To the Priests Gathered in Kinshasa (4 May 1980)

On Sunday, 4 May 1980, the Holy Father addressed the priests in Kinshasa, Zaire, to whom he defined the priesthood. “To be a priest means to be a mediator between God and men, in the Mediator par excellence who is Christ.”

Dear brother priests,

1. I strongly desired this meeting with you. Priests, as you know, have a special place in my heart and in my prayers. It's normal: with you, I'm a priest. He who has been made Pastor of the whole flock has his eyes fixed first on those who share his pastorate - which is the pastorate of Christ -, on those who daily bear the weight of the day and the heat”. And your mission is so important for the Church!

Last year, for Holy Thursday, I made a point of addressing a special letter to all the priests of the world, through their bishops. In the name of the whole Church, I expressed to you my feelings of gratitude and confidence. I reminded you of your priestly identity, in relation to Christ the Priest, to the Good Shepherd; I was situating your ministry in the Church. I also showed the meaning of the requirements attached to your priestly state. I hope you have read this letter, that you will read it again. I cannot repeat all the themes here, even briefly. Rather, I will give a few thoughts that prolong it. Above all, I wanted to speak to you personally, priests in Africa, priests in Zaire. It was one of my first encounters on African soil, a privileged encounter with my brother priests.

2. Beyond your people, I am thinking of all the priests on the African continent. To those who have come from afar for the beginnings of evangelization and who continue to bring their precious and indispensable help. I don't dare to say missionaries” because everyone must be missionaries. And I am also thinking - and especially in the present interview - of the priests who come from the African peoples: they already constitute a response rich in consoling promises; they are the most convincing demonstration of the maturity that your young Churches have acquired; they are already, and they are called more and more, to be its animators. They are particularly numerous in this country. It is a great grace for which we thank God, in this centenary of evangelization. It is also a great responsibility.

3. Among so many thoughts that crowd my soul at this moment, which one will I choose for the theme of this meeting? It seems to me that the best introduction is given to us by the Apostle Paul, when he exhorts his disciple Timothy to revive the gift which God has placed in him by the laying on of hands[ 1 ], and to draw from a renewed awareness of this grace, the courage to pursue with generosity the path undertaken, because it is not a spirit of fear that God has given us, but a spirit of strength, love and self-control”[ 2 ].

Our meditation today must therefore begin by recalling the fundamental characteristics of the priesthood. To be a priest means to be a mediator between God and men , in the Mediator par excellence who is Christ.

Jesus was able to accomplish his mission thanks to his total union with the Father , because he was one with him: in his condition of pilgrim on the roads of our earth ( viator ), he was already in possession of the goal ( comprehensor ) to which he was to lead others.

In order to be able to continue effectively the mission of Christ, the priest must in some way also have already arrived where he wants to lead others: he achieves this through assiduous contemplation of the mystery of God, nourished by the study of Scripture, a study that blossoms into prayer. Fidelity to the moments and means of personal prayer, the more official prayer of the hours, but also the dignified and generous performance of the sacred acts of the ministry contribute to sanctifying the priest and leading him to an experience of the mysterious and fascinating presence of the living God, by allowing him to act with force on the human environment which surrounds him.

4. Christ exercised his office of mediator above all by the immolation of his life in the sacrifice of the cross , accepted by obedience to the Father . The cross remains the “obligatory” road to the encounter with God. It is a road on which the priest in the first place must set off with courage.

As I recalled in my recent letter on the Eucharist, is he not called to renew in persona Christi , in the eucharistic celebration, the sacrifice of the cross? According to the beautiful expression of the African Augustine of Hippo, Christ on Calvary was “priest and sacrifice, and therefore priest because sacrifice”[ 3 ].

The priest who, in the radical poverty of obedience to God, to the Church, to his bishop, will have known how to make his life a pure offering to be offered, in union with Christ, to the heavenly Father, will experience in his ministry the victorious force of the grace of the dead and risen Christ.

As Mediator, the Lord Jesus was, in all the dimensions of his being, the man for God and for the brethren . Likewise the priest; and this is the reason why he is asked to consecrate his whole life to God and to the Church, in the depths of his being, of his faculties, of his feelings.

