Vatican City, Jun 8, 2009 / 09:04 am
Just as the Year for Priests is about to begin on June 19, the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome is being handed over to the Bishops' Conference of France. Pope Benedict XVI took time on Saturday to speak with the seminarians and faculty about the importance of properly forming future priests.
The Pontifical French Seminary will be undergoing a once-in-a-lifetime transition as the Holy Ghost Fathers bring their 150-year tenure as the formators and administrators to a close. The French Bishops' Conference will now take over the running of the seminary.
Pope Benedict gave thanks to God in his address to the rector, staff and students for the "work accomplished by this institution, founded in 1853, where some 5,000 seminarians have been prepared for their future vocations."
The task of forming priests, the Pope noted, "is a delicate mission. ... Future priests require many aptitudes: human maturity, spiritual qualities, apostolic zeal and intellectual rigor."