WEBSITES

www.vatican.va/special/anno_sac/index_en.html

www.annussacerdotalis.org/

QUOTATIONS

"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus."

St. Jean Vianney

"Were we to fully realize what a priest is on earth, we would die; not of fright but of love."

St. Jean Vianney

"The one adequate measure, with regard to our holy vocation, is radicalism."

Cardinal Claudio Hummes

"Every priestly vocation comes from the heart of God but passes through the heart of a mother."

Pope Pius X

"What shines forth in the existence of this humble minister of the altar (St. Jean Vianney) is the complete identification of the man with his ministry."

Pope Benedict XVI July 1, 2009

"The first thing we need to learn (from St. Jean Vienney) is the complete identification of the man with his ministry."

Pope Benedict XVI June 16, 2009

"In the footsteps of the Cure of Ars, let yourselves be enthralled by him."

Pope Benedict XVI June XVI 2009

"St. Paul is an example of a priest who was completely identified with his ministry."

Pope Benedict XVI June 28, 2009

"Every priest must tend to his own spiritual life and take care to keep himself pastorally and theologically up to date."

Pope Benedict XVI March 12, 2009

Preaching, as always has been insisted, requires the priest to give particular attention to the importance of remote preparation. This can be concretized by such things as study and the pursuit of those things which can help the sacred ministers in their preparation. Pastoral sensitivity on the part of preachers must always be aware of the problems preoccupying the contemporary world and be able to identify possible solution for them. "Moreover, if priests are to give adequate answers to the problems discussed by people at the present time, they should be well versed in the statements of the Church's magisterium and especially those of the Councils and the Popes. They should also consult the best approved writers in theology"(41) as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Insistence must also be placed on the importance of the permanent formation of the clergy and especially on its content which should be in accord with the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests.(42) Efforts in this regard will always reap a rich harvest. In addition to the foregoing, attention must be given to the proximate preparationneeded to preach the Word of God. Apart from exceptional circumstances where nothing else is possible, humility and industry require, at the very least, a careful plan of what the priest intends to preach.

March 19, 1999 Congregation For the Clergy