Vatican City, May 15, 2013 / 15:03 pm
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that bishops and priests must take care to avoid temptations in order to be an effective shepherd, protecting their flock from dangers.
He urged the Catholic faithful to pray for bishops and priests, "because if we go on the road to riches, if we go on the road to vanity, we become wolves and not shepherds."
The Pope's words came in his May 15 homily in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence at the Vatican.
"A bishop is not a bishop for himself," Pope Francis said. "He is for the people, and a priest is not a priest for himself. He is for the people: to serve, to nurture them, to shepherd them, who are his flock – in order to defend them from the wolves."