To Representatives of the Swiss Clergy (15 June 1984)

On Friday, 15 June 1984, the Holy Father addressed representatives of the Swiss clergy in Einsiedeln. In his speech, the Pope touched on priestly celibacy. “According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, celibacy is not just a juridical addition to the sacrament of Holy Orders, but a personal commitment to Christ and the Church, made in full maturity.” It frees the heart of the priest to serve the people of God with full devotion. 

Dear brothers in the grace of the priesthood!

1. It is a great joy for me to meet you, priests from the 26 cantons of Switzerland, here in Einsiedeln, and I attach great importance to this meeting. Through you, who have been sent by your brothers or have come here spontaneously, I address the entire clergy of your country. Day after day, you are privileged to carry out irreplaceable work at the grassroots level so that the Church in Switzerland may grow in truth, love and holiness.

You are the first collaborators of your bishops, with whom I have just spoken. They have entrusted you with the priesthood, which you can only exercise in communion with them. They are concerned to organize your various ministries for the spiritual good of the whole diocese. They have a warm affection for you and want to be as close to you as possible, in order to understand you, to help you to recognize what is better, to encourage you and to guide you. For they are the fathers of the presbyterate, the pastors of all, responsible for their unity and fidelity, for their authentic and harmonious development.

The Bishop of Rome also wishes to do the same among you today: not to replace the ordinary and daily task of your bishops, but to strengthen it. Like Peter, he is the shepherd everywhere, concerned for the lives of the faithful and priests, the "lambs" and the "sheep," as Jesus said ( Jn 21:15). He is constantly united with each local Church, which sees itself as part of the whole Body, in communion with the Head of the College of Bishops ( Lumen Gentium , 22:2).

It is in this spirit that I have come to encourage you to continue your glorious mission as priests. And I want to do so with all clarity and trust. As you know from your own experience, the People of God can only build itself up as a living unity through the mutual trust of its members. It is therefore very important that everyone - the Pope, bishops, priests, religious men and women and lay people - be given the trust that corresponds to their responsibility in the Body of Christ.

I have read and listened carefully to all the questions and concerns that have been expressed with such frankness. And I have taken them seriously. However, I do not know to what extent they correspond to the thinking and concerns of the entire clergy of Switzerland, to whom I am addressing myself. It seems to me that the crucial problem is the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a world like yours: often indifferent, attracted by materialism, sometimes unbelieving. This is what I wanted to speak to you about above all.

But first I would like to clarify some questions that concern you; they concern the relationship between the local Church and the universal Church, for which the Lord has given me special responsibility. And here it is my duty as Pope to encourage my brothers, to show the way, to teach the will of Jesus Christ and his Church.

2. The Second Vatican Council was undoubtedly a providential event in many respects, including the unity and universality of the Church. It is in this sense that its ecumenical statements must be seen, as well as those on the Church's relations with "non-Christian religions" and on the situation of the Church in the world today. The Council laid new foundations which help to understand and fulfil the Church's mission.

3. Closely connected with the question of the unity and universality of the Church is the teaching on the collegiality of the episcopate, which I have just discussed with your bishops. Without going into the whole subject again, I would remind you that the mission of bishops is always "universal". "Each bishop represents his own Church, and all together, in union with the Roman Pontiff, represent the whole Church, in bonds of peace, love and unity " ( Lumen Gentium, 23). Even if the mission of each bishop refers directly to a specific diocese in a country over which he exercises jurisdiction, bishops, as members of the college of bishops and legitimate successors of the apostles, "are bound, by Christ's institution and precept, to care for the universal Church . . . All bishops must promote and protect the unity of the faith and the discipline common to the whole Church." This is what the Second Vatican Council says. It follows that the Bishops serve unity in the concrete context of their office. It is in the light of this requirement that the "autonomy" and responsibility of a local Episcopal Conference must be understood. Autonomy and initiatives can therefore never justify anything that conflicts with the unity of Catholic teaching on faith, morals and sacramental discipline. This does not lead to the "uniformity" of the Church in all the expressions of prayer, life and apostolic action of the communities, where diversity is a sign of richness and even a necessity for acculturation; but it is a question of the identity of the Church with herself that unity grows around the "verum" and the "sacrum".

