Pity on his people ” “

An international symposium dedicated to the “Priest for the 21st century” was held in Paderborn (Germany) from 16 to 18 December”. It was attended by over 200 participants from the German-speaking countries in Europe: bishops, rectors of seminaries, theologians, exponents of the vocational ministry, students of theology. What is the priest’s role in a changing Europe and in a Church seeking new approaches? How can the decline in the number of priests and candidates to the priesthood in various countries be reversed? Is is possible to relaunch a vocational ministry able to show the appeal of being disciples of Christ as priests? The symposium tried to answer these questions, by promoting an exchange of opinions and experiences. Being a priest in the third millennium. In his opening report, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, emphasized the need to “understand the reality of the priest with the eyes of faith”, and to “rediscover his identity”. The ordained minister – he said must “be a visible sign of the presence of Christ”. “The problem – said the prefect – is not so much that of a new organization, but rather of faith in what the Gospel affirms: ‘at your word I will let down the nets’ ( Lk 5:5)”. Paul Zulehner, pastoral theologian from Vienna, presented the symposium with the findings of a wide-reaching survey with the title “Priest 2000”: they show that various “types” of priests exist today, but especially underline the “shocking lack of priests”. As a result, “‘men of God’ are increasingly forced to become managers and those who suffer most from this situation are especially the communities of believers, who are too often deprived of the Sunday eucharist”. In this context, the priest has the task of acquiring a twofold skill: a spiritual competence (“being at home in the mystery of God”) and a diaconal competence. “Blessed are the priests who do not lose too much time in cultivating their own image – said Bishop Joachim Wanke of Erfurt – but are capable of being witnesses of God in a pluralist world and in a Church that gives primacy to evangelization”. Declining vocations and new formative methods. “Today the rectors of seminaries in our countries are afraid of hearing the question: how many candidates to the priesthood do you have in your seminary?”. So says rector Thönnes from Bochum. New experiences, alternative to the traditional seminary, have been attempted in various European dioceses to stem the fall in vocations. In Vienna and in Paris, for example, seminarians live in presbyteral communities linked to the parishes. Some seminaries have been founded within particular movements or communities in the Church, but they still remain controversial. According to rector Hagemann from Münster, however, “now is not the time to pit one experience, or one approach, against another, but to pool all genuine options and exploit them in a positive way”. The need also emerged from the conference to consider the contribution that the new ecclesial movements and communities can make to vocations to the priesthood. Prof. Blaumeiser presented the experience of the Focolare Movement: “It does not substitute the diocesan formation of candidates to the priesthood, but offers impulses to the light of a charism, so that seminarians may above all be Christians who live the gospel in practice and share a real experience of communion.”. Pity on his people. We need priests – said Bishop Aldo Giordano, general secretary of the CCEE – “who have their horizons open to what the Church has at heart today: and who, from the new evangelization to catholicity, from ecumenism to interreligious dialogue, and the construction of Europe, can testify to God’s pity on his people”. The title of the symposium was in fact: “Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people” (cf. Joel 2:18).