Address to priests : July 3, 1966 / Pope Paul VI.


rfctcOiete, ta "Ptietfo

Pape pawl VI

JULY 3, 1966



(Translation provided by NCWC News Service

)

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National Catholic Welfare Conference
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W. Washington, D. C. 20005



rfdcOte&i to “Pnie&to

POPE PAUL VI

Address to seventy new priests ordained by the

Holy Father in St. Peter’s Basilica

July 3, 1966

Revered brothers, beloved sons, it is impossible to separate

the moment of reflection over the Word of God — which the
Liturgy allows and in fact prescribes at this point of Holy Mass
— from consideration of the circumstances in which this great
rite is fulfilled.

These circumstances do not replace nor stifle the Word of
God which, after all, alone deserves our attention. In fact, it
seems to us that the circumstances in which we find ourselves
help us to think and to understand what the Lord wants to say

to us today; that to those who know how to capture the mean-
ing of things and of time, they express something of His divine

discourse, and serve as comment on the mysteries which we are
celebrating.

The first circumstance is that of the place in which we
find ourselves. No one can escape the inexhaustible spell of
greatness, of beauty, and of sacred character of the edifice that

welcomes us; truly the ancient epigraph, which gives a definition

of the basilica where we are, repeats its praise in our minds:
iustitiae sedes, fidei domus, aula pudoris (seat of justice, house

of faith, temple of purity); but it does not restrain us from a

spontaneous search for the focal point of this splendid vision.

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At once the spirit, almost forgetful of all the rest, gathers
around this altar, searching for its secret: Why here? Why is
this monument here? Why is this flow of religious piety here, as
though at one of its most attractive, most sacred and most in-

spiring centers?

Here is Peter, the place of his martyrdom and of his

sepulchre; here is the Prince of the Apostles, he who received
from Christ prophetic promises, they cannot be forgotten, here

stands the foundation that does not yield and does not grow old,

the foundation upon which rests all the edifice which Christ

builds with every human material and throughout every century;
here are the keys, the powers of the author of salvation, which

is accomplished on earth and is celebrated in heaven.

And we are here, like travelers at the crossroads, there where
every path of God’s kingdom reaches and departs from, like

scattered pilgrims who, on first arriving, discover themselves to

be like brothers and like sons in this house; like anxious students

wishing to seize at least a word from this chair, so as to make

of it a seed of meditation throughout life.

We must not disregard an awareness of this circumstance,
which our humble presence and paternal welcome, as the un-

worthy, however true, successor of that famous Peter, may render
more stimulating, more sweet and memorable.

Afterwards, beloved sons, the other circumstance which

obliges us to pause in most grateful and wondrous thought is

you, whom we have just invested with the eternal priesthood of
Christ.

You, who come from the seminaries of the Obra de Co-

operation Sacredotal Hispano-Americana, from the College of

Louvain, from the United States; from the Pio Latino and Pio

Brasiliano Colleges in Rome, from different religious communi-

ties; you, who come from the Seminary of Our Lady of Guada-

lupe, which was conceived and realized by the magnanimous

heart of our revered brother, the bishop of Verona; which was

promoted and supported by the contribution of this Apostolic

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See and of the Italian episcopacy, together with other supporters,

and which Catholic Italy, almost forgetful of its serious needs

and lovingly lavish of its dearest treasures, dedicated to its sister

nations of Latin America.

Latin America! There it stands at this moment before us.
These new priests destined to it, many of whom already belong
to it, have come here to prepare themselves, and are ready to

return at once there as ministers of the Gospel. Let us foresee

its immensity; the relatives of the newly ordained spur us to recall

the many nations to which these new apostles will be sent; and
the official representatives of the said nations who wished to
attend this solemn rite offer to us a wonderful picture of then-

respective countries.

The importance of what we are completing, the sentiment
which fills this ceremony with emotion and gladness, are such

that a prophecy of love and of hope would want to issue forth

from the heart to the lips: Latin America, this is your hour.

Latin America — faithful heir of the heritage of faith and
of civilization which the ancient but not old Europe committed

to you on the day of your independence, and which the Church,

mother and teacher, has guarded with unusual love, at times

superior to her powers of realization — now a new day enlight-
ens your history: that of modern life, with all its vehement and

astonishing problems; a fife not paganly profane, not ignorant

of the spiritual and transcendent destinies of man, but a life

aware of your original vocation to form in a new and genial

synthesis the ancient and the modern, the spiritual and the

temporal, the gift of others and your own originality; a life, not
uncertain, not weak, not slow, but a just, strong, free, Catholic

life; an immense continent is yours.

The whole world awaits your testimony of energy, of wis-

dom, of social renewal, of concord and peace; a very new testi-
mony of Christian civilization.

