According to Cardinal Ouellet, this will be an occasion to carry out a deep reflection on the theme of priesthood from the perspective of vocation and formation.
Newsroom – Vatican City (February 7, 2022, 8:20 PM, Gaudium Press) From February 17 to 19, the symposium “For a fundamental theology of priesthood” will be held in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, promoted by the Congregation for Bishops and the Center for Research and Anthropology of Vocations.
The symposium, which will be attended by Pope Francis during the opening, will aim to reflect on the priesthood, recalling charisma and tradition, analyze deviations such as abuse or clericalism, and address celibacy and vocation.
Lectures will have three main themes
The lectures will be given by bishops, theologians, priests, laypeople and religious. According to the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, this initiative “aims to reawaken enthusiasm for our Faith in God’s gift and to give a new impetus to the promotion of vocations.
The speakers will address three main themes: “Tradition and New Horizons”, “Trinity, Mission and Sacramentality”, “Celibacy, Charism and Spirituality”. The themes will be developed from the Pope’s words, “God calls us to a particular state of life: to give ourselves on the path of marriage, priesthood or consecrated life”.
It will also reflect “on the relationships between ordained ministries, laity and religious in order to harmonize their contribution, articulated and unanimous, according to the call to holiness addressed to each one.”
Deep reflection on the theme of priesthood
According to Cardinal Ouellet, this event is not a symposium on priestly celibacy, but an occasion “to realize a deep reflection on the theme of priesthood” starting from vocation and formation and concluding with the question of abuses, which “will certainly be a theme for a very deep reflection”.
The working sessions will be guided by the following heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia: Cardinal Ouellet and the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Archbishop You Heung-sik; the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche, and the prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi (Friday 18); the archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, and the prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell. On Saturday morning, the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will preside over a Holy Mass with all the participants in the Vatican Basilica. (EPC)
Compiled by Zephania Gangl
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