Priestly ministry requires giving oneself to Christ

Submitted on June 25, 2009

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Priests can preach the Gospel effectively only if they give their lives totally to Christ, Pope Benedict XVI said.

At his weekly general audience June 24, the pope said the fact that the new Year for Priests overlapped for 10 days with the concluding year of St. Paul is a useful reminder that priests must be missionaries as well as celebrants of the sacraments.

“Because he belongs to Christ, the priest is radically at the service of men and women. He is the minister of their salvation, their happiness, their authentic liberation,” he told an estimated 11,000 people gathered for the audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Benedict said he hoped the Year for Priests, which began June 19, would help priests “grow toward the spiritual perfection” they need to be effective ministers and would help the faithful “appreciate more fully the great gift of grace which the priesthood is.”

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