If bishops, by their ordination and admission into the College of Bishops, assume this universal responsibility, the same can be said to a certain extent of priests, collaborators and even lay people, who by their baptism have become members of the Church with the corresponding rights and duties. The Council emphasizes this "supernatural sense of faith" which Christ bestows on all his people ( Lumen Gentium , 12).

The same Council specifies that the sense of faith is “awakened and nourished by the Spirit of truth” and continues to exist “under the guidance of the sacred Magisterium, in whose faithful obedience it no longer receives the word of men but truly the word of God” ( ibid .).

4. Here we see providentially the institution of the Synod of Bishops, which is not as comprehensive a form of collegiality as the Council, but which nevertheless has a certain analogy to it (Ioannis Pauli, II, Allocutio ad Episcopos in Synodum congregatos , 30 April 1983: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VI, 1 (1983) 1099s.).

Now, in the post-conciliar period, the Synod of Bishops has taken up particularly important questions which correspond to the problems raised by several of you. I am thinking in particular of the Synod of 1971 on the priestly ministry and justice in the world, the Synod of 1980 on the role of the Christian family in the modern world, the Synod of 1983 on reconciliation and penance (a text on which will soon follow, prepared with the collaboration of the Council of the Synod Secretariat).

Yes, the statements approved by the Synod are of great help in clarifying the many pastoral problems, such as the - certainly painful - question of divorced and remarried people and the status of priests. In this way, practice can be consistent with the doctrine of the faith and with the indispensable sacramental discipline of the Church.

5. I would like to mention in particular the Synod of 1971. In response to questions and perhaps certain uncertainties of that time, the Synod shed light on the fundamental problem of the "identity of the priest". This problem requires clarification in relation to that of the "common priesthood of the laity" and to the Council's declarations on the subject of the laity and the lay apostolate. And indeed, this apostolate must be developed further. It is one of the Council's objectives that the laity should help the pastors (bishops and priests) in their apostolate and above all through "the sanctification of the world".

In this context, the identity of the priest, derived from the sacrament of Holy Orders, is not only confirmed, but strengthened and renewed. As I have already said to the bishops, the aim is in no way to "clericalise" the laity, or to "laicise" the clergy. Rather, the deepening of their own identity shows the way in which priests can truly put the Council into practice. The resolutions of the 1971 Synod belong in this context, especially those concerning the reasons for, motives for and obligation to observe celibacy in the Latin Church (Paul VI, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus , pars secunda, IV). I myself dealt with this problem in my first letter to priests for Holy Thursday 1979. I said: "The importance of this problem is so serious, its connection with the words of the Gospel itself so close, that in this particular case we cannot think in terms other than the Council, the Synod of Bishops and the great Pope Paul VI. In order to be available for such service (to the people of God), for such devotion, for such love, the heart of the priest must be free. Celibacy is the sign of freedom in regard to service" ( ibid . III). According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, celibacy is not just a juridical addition to the sacrament of Holy Orders, but a personal commitment to Christ and the Church, made in full maturity. Dispensations, even if they are possible, cannot displace, diminish or make us forget the nature of this commitment. Moreover, fidelity to the form of life once adopted is a requirement for the dignity of the person himself. What demands do the Gospel and the Church make of married couples!

 6. Having clarified these questions, in response to your concerns, I come to the pastoral situation which may seem discouraging to a certain number of you. What you feel deeply, in fact, is the progressive pressure of a world which is doing without God or believes it can do without God. This is manifested statistically in the number of baptisms requested or in religious practice. But it is a diffuse phenomenon, broader and deeper, which affects the faith itself: some doubt, others alter the faith or reject it. In such a situation, characteristic of the affluent societies of the Western world, priests could be tempted to become discouraged. It is serious to see the assemblies diminishing and to note that the world seems to be sinking into religious indifference or attaching itself to “false gods”. However, at the same time - doubtless for the same reason - the number of priests is decreasing and that of priestly vocations is having great difficulty in rising. Of course, in this “diaspora”, small fervent groups are being reborn, who are truly witnesses of Jesus Christ. You are right to look to them, as to promising signs, and I want to share this hope with you. But the overall problem remains; we must face it, with courage and with serenity. And I add, in the truth of what Christianity is.