The priest who, in the choice of celibacy, renounces human love in order to open himself totally to that of God, makes himself free to give himself to men by a gift excluding no one, but including them all in the flow of charity, which comes from God[ 4 ] and leads to God. Celibacy, by binding the priest to God, frees him for all the works required for the care of souls.

5. Here we have traced in a few lines the essential physiognomy of the priest, such as it has been bequeathed to us by the venerable tradition of the Church. It has a permanent value, yesterday, today, tomorrow. It is not a question of ignoring the new problems posed by the contemporary world, and also the African context, because it is important to prepare priests who are both fully African and authentically Christian. The questions posed by the culture in which the priestly ministry takes place require mature reflection. But it is in any case in the light of the fundamental theology that I have recalled that they must be approached and resolved.

6. It is not necessary now for me to dwell on the different functions of the priest. You have meditated, you must often take up the texts of the Second Vatican Council, the constitution “ Lumen Gentium ”[ 5 ] and the entire decree “ Presbyterorum Ordinis ”.

The proclamation of the Gospel , of the whole Gospel, to each category of Christians and also to non-Christians, must take a great place in your life. The faithful are entitled to it. This ministry of the Word of God includes catechesis, which must be able to reach the hearts and minds of your compatriots, and the formation of catechists, religious and laity. And be educators of the faith and of the Christian life according to the Church, in the personal, family and professional domains.

The worthy celebration of the sacraments , the dispensation of the mysteries of God, is also central to your life as priests. In this area, watch assiduously to prepare the faithful to receive them, so that, for example, the sacraments of baptism, of Penance, of the Eucharist, of marriage bear all their fruit. For Christ exercises the power of his redemptive action in these sacraments. He does this particularly in the Eucharist and in the sacrament of Penance.

The Apostle Paul said: “God...has given us the ministry of reconciliation”[ 6 ]. The people of God are called to continual conversion, to ever-renewed reconciliation with God in Christ. This reconciliation takes place in the sacrament of Penance, and it is there that you exercise, par excellence, your ministry of reconciliation.

Yes, I know your difficulties: you have so many pastoral tasks to accomplish and you are always short of time. But every Christian has a right, yes, a right to a personal encounter with the crucified Christ who forgives. And, as I said in my first encyclical, it is evident that it is at the same time a right of Christ himself with regard to each man whom he has redeemed”[ 7 ] .

Therefore I implore you: always consider this ministry of reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance as one of the most important of your tasks.

Finally, the “spiritual power” that has been given to you[ 8 ] has been given to build the Church, to lead it like the Lord, the Good Shepherd , with humble and disinterested devotion, always welcoming, with openness to assume the various ministries and services which are necessary and complementary in the unity of the presbyterium, with great concern for collaboration between you, priests, and with your bishops. The Christian people must be drawn into unity by seeing the brotherly love and the cohesion which you manifest.

Your authority in the exercise of your functions is linked to your fidelity to the Church which entrusted them to you. Leave the political responsibilities to those who are in charge of them: you, you have another part, a magnificent part, you are “leaders” in another capacity and in another way, sharing in the priesthood of Christ, like his ministers. Your field of intervention, and it is vast, is that of faith and morals, where you are expected to preach at the same time by a courageous word and by the example of your life.

7. Each member of the Church has an irreplaceable role in it. Yours also consists in helping all those who belong to your communities to fulfill theirs, men and women religious, laity. In particular, you have to highlight that of the laity : we must never forget, in fact, that baptism and confirmation confer a specific responsibility in the Church.

I therefore strongly approve of your desire to encourage employees, to train them for their responsibilities. Yes, you have to know how to address them, without getting tired, direct, concrete, precise calls. They must be trained by making them aware of the hidden riches they carry within them. Finally, you have to know how to really collaborate, without monopolizing all the tasks, all the initiatives or all the decisions, when it comes to what is in the area of ​​their skills and their responsibilities.

This is how living communities are formed, which truly represent an image of the primitive Church, in which we see appearing, around the Apostle, the names of those numerous auxiliaries, men and women, whom Saint Paul greets as “his co-workers in Christ Jesus”[ 9 ].

