing missionary evangelisation,
both intense and broad in all spheres of contemporary society, most
notably amongst the poor. This permanent “missionary tension” cannot but
benefit the renewal of a true priestly identity in every priest, who
precisely in the missionary exercise of the tria munera will find the
principle means of personal sanctification , and thus of the fulfilment
of his own priestly and human vocation. In order to reach this goal,
according to the Heart of the Good Shepherd, may the mission and the
priest look unstintingly at the Blessed Virgin Mary who, full of grace,
brought forth the Lord to all the world, as the “light of the nations”,
and who ever continues to visit the peoples of each generation who are
yet pilgrims along the paths of the world to show them the face of Jesus
of Nazareth, our true and only Saviour.
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Mary
