Vatican City - In the Paul VI Hall this morning, the traditional meeting between the Bishop of Rome and the clergy took place, an appointment that always falls on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday and opens, in a communal form, the Lenten journey. Introducing the meeting was the Cardinal Vicar, who thanked the Pope for convening it and asserted the historical continuity of the appointment: «The meeting between the Bishop of Rome and his priests belongs to the history and tradition of this Church». Words that today sound impeccable, but ring false when reread in the light of past years: Reina did not then show the same conviction. It is the oldest and most tedious curial liturgy and it brings everyone together, traditionalists and modernists: for some of these cardinals, when the wind changes the pectoral crosses change, the rochets change, the ready-made phrases change, etc….
The Vicar placed this morning within the path of the pastoral year, recalling the appointment of 19 September at the Lateran and the pastoral plan delivered by the Pope: the centrality of Christ, a revision of Christian initiation in close relation with evangelisation, and attention to family and youth ministry. He described the work under way in the prefectures and sectors, with the launch of commissions designed to involve lay people and pastoral workers more fully, also beyond the parish level. Reina acknowledged a context marked by growing difficulties and a cultural climate that “pushes God aside”, but he affirmed the vitality of the parishes and, above all, presbyteral fraternity as a “strength” of the Roman clergy. In his greeting he also thanked Leo XIV for resuming the pastoral visitation of parishes, presented as a concrete sign of care for the diocese. In conclusion, the Vicar quoted a phrase the Pope addressed to the priests of Madrid, outlining priestly identity as rooted in a «living relationship» with Christ, nourished by the Eucharist and made visible in a pastoral charity marked by the gift of self; then the mutual commitment to prayer: for the Pope and for the priests of the diocese.
Leo XIV: «It is urgent to return to proclaiming the Gospel»
In his address, Leo XIV took up the thread of the pastoral year starting from the Gospel scene of the Samaritan woman: «If you knew the gift of God». The Pope insisted that the gift requires a response of responsibility and creativity: the Church does not move forward by inertia, because priests, with their charisms, are called to “co-operate with the work of God”. Leo XIV reiterated Saint Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to the whole ecclesial community: when contexts change and time passes, fatigue, disappointment, frustration can emerge, leading to a weakening of spiritual and moral life. The Pope used the image of embers beneath the ashes, also recalling a catechesis of his predecessor on the act of “blowing on the fire” to make the flame live again.
The Pontiff wanted to explain to the Diocese of Rome that the fire is lit, but it must be fed anew, because the flame does not always keep the same intensity, especially when routine weighs heavily, when there is disaffection towards faith and religious practice, and amid rapid cultural changes.
Entering the pastoral content, the Pope indicated three key points.
The first concerns the ordinary pastoral life of the parishes. The Holy Father expressed gratitude for the often hidden service of priests, speaking of daily weariness and the few acknowledgements. Yet those very efforts, he added, help to read the challenges: in particular the relationship between Christian initiation and evangelisation. The Pope spoke of a necessary change of direction, because a model centred chiefly on administering the Sacraments presupposed a social and family context able to transmit the faith; today, instead, there is a growing erosion of religious practice. For this reason Leo XIV called it “urgent” to return to the proclamation of the Gospel as a priority, citing the alarm over a “sacramentalisation” not accompanied by other forms of evangelisation and recalling Paul’s question: «How will they hear without someone to proclaim it?» In the context of the city of Rome, marked by mobility and more fragile bonds, the invitation is to place proclamation back at the centre and to test new ways of transmitting the faith, also beyond the classic paths, involving children, young people and families differently.
The second point is the art of “working together”, in communion. Leo XIV observed that evangelisation, in its many forms, requires overcoming operational isolation: the transformation of lifestyles, from stability to mobility, often makes the parish alone insufficient to reach those who struggle to participate. The Pope asked that the temptation of self-referentiality be overcome, since it produces overwork and dispersion, and that collaboration be intensified especially among nearby parishes: sharing charisms and resources, planning together, avoiding overlaps. Greater coordination too, he explained, is not an organisational expedient: it should make presbyteral communion visible.
Finally, closeness to young people. Leo XIV acknowledged a reality many priests encounter every day: many young people «live with no longer any reference to God and to the Church». He invited priests to read their existential unease, their disorientation, and the difficulties amplified by the virtual world, even to signs of aggressiveness that sometimes spill over into violence. The Pope ruled out shortcuts and immediate results, yet asked that they remain listening, be present, welcome, share a stretch of their life. And, since problems have more than one dimension, he also indicated a more structured collaboration with local institutions, the school, experts in the educational field and the human sciences, and anyone who has the future of young people at heart.
Leo XIV to young priests: «Flee the risk of quickly exhausting your energies, accumulating frustration and falling into solitude»
The Pope also reserved a specific passage for younger priests, describing a concrete risk: rapidly burning through energies, accumulating frustration and ending up in solitude. The response proposed by the Pope passes through daily fidelity in the relationship with the Lord, persevering work even when fruits are not seen, and a fraternity lived without fear of frank exchange: speaking also of weariness and crises, seeking brothers able to help, and building a climate of listening and mutual attention.
In conclusion, the Pope brought everything back to the first commitment of the priest: to guard and help the vocation grow in a continuous path of conversion and renewed fidelity, with a responsibility that involves caring for one another.
Leo XIV, on this occasion too, put forward concrete prompts, useful for the daily life of the priest and for the steadiness of the whole presbyterate. And above all he is bringing, step by step, the Diocese of Rome back to breathing after years marked by a heavy climate: the bishop was perceived as a punisher, often more attentive to striking than to governing, with an evident paradox. Those who should have been corrected were kept close, protected and influential. The most emblematic case remains Renato Tarantelli, a figure who devastated the Vicariate of Rome, turning it into an apparatus folded in on itself. Now among the Roman clergy an hope is growing: that Leo XIV assign Tarantelli to a diocese far from Rome, finally freeing the Vicariate from a worn-out system. Only then can the Lateran Palace return to being a place genuinely useful to the parishes, and stop functioning as a terrain of personal management, where each person cultivates their own space and interests.
A sincere dialogue with his priests
At the end of the address, some priests were able to put questions to the Pope. Leo, replying to the questions, insisted on several points: the priest is called to be a witness, to meet young people and to rediscover the value of communion. He then invited each person truly to know the communities entrusted to their ministry: to know them and love them, without remaining at a distance. A significant passage concerned the use of artificial intelligence: the Pontiff asked priests not to delegate to it what requires personal discernment, and to draw more fully on their own intellectual and spiritual capacities, also in preparing the homily, reflections and catechesis. He then reiterated that the priest must be, first and foremost, a man of prayer: to be with the Lord and not reduce the spiritual life to Mass alone or the recitation of the breviary. The invitation was to live in listening, allowing oneself to be guided by God in daily life. Finally, he asked priests to be more human, cultivating a real and credible priestly fraternity, capable of becoming an example. He spoke of the importance of sincere friendship among priests, to be guarded with care, and he also recalled the duty to continue studying: ongoing formation, constant updating.
To a question about elderly priests and their solitude, he replied by returning to the theme of fraternity and the joy of being together. And he concluded by recalling gratitude: truly to give thanks for the gift of the priesthood, from the day of ordination and every day, living ministry as a gift received and guarded with gratitude.
Fr.S.V.
Silere non possum