Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis called on priests this morning to reach out and preach to their congregations with joy and passion to help overcome the present ‘crisis of priestly identity.’

“The so-called crisis of priestly identity threatens us all and adds to the broader cultural crisis,” the Pope told the cardinals, bishops and priests, 1600 in total, during his first Holy Thursday homily at a Chrism Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

The Argentine Pope used the image of the holy oil with which Aaron the priest is anointed in the Bible, which is poured on his head and runs down in rivulets, to describe the way that priests should impact the lives of the Faithful.

“A good priest is recognised by the way his people are anointed.” he said before blessing a silver urn full of oil. “For example, when they leave Mass looking as if they had heard good news. Those who remain distant from their flocks ‘miss out on the best of our people, on what can stir the depths of his priestly heart.’

“Those who do not go out of themselves, instead of being mediators, gradually become intermediaries, managers. This is precisely the reason why some priests grow dissatisfied, lose heart.”

Since his inauguration to the Papacy last week, the Latin American Pope has stressed his desire to bring the Church closer to ordinary people.

“Our people like to hear the Gospel preached with ‘unction,’ they like it when the Gospel we preach touches their daily lives, when it runs down like the oil of Aaron to the edges of reality, when it brings light to moments of extreme darkness, to the ‘outskirts’ where people of Faith are most exposed to the onslaught of those who want to tear down their Faith,” he said this morning, referring to the religious ritual of anointing someone with oils. “Dear priests, may God the Father renew in us the Spirit of holiness with whom we have been anointed. May he renew his Spirit in our hearts, that this anointing may spread to everyone, even to those ‘outskirts’ where our Faithful people most look for it and most appreciate it.”

Pope Francis added: “Dear lay Faithful, be close to your priests with affection and with your prayers, that they may always be shepherds according to God’s heart.

“Dear priests, may God the Father renew in us the Spirit of holiness with whom we have been anointed.”

The Chrism Mass was the beginning of four days of Easter ceremonies at the Vatican, the first of Pope Francis’s Pontificate.

Later today, Francis will wash the feet of 12 young prisoners in the Casal del Marmo prison in northwest Rome, continuing a tradition based on Christ washing the feet of his apostles.

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-Full text of homily, click here.