On the eve of the Year for Priests announced by Pope Benedict XVI starting on June 19, Archbishop Barry Hickey has issued a pastoral letter to the faithful on the traditions, identity and mission of the priesthood.
My Dear People
To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the death of the Curé d’Ars, St Jean Marie Vianney, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has named the year 2009/2010 the Year of the Priest. The year begins on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Friday 19 June 2009. Plenary Indulgences may be gained on many occasions during this Year. They are outlined in the attachment to this Pastoral Letter.
St Jean Vianney
Most of you will have heard of St Jean Vianney. He was a parish priest in the small French village of Ars in the tumultuous years following the French Revolution. Having had problems with his studies in the Seminary, especially with Latin, he was not destined for preferment in significant church appointments.
He worked humbly as a priest in a poor parish and lived his life in comparative obscurity. This was obviously not God’s only plan for him. By his personal sanctity, his love for Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, his self-giving in the service of his people as confessor, spiritual guide and friend of the poor, he became a beacon of light to all priests around the world when Pope Pius XI decreed him a saint. His feast day is 4th August.
Long traditions
In the history of the Church in Australia our priests from the very beginning gained a wonderful reputation for their pastoral care. They stood with their people who were mostly poor migrants in search of a better life. The priests knew their people. They shared their joys and sorrows; they defended them and worked hard to provide education and work for them in a society often hostile or indifferent to their fate.
This tradition is precious. It should never be lost. With two centuries of development Catholics are now to be found at every level of society. Our priests, too, have adapted to provide pastoral care to all sectors of society, without distinction.
It is worrying but true that we have never produced enough local priests to be self-sufficient. We have always sought priests from overseas, especially Irish priests in the early days, and more recently priests from any and all countries as our population has become multi-ethnic and multi-cultural.
Newly arrived priests, as much as those born locally, are called to be as pastoral as our pioneer priests, in the mould of St John Vianney. They must do so in the clear knowledge that the challenges before them today are formidable.
The ministerial
priesthood
Let us reflect a little on the nature of the priesthood.
In the Old Testament the priesthood was a cultic office, usually hereditary. The priests were drawn from the clan of Aaron or the descendents of Levi. The Levites had a special role in the Temple. When the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD the role of the Jewish priesthood declined as the people were scattered.
The priesthood of the New Covenant is very different from the Temple priesthood. Jesus did not call himself a priest, nor did he call his apostles priests. Yet he offered the perfect sacrifice for the salvation of the world, the sacrifice of himself on the cross. He is therefore both Priest and Victim. Our priests share the dignity of Christ the Priest through the conferring of Holy Orders. It is often referred to as the Ministerial Priesthood to distinguish it from the priesthood of the faithful.
St Peter’s letters speak of priesthood of the faithful which we all share through our baptism which unites us with Jesus Christ, Priest, Prophet and King.
Down through the centuries the understanding of the priest as representing Christ in a special way has been the source of wonder and contemplation. It found a beautiful expression in the words of the late Pope John Paul II:
“By the sacramental anointing of holy orders, the Holy Spirit configures the priests in a new and special way to Jesus Christ, the head and shepherd.
“He forms and strengthens them with his pastoral clarity, and gives them an authoritative role in the Church as servant of the proclamation of the Gospel to every people, and of the fullness of Christian life of all the baptised.” (Pastores Dabo Vobis 15)
Priestly ministry
The key to the identity of the priest is therefore
l a sacramental representation of Christ himself
l a leader and shepherd of the
Church like Christ
l a servant like Christ
l a minister of the Good News
like Christ
l a minister of the sacraments of Christ
l a teacher of the
Christian life
l a man conformed
to Christ by consecrated celibacy (Latin Church).
He is therefore ordained not for himself but for the people.
You have a right to expect that your priest is one who is there for you as your spiritual guide, steeped in the Scriptures, a preacher of the good news of salvation, a dispenser of the sacraments that give life, and your true shepherd. This awesome vocation is one that should make the priest humble, knowing he can never be worthy of such a call. Who can dare to be Jesus to other people?
I call on you, the People of God, to support and care for your priests to help them spend their lives for you as your shepherd, an image of Christ himself.
Vessels of clay
Every priest is very human with faults and failings. Yet the dignity of the priesthood always needs to be respected and honoured. It has a mystical and transcendental character lived within the community of the Church.
