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Dear Father Angelo,

I would like to ask you for a reply concerning priests. Regretfully, in my own experience I have observed that not all the priests convey the love of God. Of course, I do not mean to mix apples and oranges, because there are also good priests, but there are faithfuls who do not feel accepted and welcomed by their own parish priests, and therefore they have no other option but to attend different parish churches. Of course, it is obvious that priests  are men in flesh and bones and have qualities as well as flaws. But they have also received the gift of vocation, therefore they are expected to be meek and kind as the Lord was. They ought to welcome the faithful, not to make them run away. 

In conclusion, I ask myself: there are so many lay people who, differently from many consecrated people, are real men of God (as in the famous movie set in Algeria, that is entitled precisely Of Gods and Men). [T.N.: the Italian title is Uomini di Dio, literally Men of God]

What do you think about what I wrote? Do you share my views about this?

I warmly greet you and remember you in my prayers.

The priest’s answer

Dear friend,

  1. We should not be surprised by the fact that there are lay people who are holier than priests. The Lord calls everyone to holiness, each according to his or her state of life. Therefore, we should be happy and thank the Lord for the saints that are among lay people. They set an example for everyone, even for priests. Right now I have in mind blessed Chiara Badano, blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, blessed Bartolo Longo, the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla etc. 
  2. Nonetheless, I understand your aspiration: you would like to see holier priests, on the grounds that they have a vocation.  It is a true desire, because the Lord has called them to be His living image within the Christian people. He has called them to be a living image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. For this reason, addressing the elderly, namely to the presbyters (priests), says: “Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock” (1 Pt 5:2-3).
  3. It is a very high vocation, and every priest always feels at fault towards it. It is not easy to be examples to the flock. Every priest has to do with his own character and his own limits. Lay people should be understanding in this regard. 
  4. This does not change the fact that a priest ought to feel the urge to live according to his vocation, because the lay faithfuls need this. This is what John XXIII underlined fervently when, in the first session of the Roman Synod, he said: “Not only should a true priest, an apostle of the Lord, be perfect in the practice of those virtues in which even the laity recognises its good modus vivendi: he must also exceed them, providing a clear example so as to enlighten the Christian flock, who feels entitled to have in each parish a holy priest who brings blessing and peace to all the families, and sometimes stands up for this right” [T.N. : unfortunately John XXIII’s address to the participants in the First Session of the Diocesan Synod of Rome is neither available in English on the Vatican’s website, nor is it reported in S.A., The encyclicals and Other Messages of John XXIII, arranged and edited by the staff of The Pope Speaks Magazine, TPS Press, Washington D.C., 1964. This being the case, I had to try and translate the Italian text myself. I apologise with the readers for any inaccuracy whatsoever. Translator Alessandra]. 

It is true: the Christian people have the right to have a holy priest in each parish so as to bring blessing and peace to all the families, and sometimes stand up for this right.  What a beautiful expression this is: the holy priest brings blessing and peace to all the families. With his behaviour, with his personal holiness he brings blessing and peace to the families that are entrusted to his pastoral care. 

  1. In the Encyclical Letter Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia, Pope John also said that “a priest ought to remember that in the mysterious counsels of Divine Providence, the eternal fate of many men is bound up with his pastoral interest and care and the example of his priestly life. Is not this thought powerful enough both to stir up the lackadaisical in an effective way and to urge on to greater efforts those who are already zealous in the work of Christ?” (SNP, 75). 
  2. Hence, priests should always bear in mind what Saint Peter writes: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will never stumble” (2Pt, 1:10). If a priest were always mindful of his duty to present exemplary virtues to the lay faithfuls with his behaviour and the example of his life, I cannot say that he would never stumble, as fragilitas humana magna est (human frailty is great!), but he would be sure to stumble a lot less. 
  3. Finally, I wish to conclude with a call to pray for the priests. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus came in contact with many priests during her journey to Italy. She used to imagine that they were perfect. Conversely, she came in contact with their fragility. Here is what she writes: “the second thing I learnt had to do with Priests. Up to this time I had not understood the chief aim of the Carmelite Reform. To pray for sinners delighted me; to pray for priests, whose souls seemed pure as crystal, that indeed astonished me. But in Italy I realised my vocation, and even so long a journey was a small price to pay for such valuable knowledge. During that month I met with many holy priests, and yet I saw that even though the sublime dignity of Priesthood raises them higher than the Angels, they are still but weak and imperfect men. And so if holy priests, whom Our Lord in the Gospel calls the salt of the earth, have need of our prayers, what must we think of the lukewarm? Has not Our Lord said: ‘If the salt lose its savour wherewith shall it be salted?’. Oh, dear Mother, how beautiful is our vocation! We Carmelites are called to preserve ‘the salt of the earth’. We offer our prayers and sacrifices for the apostles of the Lord; we ourselves ought to be their apostles, while they, by word and example, are preaching the Gospel to our brethren. Have we not a glorious mission to fulfill? But I must say no more, for I feel that on this subject my pen would run for ever”. (St. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, edited by Rev T.N. Taylor, Grand Radis, Digital edition, pp. 60-61).

I wish you to realise you have this vocation to be apostle of the apostles, offering prayers and sacrifices for priests. 

I gratefully thank you for your prayers for me. I gladly reciprocate them and I bless you.

Father Angelo

Translated by Alessandra N