Dear brother
priests,
On the occasion of the August 4th feast of St. John Marie
Vianney, the Curé of Ars, I greet you cordially with all my heart, and I
fraternally send you this brief message.
The Church knows today that there is an urgent mission, not only “ad
gentes,” but also to those Christians living in areas and regions where the
Christian faith has been preached and established for centuries and where
ecclesial communities already exist. Within
this flock, the mission, or the missionary of evangelization, has as its target
those who are baptized but who, for different circumstances, have not been
evangelized sufficiently, or those who have lost their initial fervour and
fallen away. The postmodern culture of
contemporary society - a relativist, secular, and agnostic culture - exerts a
strong erosive action on the religious faith of many people.
The Church is missionary by its very nature. Jesus told us that "the sower went out to sow" (Mt 13:3).
The sower does not limit himself to
throwing the seed out of the window, but actually leaves the house. The Church knows that it cannot remain inert or
limit itself to receiving and evangelizing those who are seeking the Faith in
its churches and communities. It is
also necessary to rise up and go to where people and families dwell, live and
work. We must go to everyone: companies,
organizations, institutions and different fields of human society. In this mission, all members of the
ecclesial community are called: pastors, religious and laity.
Moreover, the Church recognizes that priests are the great driving force
behind daily life in local communities. When priests move, the Church moves. If this were not so, it would be very difficult to achieve the Church’s
mission.
My dear brother priests, you are the great richness, the energy, the pastoral
and missionary inspiration in the midst of the Christian faithful, wherever
they are found in community. Without
your crucial decision to "put out into the deep" for fish ("Duc
in altum"), as the Lord himself calls us, little or nothing will happen in
the urgent mission, either "ad gentes" or in the territories that
have previously been evangelized. But
the Church is certain that it can count on you, because it knows and explicitly
recognizes that the overwhelming majority of priests - despite our weaknesses
and human limitations - are worthy priests, giving their life daily to the
Kingdom of God and loving Jesus Christ and the people entrusted to them. These are the priests who are sanctifying themselves
in their daily ministry and who are persevering until the harvest of the Lord. Only a small minority of priests have gravely deviated from this
mission, and the Church seeks to repair the harm that they have done. On the other hand, it rejoices in and is
proud of the immense majority of its priests, who are good and exceedingly
worthy of praise.
During this Pauline Year, and pending the Synod of Bishops on the Word
of God to be held in Rome this October, we call those who are receptive to this
urgent mission. May the Holy Spirit
enlighten us, send us, and sustain us, so that we might go forth and proclaim
once again the person of Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected, as well as
His kingdom!
I greet you again, dear
brothers, remaining always at your disposal. I pray for you all, especially for those who suffer, for the sick
and for the elderly.
Vatican City State, 15 July 2008
Claudio Cardinal Hummes
Emeritus Archbishop of São
Paolo
Prefect of the Congregation
for the Clergy