Pope Leo XIV ordains a priest in St. Peter’s Basilica on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday, June 27, 2025. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News
The journey toward holiness is fulfilled in union with Christ’s perfect heart — a holiness that cannot be lived in isolation, Pope Leo XIV said in a message for the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.
“Cherish your priestly fraternity: Seek one another, listen to one another, and support one another. The priest who isolates himself slowly fades away; the priest who walks alongside his brothers grows,” the pope said in the June 12 message.
The World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests takes place every year on the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which in 2026 is celebrated on June 12.
The Sacred Heart, Leo said, “is the ‘place’ where holiness is manifested as closeness and tenderness. The priest’s holiness, then, is embodied in humble and courageous nearness, in being all things to all people, and in keeping the gate of the sheepfold open so that many can enter and find pasture and rest.”
“For this reason, we are called to a relationship with God that does not distance us from others but brings us closer to everyone — shaping patient and tender hearts, capable of closeness, compassion, and listening,” he added.
Pope Leo said it is “through the union of our imperfect hearts with Jesus’ pierced heart, our journey toward holiness is fulfilled. It is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. Such holiness cannot be lived in isolation.”
Reflecting on the mystery of the Lord’s pierced heart, the Holy Father emphasized that holiness is not an abstract ideal but a share in God’s own holiness.
“When he calls us to be holy as he is holy, he indicates that the path we must follow involves being fashioned after his own heart. And for us, dear brothers, this call is particularly radical,” he said, addressing his fellow priests.
The holiness asked of priests, Leo continued, is of a trustful abandonment transformed by the Holy Spirit: “Yet it is precisely here that the great paradox of our priestly life emerges. We are called to share in God’s own holiness, but we carry this treasure in earthen vessels.”
Reflecting on the imperfect, human side of the priesthood, the pontiff noted that “we are limited and imperfect, often weak and weary, and at times wounded. How can such a vulnerable human heart respond to such a high calling? The priest lives this tension. Yet at the same time, he must recognize that he finds peace in the open side of the Lord Jesus.”
“Our humanity is not compartmentalized,” he said. “Prayer, ministry, relationships, weariness, joys, and failures — even time or love that apparently seems wasted — all become privileged places where God reveals himself and his infinite love.”
He urged priests to renew the grace of their ordination through the daily celebration of the Eucharist, prayer, meditation on the word of God, and humble service to others.
“A priestly life that is steady and configured to Jesus’ heart is a credible sign of unity, peace, and mercy. Thus, in an age marked by division and fear, we must be builders of peace and witnesses of the tenderness of the Good Shepherd who knows how to gather the scattered and heal the wounded,” he said.
In his message, Pope Leo invited priests to daily renew their “Here I am” before Christ’s pierced heart and to remember the words of the Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney, who loved to say that “the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”
“This love is a pledge and a guarantee that, if we surrender and offer ourselves completely, nothing of us will be lost,” the pontiff said.
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Discussing on the flight from Kazakhstan to Italy on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, the moral degradation of the West, particularly in relation to the advance of legal euthanasia, Pope Francis said the region has taken the wrong path, and that killin… […]
Pope Francis with Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, at the consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2022 / 08:31 am (CNA).
Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals for the Catholic Church during a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday.
“Jesus calls us by name; he looks us in the eye and he asks: Can I count on you?” Pope Francis said in a homily addressed to the College of Cardinals and its new members on Aug. 27.
“The Lord,” he said, “wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
The pope’s reflection followed a reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 49-50: “In that time, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!’”
“The words of Jesus, in the very middle of the Gospel of Luke, pierce us like an arrow,” Francis said.
“The Lord calls us once more to follow him along the path of his mission,” he said. “A fiery mission – like that of Elijah – not only for what he came to accomplish but also for how he accomplished it. And to us who in the Church have been chosen from among the people for a ministry of particular service, it is as if Jesus is handing us a lighted torch and telling us: ‘Take this; as the Father has sent me so I now send you.’”
