By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Speaking on the occasion of the Brazilian bishops Ad Limina pilgrimage to Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said we must be careful not to secularize the clergy or clericalize the laity.
Vatican Radio is reporting that in a recent address to members of the Brazilian Bishops Conference, the Pope warned: “Do not secularize the clergy and clericalize the laity.”
The lack of priests does not justify a more active role of the laity, he said. “The truth is that the greater the faithfull’s awareness of their own responsibilities within the Church, the clearer becomes the specific identity and inimitable role of the priest as pastor of the entire community.”
He added: “The function of the clergy is essential and irreplaceable in announcing the Word and celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. … For this reason it is necessary that priests express joy in their faithfulness to their identity.”
The Pope also made it clear that “the shortage of priests must not come to be considered as a normal or typical state of affairs for the future.”
Instead, he encouraged prelates “to combine efforts to encourage new priestly vocations and find the pastors your dioceses need, helping one another so that all of you have better-trained and more numerous priests to support the life of faith and the apostolic mission.”
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