Vatican City, Sep 18, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Before his noontime Angelus prayer at the papal Castelgandolfo summer residence yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI said that the key to holy priests and to a sanctified Church lies in the celebration of the Eucharist.
As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) begins a probe into seminary formation programs across the country, and smoke continues to rise from the priestly sexual abuse scandal, the Holy Father's words yesterday paint a fitting roadmap toward the shaping of faithful priests.
"The secret of the sanctification" of priests, the Pope said, lies in the Eucharist. "By virtue of Holy Orders, a priest receives the gift and the duty to repeat sacramentally the gestures and words by which, at the Last Supper, Christ instituted the memorial of His Easter. In his hands he renews this great miracle of love, which he is called to witness and announce ever more faithfully."
"A priest", Pope Benedict continued, "must above all adore and contemplate the Eucharist, starting from the very moment in which he celebrates it. We well know that the validity of the Sacrament does not depend upon the sanctity of the celebrant, but its effectiveness, both for him and for others, will be all the greater the more he experiences it with profound faith, ardent love and a fervent spirit of prayer."