The pope ended his homily mentioning that one cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was not present. Francis asked for prayers for the African prelate, explaining Baawobr had been taken ill.
At the beginning of the consistory, Pope Francis pronounced the opening prayer of the ceremony in Latin.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Creed. They then pronounced an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors.
Each cardinal then approached Pope Francis, kneeling before him to receive the red birretta, the cardinal’s ring, and a document naming the titular church he has been assigned.
Pope Francis embraced each new cardinal, saying to him: “Pax Domini sit semper tecum,” which is Latin for “the peace of the Lord be with you always.” Each cardinal responded: “Amen.”
The new cardinals also exchanged a sign of peace with a number of the members of the College of Cardinals, representative of the whole college.
While placing the red biretta on the head of each cardinal, the pope recited these words: “To the glory of almighty God and the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church.”
As he gave each new cardinal the ring, Francis said: “Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened.”
In his homily, the pope said: “The Lord wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
He also recalled another kind of fire, that of charcoal. “This fire,” he said, “burns in a particular way in the prayer of adoration, when we silently stand before the Eucharist and bask in the humble, discreet and hidden presence of the Lord. Like that charcoal fire, his presence becomes warmth and nourishment for our daily life.”
“A Cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether dealing with great questions or handling everyday problems, with the powerful of this world or those ordinary people who are great in God’s eyes,” he said.
The pope named three men as examples for the cardinals to follow: Saint Charles de Foucauld, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, and Cardinal Van Thuân.
The consistory to create cardinals also included a greeting and thank you to Pope Francis, expressed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the liturgy dicastery, on behalf of all the new cardinals.
Cardinal Arthur Roche speaking on behalf of the new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27. 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
“All of us, coming from different parts of the world, with our personal stories and different life situations, carry out our ministry in the vineyard of the Lord. As diocesan and religious priests, we are at the service of preaching the Gospel in many different ways and in different cultures, but always united in the one faith and the one Church,” Roche said.
“Now, in manifesting your trust in us, you call us to this new service, in an even closer collaboration with your ministry, within the broad horizon of the universal Church,” he continued. “God knows the dust of which we are all made, and we know well that without Him we are capable of falling short.”
Roche quoted Saint Gregory the Great, who once wrote to a bishop: “We are all weak, but he is weakest of all who ignores his own weakness.”
“However, we draw strength from you, Holy Father,” he said, “from your witness, your spirit of service and your call to the entire Church to follow the Lord with greater fidelity; living the joy of the Gospel with discernment, courage and, above all, with an openness of heart that manifests itself in welcoming everyone, especially those who suffer the injustice of poverty that marginalizes, the suffering of pain that seeks a response of meaning, the violence of wars that turn brothers into enemies. We share with you the desire and commitment for communion in the Church.”
At the end of the consistory to create cardinals, Pope Francis convened a consistory for the cardinals to give their approval to the canonizations of Blessed Artemide Zatti and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini.
