In his address to priests in the Warsaw cathedral the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI said (emphasis mine):
In reality, we grow in affective maturity when our hearts adhere to God. Christ needs priests who are mature, virile, capable of cultivating an authentic spiritual paternity. For this to happen, priests need to be honest with themselves, open with their spiritual director and trusting in divine mercy.
In the document of the Congregation for Catholic Education entitled Instruction concerning the criteria for the discernment of vocations with regard to persons with homosexual tendencies in view of their admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders (November 4, 2005) we read:
1. … The candidate to the ordained ministry, therefore, must reach affective maturity. Such maturity will allow him to relate correctly to both men and women, developing in him a true sense of spiritual fatherhood towards the Church community that will be entrusted to him.
Sound familiar?
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The Fatherhood of the Priest
The priest is called to spiritual fatherhood, to supernatural generativity. Woe to the priest who shrinks from fatherhood. He will remain incomplete: an unhappy man, frustrated and empty. Priests are addressed as “Father.†It is a title that identifies the priest with the merciful and infinitely fruitful Paternity of God. The priest who takes the name of “Father†lightly, or prefers to be called by name only is, more often than not, consciously or unconsciously in conflict with the exigencies of his priesthood.
Every priest is called to spiritual generativity. Sometimes the fatherhood of the priest is rejected, just as a natural father can be rejected by the child whom he loves. There is no greater suffering for a priest but, even then, in a mysterious way, the paternal suffering of the priestly heart is fruitful for the Mystical Body of Christ.
The Fatherhood of the Priest
The priest is called to spiritual fatherhood, to supernatural generativity.
Woe to the priest who shrinks from fatherhood. He will remain incomplete:
an unhappy man, frustrated and empty. Priests are addressed as “Father.â€Â
It is a title that identifies the priest with the merciful and infinitely
fruitful Paternity of God.
The priest who takes the name of “Father†lightly,
or prefers to be called
by his name only is, more often than not,
consciously or unconsciously
in conflict with the exigencies of his priesthood.
Every priest is called to spiritual generativity.
Sometimes the fatherhood of the priest is rejected,
just as a natural father can be rejected by the child whom he loves.
There is no greater suffering for a priest but, even then,
in a mysterious way, the paternal suffering
of the priestly heart is fruitful for the Mystical Body of Christ.
Sorry for the difficulties in formatting this posting!
don Marco: Don’t worry about that. You’ll get it sorted out, I am sure!