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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At a time when so much pressure and so many demands are placed on priests, they should find support, freedom and relief in recognizing the gifts of laypeople and collaborating with them, Pope Leo XIV said.

"The ministry of the priest must move beyond the model of exclusive leadership, which leads to the centralization of pastoral activities and the burden of all responsibilities entrusted to him alone," the pope wrote in an apostolic letter titled, "A Fidelity that Generates the Future."

The letter, released Dec. 22, marked the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's decrees on priestly formation and on the life and ministry of priests.

Pope Leo used the letter to express his "gratitude for the witness and dedication of all priests throughout the world who offer their lives in celebrating the sacrifice of Our Lord in the Eucharist, proclaiming the Word and absolving sins, as well as devoting themselves generously each day to their brothers and sisters, fostering communion and unity among them and taking special care of those who suffer most and are in need." 

He also said the church must "look carefully and compassion-ately" at the background of priests who have left active ministry and ensure that seminary programs engage "the entire person, heart, mind and freedom" to help men make a lifelong commitment.

Pope Leo did not ignore the clerical sexual abuse crisis and said that, too, showed the importance of a thorough preparation for ministry.

"In recent decades, the crisis of trust in the Church caused by abuses committed by members of the clergy has filled us with shame and called us to humility," he wrote. "It has made us even more aware of the urgent need for a comprehensive formation that ensures the personal growth and maturity of candidates for the priesthood, together with a rich and solid spiritual life."

The letter did not mention that in several of the Eastern Catholic churches married men can be ordained to the priesthood.

But it insisted that "only priests and consecrated persons who are humanly mature and spiritually solid -- in other words, those in whom the human and spiritual dimensions are well integrated and who are therefore capable of authentic relationships with everyone -- can take on the commitment of celibacy and credibly proclaim the Gospel of the Risen One." 

Most of the letter focused on fidelity, missionary outreach and recognizing that a priest's vocation flows from his baptism, a sacrament he shares with all Catholics.

"Our contemporary world, characterized by its fast pace and the anxious need to be hyperconnected, often makes us feel rushed and inclines us to activism," the pope wrote.

Two very negative consequences that can be tempting to priests, he said, are "an efficiency-oriented mentality, whereby the value of each person is measured by performance" or simply withdrawing, "adopting a lazy and defeatist approach."

Pope Leo told the priests that nothing can take the place of devoting time to personal prayer and the celebration of the sacraments and cultivating a special bond of brotherhood with one's fellow priests, but that never should lead to a sense of superiority over laypeople.

"Even before dedicating himself to guiding the flock," the pope wrote, "every priest must constantly remember that he himself is a disciple of the Master, just like his brothers and sisters." 

The pope insisted in the letter on the importance of getting priests on board with efforts to create a more synodal church, one marked by listening to each other, discerning God's will together and recognizing that every baptized Catholic has something to contribute to the church's mission.

"Communion, synodality and mission cannot be achieved if, in the hearts of priests, the temptation to self-referentiality does not yield to the mindset of listening and service," Pope Leo wrote.

In encouraging a more synodal church, he said, "there is still much to be done."

A priest is called to let the love and mercy of Christ shine through him, the pope said, so he must shun "all forms of egotism and celebration of self."

For that reason, Pope Leo encouraged priests to evaluate carefully their presence in the media and on social networks, "making service to evangelization the basis for discernment," because, as First Corinthians says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial."
 

Father Francesco Ielpo, OFM, the custos (Franciscan provincial) of the Holy Land, has issued a Christmas message, “Fragility in Light.”

“The holiest liturgy is celebrated on straw, with the sharp smell of manure, in the caresses of a mother and in the cry of a child,” he said. “Once again, Jesus is not afraid to descend to the lowest point of our humanity, made of violence, sin, pain, tears, and hardship. Once again, He is born and asks us, just as we are, to be a cradle for Him, with the poor straw of our fragility.”

In the 14th century, the Holy See entrusted the care of the holy sites in the Holy Land, including the sites in Bethlehem, to the care of the Franciscan order.

Pope Leo XIV, in a rescript, approved a new statute for the Labor Office of the Apostolic See (ULSA).

Vatican News reported that the new statute has several innovations:

These include a broader Council, with representation for the first time from the Secretariat of State, the Vicariate of Rome, the Vatican’s healthcare services (FAS, Fondo Assistenza Sanitaria), and the Pension Fund; a greater, more “synodal” involvement of the various represented entities; taking on a consultative role to assist Dicasteries, the Governorate, and other bodies in drafting specific regulations and other normative acts; and the requirement of expertise in labor law and Vatican law for lawyers involved in disputes brought by employees and former employees.

Praedicate Evangelium, the 2022 apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia, states that “everything that concerns the performance of the personnel of the Roman Curia and other related issues falls within the competence of the Labor Office of the Apostolic See, whose duty it is to protect and promote the rights of collaborators, according to the principles of the social doctrine of the Church” (Art. 11).

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the 92-year-old president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has commemorated the 60th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council with a lengthy essay in the Vatican newspaper.

“Conservative and progressive [interpretations of Vatican II] are not opposites, since, correctly understood, they are part of the same whole,” he wrote. “The hope is that the new Pope, Leo XIV, has recognized the absurdity of this dispute and will say that we must disarm our language: we should not polarize and speak against each other, but dialogue in a conciliatory way. One can only hope that Pope Leo will succeed in this reconciliation.”

“The Second Vatican Council showed that the Church is not a rigid and immobile entity,” he concluded. “The Council set many things in motion. This dynamism is also needed in the new century. The streams of pilgrims who came to Rome in the last months of the Holy Year—more than 30 million people and so many young people from all over the world—showed that the Church, despite all the controversies after the Second Vatican Council and despite the increase in persecution against Christians in the world, has remained alive and young.”

Pope Leo XIV has written an introduction to the Vatican publishing house’s new edition of The Practice of the Presence of God, a spiritual classic written by the Carmelite friar Brother Lawrence (c. 1614-1691).

“Together with the writings of Saint Augustine and other books, this is one of the texts that have most shaped my spiritual life and have formed me in what the path can be for knowing and loving the Lord,” Pope Leo wrote.

“The path Brother Lawrence points out to us is simple and arduous at the same time,” Pope Leo continued. “Through the path that Brother Lawrence proposes to us, little by little, as the presence of God becomes familiar and occupies our inner space, the joy of being with Him grows, graces and spiritual riches blossom, and even daily tasks become easy and light.”

Earlier this month, during his December 2 press conference on the flight from Lebanon to Rome, the Pope spoke about the influence Brother Lawrence’s work has had upon his life.

“The dialogue between religion and diplomacy is not optional, but indispensable in a context characterized by great global challenges, armed conflicts, forced displacement, environmental crises, and a worrying erosion of trust marked by fundamentalism and fanaticism,” Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue said at a recent roundtable discussion on religion and diplomacy.

“Religion is not destined to be a source of conflict, but can be a powerful resource for reconciliation, peacebuilding, humanitarian action and ethical discernment,” he continued. “Religious leaders are not only spiritual authorities, but also essential diplomatic actors.”

The discussion was organized by the dicastery, the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), and the Council of European Muslim Leaders. The chief rabbi of Basel, Switzerland, represented the Conference of European Rabbis at the discussion.