The new cardinals are:
— Cardinal Arthur Roche, 72, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and former Bishop of Leeds (England);
— Lazarus You Heung-sik, 70, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy and former Bishop of Daejeon (South Korea);
— Jean-Marc Noël Aveline, 63, Archbishop of Marseille, the first French diocesan bishop to get the honor during Pope Francis’ pontificate;
— Peter Ebere Okpaleke, 59, Bishop of Ekwulobia in the central region of Nigeria, who was created bishop in 2012 by Benedict XVI;
— Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, 77, Archbishop of Manaus, in Brazil’s Amazon region, a Franciscan who played a leading role during the Amazon Synod and as Vice President of the recently created Amazonian Bishops’ Conference;
— Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão, 69, Archbishop of Goa (India), appointed bishop by St. John Paul II in 1993;
— Robert McElroy, 68, Bishop of San Diego (United States), whose diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by the President of the USCCB, Archbishop José Gomez;
— Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, 68, a Salesian, since 2019 the Archbishop of Dili (East Timor);
— Oscar Cantoni, 71, Bishop of Como (Italy), appointed in January 2005 by St. John Paul II, who is suffragan to Milan;
— Archbishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., 77, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State; the Spaniard is the first Legionary of Christ to become a cardinal;
— Anthony Poola, 60, Archbishop of Hyderabad (India), a bishop since 2008 and the first dalit to become a cardinal;
–Paulo Cezar Costa, 54, Archbishop of Brasilia (Brazil), the fourth archbishop of the Brazilian capital to become a cardinal;
— Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 62, Bishop of Wa (Ghana), former Superior General of the White Fathers, and bishop since 2016;
— William Goh Seng Chye, 65, Archbishop of Singapore since 2013;
— Adalberto Martinez Flores, 71, Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay) and the first Paraguayan cardinal;
— Giorgio Marengo, 47, Italian Missionary of the Consolata and Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, the youngest cardinal in recent history, along with Karol Wojtyla, who also was created a cardinal at 47, during the consistory of June 26, 1967.
Furthermore, Pope Francis appointed the following prelates over the age of 80, who are therefore excluded from attending a future conclave.
Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena (Colombia); Arrigo Miglio, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari (Italy); Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit and former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, who extensively collaborated in the drafting of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium; and Fortunato Frezza, 80, (Italy) currently a Canon at the Basilica of St. Peter, who collaborated for several years at the Secretariat General for the Synod of the Bishops.
Pope Francis had originally also nominated Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy, 80, who later declined to accept the post because of criticism of his response to clergy abuse cases.
Vatican City, Feb 25, 2025 / 12:45 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis has named two secretaries-general to serve under Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, in the Governorate of the Vatican City State, givin… […]
20 Comments
Really Your Holiness? I’m sure the likes of St Jerome, the carthusians etc would respectfully disagree!
As a former Altar Server and Lector in the 60s, I can say my Priests were exemplary models of this holiness. They were so cheerful and kind that loneliness was not apparent, if at all. That was then, this is now.
The decline in candidates presents a major quandary. I have always felt our Dogma is broken by restricting the Holy Orders to men.
Genesis 1:27 indicates that all humans are created in God’s image, suggesting inherent equality.
Galatians 3:28 emphasizes that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, highlighting spiritual equality.
No question, women are God’s heavy lifters. We should remember that God created men and women as equals. They seem to absorb loneliness better.
A perfect example why I don’t think “schism” is such a bad thing. If people don’t don’t want a male-only priesthood, then go find somewhere that allows it. There are plenty of options. If a person wants contraception, there are plenty of options. If they want to have steak on Friday, it’s the same.
.
Forget a moment, the distorted view of theology typically offered by MorganD as he approaches it through the lens of his inveterate, myopic political viewpoint buttressed by male fide citations and exegesis. Equal (in dignity) is not fungible.
He offers a hypothesis that a female clergy is a solution to what in the secular world would be a “staffing issue”.
That hypothesis has been tested by mainline Protestants. It may have staffed a parsonage or two that might have gone empty, but it hasn’t stopped the decline Protestants Carl Trueman, Albert Mohler, Ryan Burge and others that have written about extensively.
Then there are the unintended side effects of his prescription, such as the loss of people who would look at this as a clear indication of a breach with Christ and the deposit of faith, such as the practical problems of cohabitating opposite sex people. There was a time when “Protestant pornography” featured lurid accounts of priests “visiting” convents. Imagine the rumors if the rectory had men and women living together.
I don’t know why it is that some people think burning a historic house to the ground, and rebuilding a new structure on the ashes is better than fixing the roof, but it is hallmark of leftist Boomers.
MorganD: So why do you have a need to imagine yourself superior to the God you assume is too stupid to have had actual purposes for the ontological realities of His own creation?
morganD
To say that the Catholic Church’s dogma on a male-only priesthood is broken is the same thing as saying that the Catholic Church made a mistake, which is basically saying that you reject Church teaching.
