A Europe without priests?

Abstract

The roles of bishop and priest are still pivotal authority positions in the Roman Catholic Church. Those who hold these positions need the qualities which inspire people, which can draw the best out of them, and which can free people for full relationship with God and with others. Recent Church documents acknowledge this when they list the kind of skills and qualities priests and bishops require. These include the ability to embrace, announce and explain the Word of God, the skill of interpreting the 'signs of the time', the maturity to avoid the danger of mere exterior activism, the personal warmth which enables them to unite people and be brothers to them. Bishops and priests today are to be prayerful, holy, knowledgeable and discerning. They should be balanced people, strong and free, and capable of bear ing the weight of their pastoral responsibilities. They are to have undergone a thorough intellectual formation which enables them to proclaim the Gospel in a manner which is credible to the legitimate demands of human reason. At the same time they must be open to ongoing education and continual conversion.