Fatima, Portugal, Sep 10, 2009 / 16:24 pm
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, cautioned that some priests have an "inadequate and superficial" encounter with Christ and have turned their ministries into "a sort of ecclesiastical profession.”
According to L’Osservatore Romano, which quoted the Portuguese news agency, Ecclesia, Cardinal Hummes made his comments this week at the Fourth Symposium of the Clergy of Portugal which had as its theme, "Rekindle the gift that is in you," At the symposium held in Fatima, the cardinal encouraged the more than 800 priests in attendance to be missionaries and to nurture their own spirituality each day. This requires "maintaining a regular contact with the Word of God, living an authentic life of prayer that includes the Liturgy of the Hours and devotion to Mary, celebrating the Eucharist daily as the center of ministerial life and regularly making use of the Sacrament of Confession.”