The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, is indefectible. It doesn’t make mistakes.
The pope is infallible, and St John Paul II declared that the Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women.
Christ chose twelve Apostles. All male. Each bishop (Catholic and Orthdox) can trace his successor back to the original twelve.
“Forgive me Mother, for I have sinned” just doesn’t ring right.
I think that the Pope is right on target . The US Church, at least is in a severe crisis concerning secular priest burn out. – too many lonely,overworked secular priests living alone in large rectories. Many are trying to run several parishes. Considering the many temptations that they face, how can you expect them to be holy? They need companionship why not several parishes priests from near by parishes sharing a rectory. Also encourage more order priests to run parishes and live together in residence! Other parts of the world might have very different needs. In any case the Pope has hit on an important need which must be addressed. It’s about time that we start listening to him and taking him seriously. We have a new pope and he needs our support.
Do you ever take a timeout from your blind faith that social engineering can solve all problems, to make us even better than God can if He were to recreate us? Have you considered that human problems, all human problems are the result of human capitulations to evil and nothing other than human capitulations to evil?
I agree Mr Connor. Priests need the fellowship of peers and the accountability also.
Some people are called to be hermits but most of us need fellowship.
James – we often hear about the isolated, lonely, and burned out priests, but the data doesn’t support that image for most. Do they exist, sure, but the vast (80+%) of priests are quite happy in their vocation – a percentage much greater than the average man working in the secular world. Read Msgr. Stephen Rossetti’s (yes, that Msgr. Rossetti who has been in the news) books on his research of the priesthood in the US. Especially the most recent “Priesthood in a Time of Crisis: A New Study of the Psychological and Spiritual Health of Priests.” Note: One area, according to Rossetti’s research, where priests are not especially happy is with bishops in general. After the so called “Dallas Charter” they don’t feel the bishops have their backs. One has to wonder if “poking the bear” had anything to do with recent events?
Do you ever take a timeout from your blind faith that social engineering can solve all problems, to make us even better than God can if He were to recreate us? Have you considered that human problems, all human problems are the result of human capitulations to evil and nothing other than human capitulations to evil?
My married Byzantine pastor with 4 kids here in SW Ohio isn’t lonely or isolated. He is living trinitarian communion with his wife and family and parish while fully participating in the mysteries of salvation as a priest. To live alone in a rectory is isolating. To get regularly transfered & reinvent your circle of friends every 5-8 years is chronically taxing. No wonder half our diocesan clergy and three quarters of our religious suffer from same sex attraction. And our straight guys get blindsided by the socially accepted sin of alcoholism; or gambling, inordinate hobbies, junkets, affairs. A helpmate with complementary physical, mental & spiritual attributes is God’s plan for his priests. After Pope Urban mandated celibacy in 1045 St Bernard argued vehemently against it. Monthly priest support groups featuring adoration, confession & fraternity are necessary monthly but dont even come close to what an understanding wife can provide on a daily basis. The difference is not just in degree, but in kind. We Catholics have always been “both and” and never “either or” like the Gnostic Dualists. Occasionally a St Paul comes along and freely embraces celibacy for an evangelical mission, but he is the exception, to expect this of every zealous seminarian in his 20s is possible; it becomes practically impossible for a pastor in his 30s and beyond. Our Catholic hospital/university presidents, police chiefs, congressmen, judges, military, shift workers all have jobs as demanding as pastors – yet we dont require them to be celibate. Its a myth that pastors are too busy for a wife and kids. After the Resurrection the Apostles ministered alongside their wives, ICor 9:5. Yet, 100% of todays Latin Rite seminarians are somehow equipped to do it alone? Bizarre. Inhumane. Dualist. And quite frankly, scandalous to the faithful when the compensations that priests undertake in luxury & inappropriate relationships inevitably spill out into the external forum. Maybe thats why over half of our priests leave the priesthood. Strange how a man would spend a decade in preparation only to leave several years later. My fellow faithful, 11th century celibacy mandates implemented solely to enforce episcopal financial accountability have never worked. Mandated celibacy didn’t work then. It doesn’t work now. Priests have voted with their feet; 50k are married w children living devout lay lives. Are half of our ordained actually incapable, weak, morally bankrupt quitters? Or are the rules requiring a Padre to live alone bad policy? Maybe we should look to the East.