7. The Church is counting on you to take up - as one of you said - the challenge of secularization and indifference . To respond to it, you seek to better present the face of God, the gratuitousness of his love and his mercy. You deepen respect for man, his dignity and his freedom. You promote small communities that are more lively and more responsible. You would like joy, fervor and hope to inhabit them, and you hope for a new spring, even a modest one, starting from their evangelical witness. All this is important and I will return to it.

But first I want to tell you what seems to me to be the first: it is our faith itself . We believe that Christ is the Savior. We believe that he makes us his priests for the salvation of men. Even if the world around us doubts the presence of a God who loves it, the capacity of Christ to renew it, the power of the Holy Spirit who continues his work of sanctification, even if the world does not feel the need to receive such a salvation, and seems to count only on its technical capacities or to reduce its horizon to a materialistic life, the Church maintains the conviction that there is no other Name than that of Jesus Christ to save men ( Acts 4:12): he is the Way, the Truth, the Life. And she proclaims it clearly, in season and out of season. It is the very force of this Good News, with the grace of God, which triggers in hearts a movement towards faith, beyond what seemed predictable. The initial words of Jesus must always resound with vigor: “Repent and believe in the Gospel!” ( Mark 1:15). It is normal to look for the signs of spring, but we must not wait to see them to affirm that Life is there. Of course, all pastoral means must be implemented, but they are subordinate to this assurance in faith.

In a word, dear friends, do we have enough faith in our priesthood received from Christ? Do we firmly believe that Christ has sanctified and sent us ( Io . 17, 18), that he acts through our ministry, if at least we do his work? Do we believe enough that the seed of the Word, that the testimony of his Love does not remain without bearing fruit? After having freely committed ourselves, do we agree to follow him, when his mystery meets the incomprehension of men, when his path is that of the cross and of renunciations? ( Ibid . 6, 66. 71; Luke 9, 23-26) For such is - such has always been - the condition of the apostle, of the disciple, of the priest. Do we also believe that he will grant the same gift of the priestly vocation to all those whom he calls to participate in his work as Mediator? The more the world becomes de-Christianized, the more it needs to see, in the person of priests, this radical faith, which is like a beacon in the night, or the Rock on which it leans. And Christ will not abandon those who, seized by him, have dedicated their whole life to him. This, fundamentally, is the source of our hope. This is what allows us to look at the world with new eyes, as on the morning of Pentecost.

And I must even add this: the observation of the eventual success of our efforts of evangelization, accomplished in the name of Christ, does not constitute the usual spring of our courage, nor the ultimate source of our joy. On the day when the seventy-two disciples, all joyful on their return from their mission, confided to Jesus: “Even the demons are subject to us in your Name,” Jesus answered them: “Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” ( Luke 10:17, 20). Likewise, dear brother priests, do not be saddened that the demons are not visibly subject to you, that the world does not immediately acquiesce to the Message, but rejoice in having done the work of Christ and in deserving to share his fate in Heaven. This work is accomplished, your names are inscribed in Heaven, when you seek to live, according to faith, all the fullness of the sacramental priesthood, of this ineffable gift that Christ has given you and for which you must always give thanks.

8. Our faith is especially manifested in the place we give to prayer, at the heart of our ministry. The disciples of Jesus experienced a certain discouragement in the face of the resistance of evil despite their efforts of preaching and healing. But Jesus answered them: “This kind of demons can be cast out only by prayer and fasting” ( Mark 9:29; Matt 17:21). It is Christ who will convert and save this secularized world; and he will do so through the acts of our ministry, but on condition that we do not limit ourselves to performing them ritually, formally: “Imitamini quod tractatis”. They must be situated in a whole climate of prayer and sacrifice, by which our whole person is intimately united to the action of Christ the Mediator.