8. In all this pastoral work, the inevitable difficulties must not undermine our confidence. Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere . The presence of the risen Christ is the sure foundation of a hope “which does not deceive”[ 10 ]. This is why the priest must always and everywhere be a man of hope.. It is quite true that the world is crossed by deep tensions, which very often generate difficulties whose immediate solution is beyond us. In such circumstances, and at all times, it is necessary for the priest to be able to offer his brothers, by word and example, convincing reasons for hope. And he can do this because his certainties are not based on human opinions, but on the solid rock of the word of God.

9. Supported by it, the priest must reveal himself to be a man of discernment and an authentic teacher of the faith .

Yes, he must be, especially in our time, a man of discernment. Because, as we all know, if the modern world has made great progress in the field of knowledge and human advancement, it is also steeped in a large number of ideologies and pseudo-values ​​which, through a language fallacious, too often succeed in seducing and misleading many of our contemporaries. Not only do we have to know how not to succumb to it, it's all too obvious, but the function of pastors is also to form the Christian judgment of the faithful[ 11 ], so that they too are capable of escaping the deceptive fascination of these new “idols”.

In this way, the priest will also reveal himself to be an authentic master of the faith. He will lead Christians to mature in their faith, communicating to them an ever deeper knowledge of the Gospel message - “not their own wisdom, but the word of God”[ 12 ] - and helping them to judge circumstances in its light . of life. Thus, thanks to your persevering efforts, today, in Africa, Catholics will know how to discover the answers which, in full fidelity to the immutable values ​​of Tradition, will also be able to respond adequately to the needs and questions of the present.

10. I recalled the role of all the faithful in the Church. But, at the end of this interview, I draw your attention to the primordial duty that you have with regard to vocations. The meaning of any Christian vocation is so intimately dependent on that of the priestly vocation that, in communities where the latter disappears, it would be the very authenticity of Christian life that would be affected.

Work tirelessly, dear brothers, to make all the people of God understand the importance of vocations; pray and have others pray for this; ensure that the call of Christ is well presented to young people; help those whom the Lord calls to the priesthood or religious life to discern the signs of their vocation; support them throughout their training.

You are quite convinced that the future of the Church will depend on holy priests, because the priesthood belongs to the structure of the Church as the Lord willed it. Finally, dear brothers, don't you believe that the Lord will first use the example of our own life, generous and radiant, to encourage other vocations?

11. Dearest brothers, have faith in your priesthood. It is the priesthood of always, because it is a participation in the eternal priesthood of Christ, which is the same yesterday, today and forever”[ 13 ]. Yes, if the requirements of the priesthood are very great, and if I did not hesitate to speak to you about them, it is because they are only the consequence of the closeness of the Lord, of the confidence that he shows to his priests. “I no longer call you my servants, but I call you my friends”[ 14 ].

This hymn of the day of our ordination remains for each of you, as for me, a permanent source of joy and confidence. It is this joy that I invite you to renew today. May the Virgin Mary always be your support on the road, and may she introduce us all more each day into the intimacy of the Lord! With my affectionate Apostolic Blessing.

 [ 1 ] Cfr. 2 Tim . 1, 6.

 [ 2 ] Ibid . 1, 7.

 [ 3 ] S. Augustini Confessiones , X, 43, 69.

 [ 4 ] Cfr. Roma . 5, 5.

 [ 5 ] Cfr. Lumen Gentium , 28.

 [ 6 ] 2 Cor . 5, 18.

 [ 7 ] Ioannis Pauli PP. II Redemptor Hominis , 20.

 [ 8 ] Cfr. Presbyterorum Ordinis , 6.

 [ 9 ] Rom . 16, 3.

 [ 10 ] Ibid . 5, 5.

 [ 11 ] Cfr. 1 Tim . 5, 21; 1 Io . 4, 1.

 [ 12 ] Cfr. Presbyterorum Ordinis , 4.

 [ 13 ] Hebr . 13, 8; cf. Apoc . 1, 17 seq.

 [ 14 ] Io . 15, 15.

 © Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

 
Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana