Mainland clergy welcome Vatican letter

Priests in mainland China say they appreciate the Vatican’s recent letter to them, while pointing out at the same time the challenges faced by the “underground” and government-approved Church communities.
Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s letter, written for the Year for Priests, was published on Nov. 16, UCA News says.
The document, dated Nov. [...]

Bertone points to ’signs of hope’ for Chinese Church

Two years after Pope Benedict’s letter to Chinese Catholics, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone has followed up with a letter to China’s bishops and priests pointing to “signs of hope” but also saying that “it is still more a time of sowing than of reaping”.
The letter entitled “An Invitation to Hope” is believed [...]

Code of conduct for Kerala priests

The Kerala Syro-Malabar Archdiocese Ernakulam-Angamaly has issued a code of conduct for priests and seminarians encouraging them to lead simple and austere lives.
“It is time for introspection,” says Auxiliary Bishop Sebastian Adayanthrath of Ernakulam-Angamaly who issued the guidelines on Sept. 13 as part of the archdiocese’s observation of the Year for Priests, UCA News reports.
The [...]

Pope invites 400,000 priests to Rome

The Vatican Congregation for the Clergy has announced that Pope Benedict plans to close the Year for Priests by convoking a huge meeting of priests from around the world between June 9-11 in Rome.
Every Catholic priest in the world-there are around 407,000-is invited to the meeting, which will have the theme of “Faithfulness of Christ, [...]

Western culture a gospel challenge: Hummes

Congregation for the Clergy Prefect, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, has written to priests to mark the Year for Priests warning that Western culture is a barrier to evangelization.
In his letter to priests, Cardinal Hummes wrote that “the Western culture which, by means of the globalised media and human mobility, is currently dominant and increasingly widespread throughout [...]

Pray for priests: HCM City Cardinal Pham

Launching the Year for Priests in Ho Chi Minh City, Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man has urged Catholics  to say a special prayer for priests at daily Mass.

Priests a band of ’sacramental brothers’: Boston cardinal

n a letter to clergy for the Year for Priests, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley has called for a return to the ancient theology of the presbyterate as an “intimate sacramental brotherhood” with a “corporate sense of priestly identity”.
In his letter, Cardinal O’Malley called for a renewal of the priesthood by means of a stronger prayer [...]

Recognize Church’s weaknesses: Benedict

In a letter to priests around the world to launch the Year for Priests, Pope Benedict deplored priests who were unfaithful to their vows and called for a “frank and complete acknowledgment” of the Catholic Church’s weaknesses.