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"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you ... For I
long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours
and mine" (Rom 1:8-12).
Dear priests, I address to you these words of the Apostle Paul, because they
perfectly reflect my feelings and thoughts today, my wishes and my prayers. I
greet in particular Cardinal Józef Glemp, Archbishop of Warsaw and Primate of
Poland, to whom I extend my most cordial congratulations on his fiftieth
anniversary of priestly ordination this very day. I have come to Poland, the
beloved 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, and to
"convey to you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened by
it." I am confident that my pilgrimage during these days will
"encourage the faith that we share, both yours and mine."
I am meeting you today in the great Cathedral of Warsaw, every stone of which
speaks of the tragic history of your capital and your country. How many trials
you have endured in the recent past! We call to mind heroic witnesses to the
faith, who gave their lives to God and to their fellow human beings, both
canonized saints and ordinary people who persevered in rectitude, authenticity
and goodness, never giving way to despair. In this Cathedral I recall
particularly the Servant of God Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, whom you call
"the Primate of the Millennium." Abandoning himself to Christ and to
his Mother, he knew how to serve the Church faithfully, despite the tragic and
prolonged trials that surrounded him. Let us remember with appreciation and
gratitude those who did not let themselves be overwhelmed by the forces of
darkness, and let us learn from them the courage to be consistent and constant
in our adherence to the Gospel of Christ.
Today I am meeting you, priests called by Christ to serve him in the new
millennium. You have been chosen from among the people, appointed to act in
relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Believe in the power of
your priesthood! By virtue of the sacrament, you have received all that you are.
When you utter the words "I" and "my" ("I absolve you
... This is my body ..."), you do it not in your own name, but in the name
of Christ, "in persona Christi", who wants to use your lips and
your hands, your spirit of sacrifice and your talent. At the moment of your
ordination, through the liturgical sign of the imposition of hands, Christ took
you under his special protection; you are concealed under his hands and in his
Heart. Immerse yourselves in his love, and give him your love! When your hands
were anointed with oil, the sign of the Holy Spirit, they were destined to serve
the Lord as his own hands in today’s world. They can no longer serve selfish
purposes, but must continue in the world the witness of his love.
The greatness of Christ’s priesthood can make us tremble. We can be tempted
to cry out with Peter: "Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man" (Lk
5:8), because we find it hard to believe that Christ called us specifically.
Could he not have chosen someone else, more capable, more holy? But Jesus has
looked lovingly upon each one of us, and in this gaze of his we may have
confidence. Let us not be consumed with haste, as if time dedicated to Christ in
silent prayer were time wasted. On the contrary, it is precisely then that the
most wonderful fruits of pastoral service come to birth. There is no need to be
discouraged on account of the fact that prayer requires effort, or because of
the impression that Jesus remains silent. He is indeed silent, but he is at
work. In this regard, I am pleased to recall
my experience last year in Cologne.
I witnessed then a deep, unforgettable silence of a million young people at the
moment of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament! That prayerful silence united
us, it gave us great consolation. In a world where there is so much noise, so
much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in
the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful.
It is a source of comfort and light particularly to those who are suffering.
The faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in
promoting the encounter between man and God. The priest is not asked to be an
expert in economics, construction or politics. He is expected to be an expert in
the spiritual life. With this end in view, when a young priest takes his first
steps, he needs to be able to refer to an experienced teacher who will help him
not to lose his way among the many ideas put forward by the culture of the
moment. 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. Solicitude for the quality
of personal prayer and for good theological formation bear fruit in life. Living
under the influence of totalitarianism may have given rise to an unconscious
tendency to hide under an external mask, and in consequence to become somewhat
hypocritical. Clearly this does not promote authentic fraternal relations and
may lead to an exaggerated concentration on oneself. In reality, we grow in
affective maturity when our hearts adhere to God. Christ needs priests who are
mature, virile, capable of cultivating an authentic spiritual paternity. For
this to happen, priests need to be honest with themselves, open with their
spiritual director and trusting in divine mercy.
On the occasion of the Great Jubilee, Pope John Paul II frequently exhorted
Christians to do penance for infidelities of the past. We believe that the
Church is holy, but that there are sinners among her members. We need to reject
the desire to identify only with those who are sinless. How could the Church
have excluded sinners from her ranks? It is for their salvation that Jesus took
flesh, died and rose again. We must therefore learn to live Christian penance
with sincerity. By practising it, we confess individual sins in union with
others, before them and before God. Yet we must guard against the arrogant claim
of setting ourselves up to judge earlier generations, who lived in different
times and different circumstances. 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. Moreover, the confessio peccati, to use an
expression of Saint Augustine, must always be accompanied by the confessio
laudis – the confession of praise. 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.
Today the Church in Poland faces an enormous pastoral challenge: how to care
for the faithful who have left the country. The scourge of unemployment obliges
many people to go abroad. It is a widespread and large-scale phenomenon. When
families are divided in this way, when social links are broken, the Church
cannot remain indifferent. Those who leave must be cared for by priests who, in
partnership with the local Churches, take on a pastoral ministry among the
emigrants. The Church in Poland has already given many priests and religious
sisters who serve not only the Polish diaspora but also, and sometimes in
extremely difficult circumstances, the missions in Africa, Asia, Latin America
and other regions. Do not forget these missionaries, my dear priests. The gift
of many vocations, with which God has blessed your Church, must be received in a
truly Catholic perspective. Polish priests, do not be afraid to leave your
secure and familiar world, to go and serve in places where priests are lacking
and where your generosity can bear abundant fruit.
Stand firm in your faith! To you too I entrust this motto of my pilgrimage.
Be authentic in your life and your ministry. Gazing upon Christ, live a modest
life, in solidarity with the faithful to whom you have been sent. Serve
everyone; be accessible in the parishes and in the confessionals, accompany the
new movements and associations, support families, do not forget the link with
young people, remember the poor and the abandoned. If you live by faith, the
Holy Spirit will suggest to you what you must say and how you must serve. You
will always be able to count on the help of her who goes before the Church in
faith. I exhort you to call upon her always in words that you know well:
"We are close to you, we remember you, we watch."
My Blessing upon all of you!
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