At 11:45am this morning, in the Sala Clementina at the Vatican, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the Community of the Lombard Pontifical Seminary in Rome.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you with affection and thank Cardinal Scola for his courteous words. I am happy to meet with you on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of your institution: during the Holy Year of Mercy you therefore are also celebrating a jubilee of thanksgiving to God, the rock on which our life is founded, since his faithfulness endures forever (cf Ps 117:2). Do not ever forget this: God is faithful.
Blessed Paul VI blessed the Lombardo Seminary on November 11, 1965 so that that new house was established at the end of the Second Vatican Council, during which the Fathers sensed strongly that the walls which for too long had made the Church a kind of fortress were torn down and the time had come to proclaim the Gospel in a new way (Misericordiae Vultus, 4). In this way, during Roman years, which are not only spent in study, but truly represent a time of priestly formation, you too are preparing yourselves to follow this sense of the Spirit, to be the future of the Church according to the heart of God; not according to individual preferences or the style of the moment, but as the enriching proclamation of the gospel. Preparing well necessitates a thorough effort, but above all an interior conversion which day by day is rooted in the ministry of the initial call of Jesus and enlivened in the personal relationship each of us has with Him, like the apostle Paul whose conversion we recall today.
In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to an example that you already know so well: Saint Charles Borromeo. Father de Certeau presented his life as a constant movement of conversion which reflected the image of the Shepherd: He identified himself with this image, nourished it with his life, knowing that his words would be transformed from reality to the price of blood: for him, sanguinis ministri were true priests. He therefore established the forgiving image and employed all his 'passions' to copy it (Biographical dictionary of Italians, XX, 1977, p. 263). In this way, the great work of theologians of the time, culminating in the celebration of the Council of Trent, resulted in the presence of holy priests such as Borromeo. Dear friends, you are heirs and witnesses of a great history of holiness that is rooted in your patrons, Bishops Ambrose and Charles, and in more recent times seen also in some of your alumni, three of whom are Blesseds and three of whom are Servants of God. This is the goal you must strive for!
However, it often happens along the journey that we are tempted to feel rejected: rejected from what is normal or to be a shepherd who is content with a normal life. Such a priest begins to content himself with the attention he receives, to judge his ministry based on his accomplishments and acting on the search for that which will bring pleasure, leading him to become tepid and lacking in true interest for others. For us, normal is instead defined by pastoral holiness, the gift of life. If a priest chooses to be only a normal person, he will be a mediocre priest, or worse.
Saint Charles wanted pastors who would be servants of God and fathers for his people, above all for the poor. But - it is always good for us to remember - words of life can only be proclaimed by those who seek to transform their own lives into a constant dialogue with the Word of God, or better, with God who speaks with them. During these past years, you have been entrusted with the mission of training others to participate in this dialogue of life: the knowledge of various disciplines that are studied are not ends in and of themselves, but should be implemented in the dialogue of prayer and in the real personal encounters. This is not a question of stagnant compartmentalism: prayer, culture and pastoral culture are but stepping stones leading to a unified construction: we must always be firmly united in supporting each other, well connected with others so that priests today and tomorrow can be spiritual men and merciful pastors, inwardly unified by the love of the Lord and capable of spreading the joy of the gospel in the simplicity of their lives. It seems today that evangelization calls us to go back to the simple life. Simplicity of life, avoiding all forms of duplicity and worldliness that includes genuine communion with the Lord and with our brothers; simplicity of language: not preachers of complex doctrine but proclaimers of Christ who died and rose for us.
Another essential aspect that I want to point out is the necessity, in order to be good priests, of contact and closeness with your bishop. The characteristic of a diocesan priest is precisely a sense of belonging to his diocese, and this sense of belonging has its cornerstone in a close relationship with the bishop, in dialogue and discernment with him. A priest who does not have an ongoing relationship with his bishop will slowly become isolated from the diocesan body and his fruitfulness will diminish, precisely because he does not enter into dialogue with the Father of his diocese.
Finally, I want to tell you that I am delighted, not only for your fruitful efforts at your studies, but also for the global dimension of your community: including various regions of Italy, Africa, Latin America, Asia and other European countries. I hope that you will cultivate the beauty of friendship and the art of stable relationships, in order to create a priestly fraternity that is stronger than your personal diversities. In this way, you will always be able to welcome and enrich this house! From now on, whenever I come to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, I will remember this meeting and I will remember you as I pray before the Virgin Mother. You too, I ask you to pray for me, to do the same for me! Thank you.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to the members of the Lombard Pontifical Seminary
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you with affection and thank Cardinal Scola for his courteous words. I am happy to meet with you on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of your institution: during the Holy Year of Mercy you therefore are also celebrating a jubilee of thanksgiving to God, the rock on which our life is founded, since his faithfulness endures forever (cf Ps 117:2). Do not ever forget this: God is faithful.
