Denver, Colo., Mar 10, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Bishops and priests are called to be “true spiritual fathers” to the faithful, but there are important cultural factors and attitudes that challenge this call, said Bishop Samuel J. Aquila.
Speaking at the Fourth Annual Symposium on the Spirituality and Identity of the Diocesan Priest in Denver March 3, the bishop of Fargo challenged bishops and priests to examine their lives and honestly confront how their “spiritual fatherhood has been possibly compromised or defined by the spirit of the day.”
One of these challenges that must be addressed is the tendency to see the priesthood as a job, said the bishop.
“Have we adopted a false sense of privacy by which we do not confront, discipline or visit with our spiritual children?” he asked. “Do we abandon our spiritual children by defining our call to the priesthood as a 9-to-5 profession, with an attitude of ‘Don't call me after hours?’”