The Holy Father met with the Bishops of Cameroon today, in the light of the planned Year of Priests, I thought this was apposite.His full speach is hear.
Dear Brothers, the Bishop and his priests are called to maintain relations of close communion, founded on the one priesthood of Christ in which they share, albeit in different degrees. The quality of the bond uniting you with the priests, your principal and irreplaceable co-workers, is of the greatest importance. If they see in their Bishop a father and a brother who loves them, listens to them and offers them comfort in their trials, who devotes particular attention to their human and material needs, they are encouraged to carry out their ministry whole-heartedly, worthily and fruitfully. The words and example of their Bishop have a key role in inspiring them to give their spiritual and sacramental life a central place in their ministry, spurring them on to discover and to live ever more deeply the particular role of the shepherd as, . The spiritual and sacramental life is an extraordinary treasure, given to us for ourselves and for the good of the people entrusted to us. I urge you, then, to be especially vigilant regarding the faithfulness of priests and consecrated persons to the commitments made at their ordination or entry into religious life, so that they persevere in their vocation, for the greater holiness of the Church and the glory of God. The authenticity of their witness requires that there be no dichotomy between what they teach and the way they live each day.
2 comments:
The Pope needs all our prayers. When I watched Vespers this evening from the cathedral at Yahounde he seemed very tired and was breathing heavily. The commentator said the temperature outside was 32 degrees and as the doors appeared to be open there does not seem to have been air conditioning inside. Some people were fanning themselves so I imagine the temperature inside was very high and the Holy Father was wearing what looked like heavy vestments.
The singing was beautiful but the cathedral was one with a 'flying Christ' and an inverted triangular altar seemingly balanced on its apex. But it WAS dressed in the
Benedictine style with 6 candles and a Crucifix. And as there are two official European languages in the Cameroons - French and English - the Pater Noster, Magnificat (which was so beautifully sung) and the Blessing were given in Latin.
The president's wife did not wear a headress this time but she does have the most extraordinary hair!
You cannot generalise from a sample of one but we had a priest from the Cameroons at St Peter's Hove for a few weeks. He made an excellent impression - I think people would have been happy if he had stayed.
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