Blessed Paul VI blessed the Lombardo Seminary on November 11, 1965 so that that new house was established at the end of the Second Vatican Council, during which the Fathers sensed strongly that the walls which for too long had made the Church a kind of fortress were torn down and the time had come to proclaim the Gospel in a new way (Misericordiae Vultus, 4). In this way, during Roman years, which are not only spent in study, but truly represent a time of priestly formation, you too are preparing yourselves to follow this sense of the Spirit, to be the future of the Church according to the heart of God; not according to individual preferences or the style of the moment, but as the enriching proclamation of the gospel. Preparing well necessitates a thorough effort, but above all an interior conversion which day by day is rooted in the ministry of the initial call of Jesus and enlivened in the personal relationship each of us has with Him, like the apostle Paul whose conversion we recall today.
In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to an example that you already know so well: Saint Charles Borromeo. Father de Certeau presented his life as a constant movement of conversion which reflected the image of the Shepherd: He identified himself with this image, nourished it with his life, knowing that his words would be transformed from reality to the price of blood: for him, sanguinis ministri were true priests. He therefore established the forgiving image and employed all his 'passions' to copy it (Biographical dictionary of Italians, XX, 1977, p. 263). In this way, the great work of theologians of the time, culminating in the celebration of the Council of Trent, resulted in the presence of holy priests such as Borromeo. Dear friends, you are heirs and witnesses of a great history of holiness that is rooted in your patrons, Bishops Ambrose and Charles, and in more recent times seen also in some of your alumni, three of whom are Blesseds and three of whom are Servants of God. This is the goal you must strive for!
However, it often happens along the journey that we are tempted to feel rejected: rejected from what is normal or to be a shepherd who is content with a normal life. Such a priest begins to content himself with the attention he receives, to judge his ministry based on his accomplishments and acting on the search for that which will bring pleasure, leading him to become tepid and lacking in true interest for others. For us, normal is instead defined by pastoral holiness, the gift of life. If a priest chooses to be only a normal person, he will be a mediocre priest, or worse.
Saint Charles wanted pastors who would be servants of God and fathers for his people, above all for the poor. But - it is always good for us to remember - words of life can only be proclaimed by those who seek to transform their own lives into a constant dialogue with the Word of God, or better, with God who speaks with them. During these past years, you have been entrusted with the mission of training others to participate in this dialogue of life: the knowledge of various disciplines that are studied are not ends in and of themselves, but should be implemented in the dialogue of prayer and in the real personal encounters. This is not a question of stagnant compartmentalism: prayer, culture and pastoral culture are but stepping stones leading to a unified construction: we must always be firmly united in supporting each other, well connected with others so that priests today and tomorrow can be spiritual men and merciful pastors, inwardly unified by the love of the Lord and capable of spreading the joy of the gospel in the simplicity of their lives. It seems today that evangelization calls us to go back to the simple life. Simplicity of life, avoiding all forms of duplicity and worldliness that includes genuine communion with the Lord and with our brothers; simplicity of language: not preachers of complex doctrine but proclaimers of Christ who died and rose for us.
Another essential aspect that I want to point out is the necessity, in order to be good priests, of contact and closeness with your bishop. The characteristic of a diocesan priest is precisely a sense of belonging to his diocese, and this sense of belonging has its cornerstone in a close relationship with the bishop, in dialogue and discernment with him. A priest who does not have an ongoing relationship with his bishop will slowly become isolated from the diocesan body and his fruitfulness will diminish, precisely because he does not enter into dialogue with the Father of his diocese.
Finally, I want to tell you that I am delighted, not only for your fruitful efforts at your studies, but also for the global dimension of your community: including various regions of Italy, Africa, Latin America, Asia and other European countries. I hope that you will cultivate the beauty of friendship and the art of stable relationships, in order to create a priestly fraternity that is stronger than your personal diversities. In this way, you will always be able to welcome and enrich this house! From now on, whenever I come to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, I will remember this meeting and I will remember you as I pray before the Virgin Mother. You too, I ask you to pray for me, to do the same for me! Thank you.
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