Brazilian bishops encourage priests to be holy as Year for Priests begins

Brasilia, Brazil, Jun 19, 2009 / 19:40 pm

In a letter to all the priests of the country, the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Brazil urged them to work for the sanctification of priests, so that they may be able to fulfill their mission in the Church and in contemporary society.

In their letter, the bishops expressed their profound gratitude to “all the priests who daily serve the People of God.” “Despite their frailties, we recognize the great gift of God in the lives and ministries of the priests of Brazil.”

The bishops went on to recall the words of Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, who called on priests at the 12th National Meeting of Priests to be “dignified, good men of God who are admirable, generous, honest, and untiring in devoting all of their energies to their ministries and to evangelization, especially to the poor and the marginalized, to those in despair and suffering.”

Following on Cardinal Hummes' exhortation, the bishops urged priests to greater zeal during this special year, “to make it a true instrument of communion between priests, that you may help each other in different circumstances.”

May the Year for Priests “be a time in which the sanctification of priests is intensified and promoted and they are helped to persevere in the awareness of the importance of their role in the Church and in contemporary society,’ the bishops said.