Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Bishop Treanor prays for 'renewal of priests'

Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor has expressed his hope that the Year for Priests will ''lead to a strengthening of the bond of cooperation between priest and laity in the service of Christ''.

Delivering a homily at St Comgall's Church in Bangor, Co. Down as the Year for Priests got underway last weekend, Dr Treanor said the Year, ''is a summons to interior renewal on the part of priests for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today's world'', and added that all Catholics in Ireland are currently ''painfully aware of the need for renewal in the life of the Church''.

However, stating that the forthcoming year offered an opportunity for, in the words of Pope Benedict, a ''new springtime'', Dr Treanor said: ''We pray that we priests, all Christians and our society, will grow in our appreciation of the significance of the calling and way of life of the priest - a servant of God's plan of salvation as it unfolds in time through the life of the Church.''

Outlining focus points contained in the Pope's own message to priests, Bishop Treanor reiterated the call for priests to nourish themselves ''as priests with the Word of God'' towards a renewed recognition of ''the priest as herald of hope, reconciliation and peace for the world of our time''.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Source (IC)

SV (2)