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April 24, 2001
Understanding the moral problems within the priesthood today makes this of special interest:
Pope urges priests to inspire holiness
from 4/19/01 Louisville, KY The Record
By John Norton, Catholic News Service
Pope John Paul II urged priests to focus on becoming holy men and looking out for each other's spiritual welfare.
While all Christians are called to sanctity, a holy priest can inspire and motivate holiness in those he is called to serve, the pope said during the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass.
"Be holy so that the people that God has entrusted to you will be holy," he told hundreds of priests, bishops and cardinals April 12 in St. Peter's Basilica, before leading them in the renewal of their ordination promises.
The pope said priests in particular were called to "the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity" in order to give "coherent witness" to the faithful in their care. "The holiness of the flock certainly does not derive from that of the pastor, but without a doubt it is favored, motivated and nourished by it," he said.
Priests also should look out for the holiness of their brother ministers, he said. While each person travels the path to holiness "in a very personal manner, noted only by God who examines and knows hearts," priests are bound to each other by their common call to ministry, he said. "This fraternal solidarity cannot but become a concrete commitment to carry each other's burdens in the ordinary circumstances of life and the ministry,' the pope said. "If it is true, in fact, that no one can become holy in another's place, it is also true that everyone can and must become (holy) with and for others, on the model of Christ.'
The pope told the priests that their vocation is a "mystery of mercy," because "we know we are unworthy of such a great gift. Because of this, we do not cease to feel amazement and recognition before God for the gratuity with which he chose us, for the trust he places in us, for the forgiveness that he never refuses us."
Theologian Hans Kung urges term limits for pope
Catholic News Service
Father Hans Kung, a prominent theologian and a frequent critic of the Vatican, has proposed term limits or a mandatory retirement age for popes.
"A limit determined by age for the head of the Catholic Church. Or a reduction of the pontifical mandate to six, eight or twelve years, is a matter of human rights," Father Kung told a Swiss radio station, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
Father Kung said it was unbearable "that the church is currently headed by someone he characterized as 'not fully present from a psychic or physical point of view.'"
Pope John Paul II, 80, suffers from a nervous system disorder commonly thought to be Parkinson's disease and has undergone several operations that have reduced his mobility. While Vatican officials have acknowledged that the pope has been slowed physically by his ailments, they have strongly denied. that it has affected his mind or his ability to fulfill the demands of the papacy.
Almost all popes have served until their death, although canon law does allow a pope to resign. Pope John Paul has given no indication that he intends to resign.
Father Kung, whose mandate to teach as a Catholic theologian was withdrawn by the Vatican years ago, said the naming of German Cardinal Karl Lehmann was a good sign for the church's future and would be of "fundamental importance" during the next conclave.
He said Cardinal Lehmann represented the center of German Catholicism.
Father Kung said he thought the next pope would be Italian, and that he did not think an American or a German would have much chance of being elected.