Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Pope Francis greets the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Sunday Angelus  (AFP or licensors)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church needs bishops who promote unity, "not soloists singing their own tune or captains fighting personal battles," Pope Francis told new bishops from the church's mission territories.

"And, dear brothers, flee from clericalism, an anomalous way of understanding the church's authority, one common in many communities where sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience have occurred," the pope told the bishops Sept. 8.

"And, dear brothers, flee from clericalism, an anomalous way of understanding the church's authority, one common in many communities where sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience have occurred."

While some bishops, "poor things," think they have "all the talents, all the charisms" necessary to run the church, the pope said that is never true. But what a good bishop does have, he said, is passion for communion with the church and with each and every member of his flock.

On the other hand, clericalism "generates a division in the church body that supports and helps perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today," he said, quoting from his letter Aug. 20 to the church about the clerical abuse scandal.

The pope was meeting with 74 bishops from 34 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America. The prelates had been in Rome for a course for new bishops sponsored by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

A bishop, Pope Francis told them, must be "a man of prayer, a man of proclamation and a man of communion," and he must show special care and concern for families, for the defense of life from the moment of conception, for seminarians, for young people and for the poor.

"Don't think you are lords of the flock -- you are not the masters of the flock, even if some people would like you to be or certain local customs promote that," the pope told them. "Be men who are poor in things and rich in relationships, never harsh or surly, but friendly, patient, simple and open."

Prayer is not just one of a bishop's daily tasks, but rather must be the foundation of everything a bishop does, he said. And the chief concern in a bishop's prayer must be his people and their needs. They must come first.

"It is easy to wear a cross on your chest," the pope said, "but the Lord is asking you to carry a much heavier one on your shoulders and in your heart: he asks you to share his cross."

The task of a bishop also involves proclaiming to the world the good news of salvation in Jesus and that cannot be done from one's desk, he said. "A bishop doesn't live in his office like a company administrator but among the people on the roads of the world."

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
priya arora
4 years 8 months ago

This can be the way to get the snapchat hack online when we need the password.

The latest from america

Three actors from the HBO show Succession sitting in a patio overlooking the ocean
Am I the only person in the world who got to the end of “Succession” and wanted a happy ending?
Jim McDermottJune 01, 2023
A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Justin, martyr, by Christopher Parker
Christopher ParkerJune 01, 2023
Houses are submerged in flood waters in Lokoja, Nigeria, Oct.13, 2022. More than half of the 36 states of the country are affected. More than 600 people have died, with more than 1.4 million people displaced. (CNS photo/Afolabi Sotunde, Reuters)
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria launched a campaign that aims to plant 5.5 million trees over the next five years to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Ekpali SaintJune 01, 2023
a priest stands behind an altar, the camera looks from the area where the tabernacle is, out onto the congregation. only one person sits in the pews in front of the priest, signifying the low number of people attending church.
Ireland is becoming less religious, and the percentage of residents who identify as Catholic is down to 69% according to census data. More people identify with "no religion" than in previous years.