Brothers and sons who are listening to us, how may we
dare speak such language? We could state the natural reasons

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that impel us toward this. We know sufficiently the people of
those lands to hold them in esteem and trust. You who will
preach the Gospel there will experience the goodness of those

peoples and their propensity to accept the higher truths, those that

idealize human activity and the religious truths that inspire, guide,
and sanctify it.

We will not say more at this time. We wish instead to say
a word on the supernatural reason that invites us to do so. The

supernatural reason is your priesthood, dear candidates for the

holy ministry of Latin America.

We are in fact convinced that such a priesthood (and we
speak of all priests, particularly of the bishops, who hold the
fullness of the priesthood), possesses the treasure of light and

of strength that can give to those populations the ability for

renewal, development, and moral and civil order which is ex-

pected of them.

You are the light of the world, we will say to you with the
word of our Lord. You are the salt of the earth. You are the
ferment. You are the dispensers of the word and of grace. You
are the shepherds and spiritual teachers of the people. You are
the friendship, the gladness, the strength, the hope of souls. You
are the comfort, the colleague, the support of him who suffers,
of him who awaits justice, of him who is in need of repentance
and reform.

Once again, you are the exponents of that active principle

within the community of the faithful and of the neighboring so-

ciety, which is the hierarchy, the ministerial priesthood, con-

ceived by Christ at once as service and as authority, all of it

devoted, to the point of sacrifice, to the good of others, and all

of it transfigured by charisms and functions which only derive

from above and which deserve from everyone respect and docility.

We have trust, we repeat, immense trust, that the priestly
ministry is the source of salvation for the world; the Lord has

so established. And we trust that it be so in special manner
for the beloved countries of Latin America.

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This is the reason why the effort is made of which you, the

newly ordained, are the expression, the effort of pastoral collabo-

ration. Such effort wants to do honor to the episcopacy and the

clergy, who with such dedication already are laboring apostolically

in those blessed lands. Such effort wants to manifest an act of

solidarity by increasing there the number of priests and by offering

the test of some useful ecclesiastical experience toward those good

and promising Catholic communities.

This effort also wants to show that the wishes of the Ecumeni-

cal Council concerning reciprocal aid which the members of the

Catholic Church must lend one another are not vain words, but

are lively and active words which begin to bear their fruit.

And now, revered brothers and beloved sons, our thought
should be fixed upon the Gospel text which the liturgy offers for

our meditation. For reasons of brevity, we will dwell only upon
one expression of Christ’s discourse, the first of today’s biblical

selections, which begins: “unless your justice exceeds . . -”1

You know this quotation, grave as a threat, exacting as a
challenge, penetrating as an incision, original as a new program
of moral perfection.

Christ is not content with a purely formal and external jus-

tice. Christ wants us good in a virtue that transforms us in-

wardly and which educates us continually toward an utmost sin-

cerity of heart and action. If we superimpose this expression
upon our priestly life, what stimulation, what compulsion toward

perfection and toward sanctity!

Well then, the severe word of Jesus must not make us fearful,
but encourage us instead to make of the priestly fife a formula
that leads toward sanctity. The priesthood exacts and generates

sanctity. The justice that the Lord wishes from us is evangelical.

You already know it well — the justice of charity, grace and
divine mercy, received and dispensed.

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That this be so, do not forget the golden maxim of your
formation: to guard and nourish the inner life, above anything

else. Silence, meditation, personal prayer; afterwards the liturgical

and community prayer, which gives nourishment to the former

and receives nourishment from it. Then, to know how to preserve
oneself spotless even if immersed in pastoral and profane con-

versation; thus you will have the simple and virile asceticism which

tempers the soul to personal strength, and clears the spirit from

worldly enchantment. And furthermore, to know how to give
oneself, in the ministry, in the search for the good of others,

with sacrifice. Charity, charity; is not charity the way to sanctity

for the priest destined to pastoral service?

And lastly Jesus! Jesus known well. Who can say that he
has known Him sufficiently?

Jesus imitated; is this not the highest and most comprehensive

norm of all our duties?

Jesus followed, where He wishes, as He wishes, even to
Gethsemani, even to Calvary, with an obedience that renders

great him who is humble.

Jesus announced: what joy, what honor, what greater merit

than this?

Jesus lived: “For me to live is Christ” (Mihi vivere Christus
est ).

2 This is everything, beloved brothers and sons.

It is the priesthood. It is the mission. It is the mystery.

It is hope. Now you may receive the final word: go! preach,
baptize; go! Christ sends you; the Church awaits you, the world

opens before you!

1 (Matt. 5:20).
2 (Phil. 1:21).

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