Pope Leo XIV addressed a letter to the priests of the Archdiocese of Madrid, who were called together by Cardinal Jos\u00e9 Cobo to reflect on their ministry and the pastoral needs of the archdiocese in a two-day meeting this week.<\/p>\n
The pontiff described how the secularized cultural landscape has changed, requiring a new approach to exercising the priestly ministry and evangelization.<\/p>\n
The Paul VI Foundation Auditorium in the Spanish capital is the venue hosting the meeting, known as the Convivium presbyteral assembly, which, in addition to the approximately 1,100 diocesan priests in attendance, includes the participation of about 100 laypeople and members of religious orders.<\/p>\n
In Pope Leo XIV\u2019s letter, he thanked the participants for \u201ctheir willingness to gather as a presbytery, not only to discuss common issues but also to support one another in the mission you share.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope praised \u201cthe commitment with which you live and exercise your priesthood in very diverse parishes, ministries, and realities,\u201d sometimes \u201camidst weariness, complex situations, and a quiet dedication of which only God is a witness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe times in which the Church is living invite us to pause together for a serene and honest reflection,\u201d the pontiff continued, \u201cto learn to acquire a profound understanding of the moment we are experiencing, recognizing, in the light of faith, the challenges and also the possibilities that the Lord is opening before us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo XIV considered that \u201cit is increasingly necessary to cultivate discernment and practice it, so that we may perceive more clearly what God is already doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope said this reflection must take into account \u201cadvanced processes of secularization, increasing polarization in public discourse, and the tendency to reduce the complexity of the human person, interpreting it through partial and insufficient ideologies or categories.\u201d<\/p>\n
He emphasized that \u201cfaith risks being instrumentalized, trivialized, or relegated to the realm of the irrelevant, while forms of coexistence are adopted that dispense with any transcendent reference.\u201d<\/p>\n
To this must be added \u201ca profound cultural change that cannot be ignored: the progressive disappearance of shared points of reference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time, the Christian message found fairly well prepared ground, because the moral language, the great questions about the meaning of life, and certain fundamental notions were, at least in part, shared. Today, that common substratum has weakened considerably,\u201d the pope observed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gospel is not only met with indifference but with a different cultural landscape, where words no longer mean the same thing and where the initial proclamation cannot be taken for granted,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Beyond this reality, the Holy Father also invited the priests to consider \u201cthat in the hearts of not a few people, especially young people, a new restlessness is emerging today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe absolutization of well-being has not brought the expected happiness; a freedom detached from the truth has not brought the promised fulfillment; and material progress, on its own, has not managed to soothe the profound longing of the human heart,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Due to \u201ca greater sense of dissatisfaction despite having everything,\u201d Leo XIV observed that many \u201care beginning to open themselves to a more honest and authentic search, a search that, accompanied with patience and respect,\u201d leads to an encounter with Christ.<\/p>\n
While describing what type of priests Madrid and the Church need today, Leo XIV said that they should not be men \u201cdefined by multiplication of tasks or by the pressure [to get] results,\u201d but rather should be \u201cmen conformed to Christ, capable of sustaining their ministry through a living relationship with him, nourished by the Eucharist and expressed in a pastoral ministry marked by the sincere gift of self.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not a matter of inventing new models or redefining the identity we have received but rather of proposing anew, with renewed intensity, the priesthood in its most authentic core \u2014 to be another Christ, allowing him to shape our lives, unify our hearts, and give form to a ministry lived from intimacy with God, faithful dedication to the Church, and concrete service to the people entrusted to our care,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n Using the Madrid cathedral as an image, the pope highlighted some characteristics of a good priest.<\/p>\n \u201cHe does not live to show off, but neither does he live to be lost in the background. His life is called to be visible, consistent, and recognizable, even if it is not always understood.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cHe is never an end to himself. His entire life is meant to point to God and to accompany others on their journey toward the mystery, without usurping [God\u2019s] place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe priesthood is lived in this way: being in the world, but not of the world (cf. John 17:14). Celibacy, poverty, and obedience are situated at this crossroads; not as a negation of life but as the concrete way that allows the priest to belong entirely to God while still walking among men.\u201d<\/p>\n Leo XIV also considered that priests should live out priestly fraternity \u201cas the concrete experience of feeling at home, responsible for one another, attentive to the life of their brother priests, and ready to support one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Referring to the pillars in the cathedral and likening them to images of the apostles, the pontiff noted that \u201cnor is the priestly life sustained by itself, but by the apostolic witness received and transmitted in the living tradition of the Church, and safeguarded by the magisterium,\u201d in such a way that it \u201cavoids building on the sand of partial interpretations or circumstantial emphases, and rests on the firm rock that precedes and transcends it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDear sons,\u201d the pope enjoined, \u201ccelebrate the sacraments with dignity and faith, being aware that what is produced in them is the true power that builds up the Church and that they are the ultimate end to which all our ministry is ordered. But do not forget that you are not the source, but the channel, and that you too need to drink from that water. Therefore, do not fail to go to confession, to always return to the mercy that you proclaim,\u201d the pope said regarding the relationship of priests with the sacraments.<\/p>\n Leo XIV pointed out that \u201cat the altar, through your hands, the sacrifice of Christ is made present in the highest action entrusted to human hands; in the tabernacle, the One whom you have offered remains, entrusted once again to your care. Be worshippers, men of profound prayer, and teach your people to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the priests, Cobo emphasized that convivium (being together in enjoyable fellowship) is \u201ca small gesture of prophecy that we make together. A Church that sits down, that shares bread and the word, a Church that recognizes itself as a family, not only with ideas but with gestures and concrete decisions, like the ones you have had to make today.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking St. Isidore, the patron saint of Madrid, as an example, the cardinal said that \u201cwe work in fields that we often don\u2019t see bear fruit, but together we have this mission that was given to us from the beginning. A mission that is greater than our individual tasks, but it is the mission that God gives to all of us together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt each stage in life, we must pause, we must reconnect with each other, and we must remember, as we do today, with a smile and gratitude, that we are not lone rangers of the Gospel but brothers and sisters of a diocese, companions in our vocation, with a mission that extends beyond our parishes and communities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The cardinal also noted that this presbyteral assembly is intended to be \u201ca space today for us to laugh, to let our guard down a little, and to share a meal and our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo one is saved alone, we already know that. And we also know that no one evangelizes alone in this great and fascinating city,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n In a separate conversation with the press, Cobo expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the meeting and the previous preparatory assemblies, in which the priests spoke frankly about their concerns: \u201cIf we don\u2019t speak freely, this is all for nothing,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n He also explained that this gathering of the priests of Madrid, which allowed many to reconnect after years apart since their time in the seminary, \u201cis a rehearsal for a large diocesan assembly\u201d that will be convened in 2027.<\/p>\nCharacteristics of the priest<\/h2>\n
Cardinal Cobo: \u2018We\u2019re not lone rangers of the Gospel\u2019<\/h2>\n