The Eucharist that we celebrate every day is obviously at the summit of our priestly life. I also think of daily prayer, of the prayer of the liturgy of the hours, made in the name of the Church, at the rhythm of our days; of the grace of Reconciliation that we offer and that we ask for ourselves; of all the other sacraments and of their preparation with the faithful. The multiple pastoral contacts are still a marvelous opportunity to embody the patient and trusting solicitude of Christ for all, and to reach these men and women at the heart of their concerns, to place them before the calls of faith.

Yes, it is through our behavior, the care and conviction with which we carry out all our priestly tasks, that people, families and groups, even those far removed from religious practice, discover the faith that lives within us and the Mystery that we carry, even through the “vessels of clay” that we are, constantly invited to humility ( 2 Cor. 4:7).

The priest proclaims the Gospel above all by the truth of his life. As Christ said to the Apostles: “With the Holy Spirit . . . you will bear witness to me” ( Acts 1:8). It is salutary for us to also fix our eyes on the model priests who have gone before us, each illustrating in his own way the grace of the priesthood: Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint John Bosco, Saint John Mary Vianney - the patron saint of priests -, Father Charles de Foucauld, Saint Maximilian Kolbe.

It is in the same line - prayer and witness - that we find the key to the serious problem of vocations. They are born from prayer and from the power of the Holy Spirit who acts through the "exemplary" life of priests.

9. As for the message itself, it is truly of a nature to touch the people of today as well as those of yesterday, to satisfy their expectation or at least their unexpressed need, if it truly reflects the Gospel and the beatitudes. This world which places great value on individual freedom needs a word which gives meaning to this freedom, calling man to be responsible, procreative with God, free also from all slavery, beginning with that in which sin imprisons him. Christ invites him to place himself, out of love, in the hands of the Father who first loved him gratuitously and who wants man to fulfil his freedom in the gift of love. The desire to possess and to enjoy, the tendency to dominate and to treat others as objects, in fact leave a dissatisfaction before which the Beatitudes constitute Good News: they teach us to find happiness in being - like Christ and with him - poor, chaste, merciful, peacemakers and thirsty for justice, respectful of the dignity of others in their spirit and body. The secularized society where a certain materialism reigns in abundance surely needs a word and a witness, which invite us to create, thanks to this very abundance, a space of generosity and sharing. It is up to us, therefore, through an evangelical pastoral ministry of the Beatitudes, to present the true face of God and man, to lead us thereby to the experience of love for God and man in an ever new way.

But we also know that this message is prophetic. It attracts and at the same time it is a sign of contradiction. It sifts through human notions of happiness, freedom, and sincerity, in order to purify them. And it does not only include the seductive aspects of the beatitudes: it presupposes the entirety of the commandments given to Moses and commented on by the prophets; it embraces the whole of Revelation and its consequences, such as the Church is responsible for presenting them. God is God, above our thoughts and greater than our limited and sinful hearts. Also the priest, while striving to smooth out obstacles at the level of language and to open the door of the Kingdom to all men who are more or less walking towards Him, must expect, as has already been emphasized, that the Message will not immediately arouse the assent of all: this passes through a conversion. We must live among our contemporaries as brothers, while being “witnesses and dispensers of a life other than earthly life” ( Presbyterorum Ordinis , 3).

