Christian Priesthood

During my recent weeks overseas, I was part of a conference on Christian priesthood. This conference is being led by the Australian Catholic University which has a campus in Rome and it was at that campus that the conference took place. The conference was the initial major step in a project which is planned to take place over the next five years. 

The aim of the project is to look at every aspect of Christian priesthood so it takes in the fundamental priesthood of the People of God and its many manifestations and of course the ministerial priesthood which involves those members of the People of God whom we normally call bishops, priests and deacons.

The priesthood of the People of God, which all the baptized share, needs further development both as to its understanding and its practice and the relationship between the whole people and the ordained ministers requires a good deal of historical, theological and practical-pastoral research and clear thinking.

Our context today is very different to that of centuries past and just as those past centuries had their influence on the way we saw both the People of God and the ministry of priests, so our context today will also have its influence. 

Practical issues such as the lack of candidates offering themselves for ministry as priests, the shock of the abuse crisis and its effects on the morale of both people and priests, the dissatisfaction of so many people regarding their experience of a considerable number priests, the need for strong and effective discernment process for those offering themselves for ministry were among the many topics put forward in this first international meeting of this project.

There was also considerable emphasis on the renewal of the understanding of every aspect of what priesthood means within the whole gambit of the tradition.

This meeting was a good start and I believe that the people involved left the conference with a sense that something positive and dynamic was afoot.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin