“All priestly formation, particularly that of future priests, is at the heart of evangelization. They, responding to a genuine specific vocation, will inspire and lead the holy people of God, so that it may be in Christ as a sacrament, a sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race.” (Address to Seminary Rectors and Formators of Latin America, November 10, 2022)
A priest must embrace the call to minister on behalf of the gospel of Christ; it is a unique gift from God that is then experienced by the people of God as God’s gift to the faithful as they encounter God’s presence through the ministry of a priest.
Pope Francis led a church deeply afflicted by the pain and tribulations caused by clergy sexual abuse. This scandal left church leadership with a diminished moral presence among the faithful. As a result, Francis pointed to the need for better seminary formation that is rooted in the “four dimensions present in the person of the seminarian: human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral.”
When Pope Francis addressed the seminary rectors and formators of Latin America in November 10, 2022, he reminded them of the significant role they occupy and the influential responsibility entrusted to them by the church. He exhorted them to take diligent care in preparing men for priestly ministry by prioritizing the human dimension of priestly formation. A candidate’s holistic maturity will make visible the divine grace of the priestly ministry entrusted to him by the church, he said. In a similar vein, Francis admonished seminary formators and rectors to allow their own human and spiritual maturity to manifest as a beacon of inspiration and encouragement to the seminarians in their care.
In his homily at Pope Francis’ funeral Mass, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re spoke about the pope’s “characteristic vocabulary and language, rich in images and metaphors.” This richness is evident in Pope Francis’ description of evangelization, in which the priest is called to respond to the invitation of the gospel to “adequately address the new questions of our time” because “all priestly formation, particularly that of future priests, is at the heart of evangelization.”
The invitation to the clergy to be attentive to the real challenges of life in the world today is also reflected in the pope’s description of the church as a “field hospital after the battle.” In other words, the church is a place of refuge, repair and renewal for any child of God struggling with solitude, sadness, inner wounds, or adrift in the peripheries of the socio-political and economic inequalities of our time.
Following this illustration, Pope Francis then invites clergy to be “shepherds who have the smell of their sheep.” This metaphor invokes an image of a priest as one who leads with humility, kindness, compassion, and the gospel’s summons to serve with the love of Christ.
This article also appears in the July 2025 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 90, No. 7, pages 16-21). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
Image: Pexels/Mart Production
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