10. Finally, I would like to speak of the hope that is represented by the renewal of the community fabric. The priest finds his support first of all in the friendship and collaboration with other priests and with his bishop, who are rooted in a sacramental brotherhood. I am happy with the progress that has been made possible, at this level, by the institution of presbyteral councils and other forms of community life. I also appreciate the practical solidarity that has been established among Swiss priests to face the scarcity of resources in certain Cantons, thanks to the "solidarity fund". In relation to the faithful, it would be neither normal nor healthy for the priest to remain isolated in the community for which he is responsible. He is there for it and relies on it. His mission is to enable others to exercise their different ministries, vocations, charisms, responsibilities, forms of apostolate, starting with deacons who are already ordained ministers, the religious men and women, the baptized and confirmed lay people. These responsibilities are not only aimed at the services of the Christian community - catechesis, liturgy, diaconia - but at Christian witness in the world, in the midst of temporal occupations. I am therefore happy with all that has been done in Switzerland - under the impetus of the conciliar texts - to develop this co-responsibility which finds its expression, at various levels, in the diocesan, cantonal and parish pastoral councils or even, at times, in appropriate forms of interdiocesan collaboration. Not only does the priest find support in them, and help which enriches and broadens the apostolate, but the communities themselves become a sign of the Church, a sign of fraternal communion. Concertation allows everyone to have a responsible role in building the body of Christ; it allows the expression and consideration of minorities; it allows the bishop and the priest to feel organically connected with their people.

To better ensure the progress of this movement, which is not without hesitations or defects, I will add three observations that complete what I have said about the identity of the priest.

The priest remains the shepherd of the whole. Not only is he the "permanent", available to all, but he presides over the meeting of all - in particular he is the head of the parishes - so that all find the welcome they have a right to expect in the community and in the Eucharist that unites it, whatever their religious sensitivity and pastoral commitment. Small communities represent a possibility of dynamism, of leaven in the dough, but especially if they are based on affinity, they are not enough to witness the Church that transcends social compartments, nor are they enough to offer to all those who wish to make a spiritual journey a fixed point of orientation, nourishment, participation.

The priest acts “in persona Christi”, in the name of the head of the body, especially in the sacraments, but also in the proclamation of the Gospel. We must rejoice to see the laity and religious women make their precious contribution in the many forms of catechesis and preparation for the sacraments, but the priest retains his specific responsibility: it is from his mouth that the word of God is expected in a special way ( Presbyterorum Ordinis , 41), and it is he who remains, with the deacon in certain cases, the ordinary minister of the sacraments.

It is in this sense that the priest must finally enjoy the autonomy necessary for his ministry. He is not the delegate of the community: he is sent to it. Obedience to his bishop, the testimony of a simple and poor life, his virginity, contribute to underlining his special relationship with Christ and with the community.

Dear friends, faithfulness to our marvelous vocation establishes us in a fullness of joy that nothing must obscure, that no one can take away from us. I wish you this perfect joy promised to those who follow the Lord. And I hope that, through you, it may shine on the face of the ecclesial community. May the Virgin Mary, “causa nostrae laetitiae”, keep you in joy!

11. Finally, I have one more problem for you. It concerns the essentially universal character of your priestly mission. With his bishop and under his guidance, the priest has a direct responsibility in the particular Church, and an indirect one for the whole Church. This is true for every Christian.

The Church lives in an age of struggle for justice and peace in the contemporary world and seeks, in accordance with what it is, to participate in it.

As at the beginning and at various times in its history, the Church of our time is still the Church of martyrs. Among them are lay people, but also priests and bishops who, in various ways, “endure insults for the name of Jesus” ( Acts 5:41). They suffer because of their fidelity to the priesthood, because of their pastoral service in truth and love.

I say this because, since the Church of Rome is the “center of charity,” we come to know many things that are not known outside of Rome and to which it is not always possible to give a wider, I would say universal, resonance. I insist on this because I carry in my heart the martyrdom of so many of our brothers in the faith and so many of our brothers in the priesthood and in the episcopate.

Dear friends, be united with these brothers. Be in solidarity with them. Their testimony helps you, among other things, to appreciate adequately the demands of the priesthood for each of us, we who live in countries where religious freedom exists in principle.

The testimony of these brothers of whom I have spoken shows how far the love of Christ, of the Church and of immortal souls can go! Let us learn this love! Let us learn it with humility every day! It is from such love that the Church grows.

In the sanctuary of Einsiedeln I pray to the Mother of Christ that the Church in Switzerland may grow.

May it progress through the strength of such great love!

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