By 
Really Your Holiness? I’m sure the likes of St Jerome, the carthusians etc would respectfully disagree!
I’ll give His Holiness the benefit of the doubt and suggest that he was speaking of diocesan priests. If not, then I couldn’t agree with you more.
I’m guessing Pope Leo was referring mostly to diocesan priests.
https://youtu.be/V9UQYkXffG0?is=9y7pcGPHTN-xn7ad
A real-deal appreciation of the priesthood – complements the wisdom of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.
I agree, J Mccallion. My first thought was St. Anthony of the Desert.
Saint Jean-Marie Vianney – Pray for us.
As a former Altar Server and Lector in the 60s, I can say my Priests were exemplary models of this holiness. They were so cheerful and kind that loneliness was not apparent, if at all. That was then, this is now.
The decline in candidates presents a major quandary. I have always felt our Dogma is broken by restricting the Holy Orders to men.
Genesis 1:27 indicates that all humans are created in God’s image, suggesting inherent equality.
Galatians 3:28 emphasizes that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, highlighting spiritual equality.
No question, women are God’s heavy lifters. We should remember that God created men and women as equals. They seem to absorb loneliness better.
The Anglican Church awaits you. You can remain in your “irregular union” and enjoy the rantings of cosplay Popess Sarah.
A perfect example why I don’t think “schism” is such a bad thing. If people don’t don’t want a male-only priesthood, then go find somewhere that allows it. There are plenty of options. If a person wants contraception, there are plenty of options. If they want to have steak on Friday, it’s the same.
.
Forget a moment, the distorted view of theology typically offered by MorganD as he approaches it through the lens of his inveterate, myopic political viewpoint buttressed by male fide citations and exegesis. Equal (in dignity) is not fungible.
He offers a hypothesis that a female clergy is a solution to what in the secular world would be a “staffing issue”.
That hypothesis has been tested by mainline Protestants. It may have staffed a parsonage or two that might have gone empty, but it hasn’t stopped the decline Protestants Carl Trueman, Albert Mohler, Ryan Burge and others that have written about extensively.
Then there are the unintended side effects of his prescription, such as the loss of people who would look at this as a clear indication of a breach with Christ and the deposit of faith, such as the practical problems of cohabitating opposite sex people. There was a time when “Protestant pornography” featured lurid accounts of priests “visiting” convents. Imagine the rumors if the rectory had men and women living together.
I don’t know why it is that some people think burning a historic house to the ground, and rebuilding a new structure on the ashes is better than fixing the roof, but it is hallmark of leftist Boomers.
Trust me Mr. Morgan, women are no better equipped for loneliness than men are.
We may be in shorter supply of priests today but the addition of counterfeit clergy is not a solution.
MorganD: So why do you have a need to imagine yourself superior to the God you assume is too stupid to have had actual purposes for the ontological realities of His own creation?
morganD
To say that the Catholic Church’s dogma on a male-only priesthood is broken is the same thing as saying that the Catholic Church made a mistake, which is basically saying that you reject Church teaching.
The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, is indefectible. It doesn’t make mistakes.
The pope is infallible, and St John Paul II declared that the Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women.
Christ chose twelve Apostles. All male. Each bishop (Catholic and Orthdox) can trace his successor back to the original twelve.
“Forgive me Mother, for I have sinned” just doesn’t ring right.
