Changing priesthood

The Church will observe World Priest Day on July 1, which comes shortly after the 60th anniversary of the ordination to the priesthood of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, on June 29.

Much has changed in the Church since the young Fr Ratzinger took holy orders—and some of these changes he had a hand in himself, especially as an advisor at the Second Vatican Council. The changes that resulted from Vatican II have largely enriched the clerical ministry, but one change that has been out of the Church’s control is the decline in vocations to the priesthood, especially in Europe.

The vocations crisis has also affected the Southern African region, which has long benefited from a rich mix of European missionaries and locally-born clergy. Once, the missionary priests (and religious) to Southern Africa tended to come from Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland or Britain. Now they also come from countries such as India and Poland, from South America and from other African countries. We must be grateful for the missionaries who have been so fundamental in building up the local Church, and for those who are coming now to foster the faith in our region.

South Africa, like many African countries, has also become an exporter of priests. Much as we may miss the fine local priests who are serving in other continents, this is a good thing. It is a way for the local Church to repay those churches that helped plant and build the faith in our region.

The African Church can no longer depend on a rich supply of foreign priests for its parochial needs, because the countries that traditionally supplied the mission territories with priests are now suffering serious vocation crises. At the same time, Africa’s statistically impressive increases in vocations to the priesthood are not keeping pace with the growing numbers of Catholics who require pastoral care. In that light, the old models of priesthood will soon become unviable, as in many places it already is.

Some tough questions need to be addressed, including to what extent the laity can be permitted to assume some functions of the ministries currently entrusted to priests; how the model of Small Christian Communities can be developed and applied to the greatest common good; and how the necessary engagement of the laity will affect traditional hierarchies of authority. The answers will affect the relationship between clergy and laity, which already has been fundamentally altered in the past half century — with encouraging results.

Some debates about the future of the priesthood will touch on very sensitive areas. The question of admitting women to ordination to the priesthood in particular is deeply divisive and frequently lacking in charity. It encourages a mutual suspicion that grievously divides the Body of Christ.

The admission of married Anglican clergy in terms of Pope Benedict’s apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, will reignite discussions about whether mandatory clerical celibacy is a necessary and indispensable element in the Latin-rite priesthood, or an anachronistic extravagance at a time when vocations are diminishing.

Dialogue on the future of the priesthood, conducted with charity and love for the Church, can indeed be commendable. At the same time, we also must take care of our priests today.

Our priests need the support of their bishops, of the laity and of one another. Priests need loyal and loving friendship, care, good counsel and competent assistance, tolerance, solidarity and so on. Above all, they need the prayer of all the Church.

The priest in the parish fulfils many roles, such as sacramental minister, administrator and counsellor. However, his chief function, according to Pope Benedict, is to sanctify humanity. “Sanctifying a person means putting that person in contact with God,” the pope said at his general audience of May 5, 2010, adding that “an essential part of a priest’s grace is his gift, his task to establish such contact”.

The Body of Christ must apply its thoughts and efforts towards enabling priests to perform this principal sacerdotal task.