To carry out the mission of the ministerial priesthood is at any time a formidable task. Today, however, there are unique challenges that make it extremely burdensome and even dangerous to be a priest. In proclaiming the Gospel, in asserting the truth about human destiny, about life, about trust in God and about discipleship, the priest is open to attack from a society which increasingly rejects the biblical teaching on the dignity of life or the sacredness of marriage and human sexuality. He needs a deep spirituality based on his union with Jesus Christ as vine and branch, if he is to carry out this challenge, and must rely on the support of you his people.
A sublime vocation
May this Year of the Priest be an opportunity for you to reflect on the nature of the ministerial priesthood and the role of the priest in your local community.
May it also lead to a fresh appreciation of the sublime vocation to the priesthood, and lead our families to hope and pray for a priest from our own ranks, dismissing worldly attitudes that would devalue such a spiritual call.
It is my hope that in a world marked by the spirit of individualism, secularism and unfettered personal freedom, you will stand with your priests to form solid and faithful parish communities and be examples of love’s transforming power. We will thus better proclaim the hope and the Good News that the world needs by being examples of Eucharistic communities bound together by the love of God.
Your priests will be affirmed and consoled that you support and pray for them especially in this Year of the Priest.
Yours in Jesus Christ, Supreme and Eternal High Priest,
Most Rev B J Hickey
Archbishop of Perth
Plenary indulgences for
The Year of the Priest
June 19, 2009-June 19, 2010
l A Plenary Indulgence is granted by the Church to deal with the effects of sin. It takes away all temporal punishment due to sin.
l Indulgences may be for oneself or applied to a deceased person.
l Only one Plenary Indulgence can be gained per day.
l The usual conditions for gaining an indulgence are
– Recent sacramental confession
– Reception of Holy Communion
– Prayers for the Pope’s intentions.
A Plenary Indulgence may be gained in a number of ways during the Year of the Priest by both the priests and the Faithful.
For priests
The usual conditions apply.
Priests may obtain a Plenary Indulgence on any day during the Year of the Priest who “devotedly pray Lauds or Vespers before the Blessed Sacrament exposed to public adoration or in the tabernacle, and offer themselves with a ready and generous heart for the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance, will be granted a Plenary Indulgence, which they can also apply to their deceased confreres”.
For the faithful
The usual conditions apply.
“All truly penitent Christian Faithful who, in church or oratory, devotedly attend Holy Mass and offer prayers to Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mould them to His Heart, are granted a Plenary Indulgence, on the condition that they have expiated their sins through Sacramental Confession and prayed in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.”
A Plenary Indulgence may be gained by all the faithful, including priests on the opening day of the Year of the Priest, June 19, 2009, Feast of the Sacred Heart,
l on the first Thursday of each month
l on the 150th Anniversary of the death of St Jean Marie
Vianney, August 4.
l on the last day of the Year of the Priest, June 19, 2010
The elderly, the sick and those unable to leave their homes may obtain the Plenary Indulgence if, with a soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin and with the intention of observing, as soon as they can, the usual three conditions, on the above days, they pray for the sanctification of priests and offer their sickness and suffering to God through Mary.
The following Decree lists the other occasions when a Plenary Indulgence may be gained.
Decree
With the authority given by the Holy Father I decree that a Plenary Indulgence may be gained on the following days and in the following places in the Archdiocese of Perth during the Year of the Priest.
1. Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday June 19, 2009 at Sacred Heart Church, Highgate, Mundaring and Thornlie.
2. Memorial of Sts Joachim & Anne at the Pro-Cathedral on Sunday July 26, and its Vigil.
3. Feast of Blessed Mary MacKillop at the Convent Chapel, South Perth on Saturday August 8, her Feastday and the Centenary of her death.
4. Queenship of Mary at Queen of Apostles Church, Riverton on Saturday and Sunday August 22 & 23.
5. Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, on Tuesday December 8 at either the Pro-Cathedral or the Cathedral if open.
6. Solemnity of St Patrick at St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle on March 17, 2010.
7. Priests may receive a Plenary Indulgence on the celebration of their Jubilee of Priestly Ordination.
NOTE: The Year of St Paul Indulgence may still be granted in any church on Monday, June 29 and in designated churches only on Sunday, June 28. Please refer to the previously published list of designated churches.