I think that the Pope is right on target . The US Church, at least is in a severe crisis concerning secular priest burn out. – too many lonely,overworked secular priests living alone in large rectories. Many are trying to run several parishes. Considering the many temptations that they face, how can you expect them to be holy? They need companionship why not several parishes priests from near by parishes sharing a rectory. Also encourage more order priests to run parishes and live together in residence! Other parts of the world might have very different needs. In any case the Pope has hit on an important need which must be addressed. It’s about time that we start listening to him and taking him seriously. We have a new pope and he needs our support.
Do you ever take a timeout from your blind faith that social engineering can solve all problems, to make us even better than God can if He were to recreate us? Have you considered that human problems, all human problems are the result of human capitulations to evil and nothing other than human capitulations to evil?
I agree Mr Connor. Priests need the fellowship of peers and the accountability also.
Some people are called to be hermits but most of us need fellowship.
James – we often hear about the isolated, lonely, and burned out priests, but the data doesn’t support that image for most. Do they exist, sure, but the vast (80+%) of priests are quite happy in their vocation – a percentage much greater than the average man working in the secular world. Read Msgr. Stephen Rossetti’s (yes, that Msgr. Rossetti who has been in the news) books on his research of the priesthood in the US. Especially the most recent “Priesthood in a Time of Crisis: A New Study of the Psychological and Spiritual Health of Priests.” Note: One area, according to Rossetti’s research, where priests are not especially happy is with bishops in general. After the so called “Dallas Charter” they don’t feel the bishops have their backs. One has to wonder if “poking the bear” had anything to do with recent events?
Do you ever take a timeout from your blind faith that social engineering can solve all problems, to make us even better than God can if He were to recreate us? Have you considered that human problems, all human problems are the result of human capitulations to evil and nothing other than human capitulations to evil?
St Charbel
My married Byzantine pastor with 4 kids here in SW Ohio isn’t lonely or isolated. He is living trinitarian communion with his wife and family and parish while fully participating in the mysteries of salvation as a priest. To live alone in a rectory is isolating. To get regularly transfered & reinvent your circle of friends every 5-8 years is chronically taxing. No wonder half our diocesan clergy and three quarters of our religious suffer from same sex attraction. And our straight guys get blindsided by the socially accepted sin of alcoholism; or gambling, inordinate hobbies, junkets, affairs. A helpmate with complementary physical, mental & spiritual attributes is God’s plan for his priests. After Pope Urban mandated celibacy in 1045 St Bernard argued vehemently against it. Monthly priest support groups featuring adoration, confession & fraternity are necessary monthly but dont even come close to what an understanding wife can provide on a daily basis. The difference is not just in degree, but in kind. We Catholics have always been “both and” and never “either or” like the Gnostic Dualists. Occasionally a St Paul comes along and freely embraces celibacy for an evangelical mission, but he is the exception, to expect this of every zealous seminarian in his 20s is possible; it becomes practically impossible for a pastor in his 30s and beyond. Our Catholic hospital/university presidents, police chiefs, congressmen, judges, military, shift workers all have jobs as demanding as pastors – yet we dont require them to be celibate. Its a myth that pastors are too busy for a wife and kids. After the Resurrection the Apostles ministered alongside their wives, ICor 9:5. Yet, 100% of todays Latin Rite seminarians are somehow equipped to do it alone? Bizarre. Inhumane. Dualist. And quite frankly, scandalous to the faithful when the compensations that priests undertake in luxury & inappropriate relationships inevitably spill out into the external forum. Maybe thats why over half of our priests leave the priesthood. Strange how a man would spend a decade in preparation only to leave several years later. My fellow faithful, 11th century celibacy mandates implemented solely to enforce episcopal financial accountability have never worked. Mandated celibacy didn’t work then. It doesn’t work now. Priests have voted with their feet; 50k are married w children living devout lay lives. Are half of our ordained actually incapable, weak, morally bankrupt quitters? Or are the rules requiring a Padre to live alone bad policy? Maybe we should look to the East.