Cardinal reminds Venezuelan priests they should be disciples and missionaries

Caracas, Venezuela, Apr 2, 2008 / 12:55 pm

The Archbishop of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, said this week, “As baptized followers and friends of Jesus, priests are also called to be disciples and missionaries of the Lord.”

During the ordination of four new priests, the cardinal said Venezuela “needs priests who have a profound experience of God and are docile to the promptings of the Holy Spirit,” and who can “care for the flock entrusted to them, seeking out the lost, always in profound communion with their bishops, brother priests, religious and laity.”

Likewise, he encouraged the new priests to get involved “in the activities of the Church and in humble pastoral ministry,” to “give witness to the love of Christ with a life full of charity, joy, pastoral creativity, in communion with the bishops and local priests, in fidelity to revealed truth and to the teachings of the Magisterium.”

The people “need priests in the service of life, who are attentive to the needs of the poor, who are committed to the defense of the rights of those who are weakest and are promoters of a culture of solidarity,” Cardinal Urosa stated.

“There are two tasks that define the essence of priestly ministry: ‘being before the Lord,’ that is, living with one’s face turned towards the Lord and particularly having prayer, the liturgy and above all the Eucharist at the center of one’s life,” the cardinal continued.  “Serving the Lord” implies “the correct celebration of the liturgy and the sacraments, carried out with interior participation, that is, from the heart, with living faith and devotion.”

At the conclusion of the ordination, one of the new priests, Father Ramon Cote, spoke in the name of the other three newly ordained and said, “We have been reached by the Good News of Jesus Christ,” we “have become servants of the Kingdom of Christ,” as “the way of life in Jesus Christ is the only way to be fulfilled, in addition to bring us salvation.”

After thanking those who supported them during their formation and deaconate, Cote called on young Venezuelans to “also take up the challenge of surrendering their lives to Christ to serve others.”