Meeting with the Clergy of Poznam (20 June 1983

On Monday, 20 June 1983, the Holy Father met with clergy of the archdiocese in  the Cathedral of Poznam, to whom he said, "I beg you, always be worthy of this honor that Christ himself gives to us priests; always be infinitely grateful to him for this gift of the priesthood and reciprocate it with your whole life." 

I sincerely thank the Metropolitan Archbishop for inviting me to make a short speech. They say that it is more difficult to give a short speech than a long one. So he also invited me to give a difficult speech.

My dear brothers in the priesthood, from the Archdiocese of Poznan, from religious families, and from neighboring dioceses, brother priests, men and women religious! This moment of our meeting fills me with joy. This moment must be enough for us to confirm our communion with the Church: communion with your Bishop, compared by Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the strings of a musical instrument, and through your Bishop, communion with the Bishop of Rome, which gives our priesthood a universal dimension, as the Second Vatican Council teaches.

In the name of the double communion, that with your Bishop and that with the Bishop of Rome, I pay homage to Christ, the Eternal Priest, who lives in each of you. Each of you exists in his name, celebrates the mystery of the Redemption, the mystery of the Eucharist.

Paying homage to the Christ, who lives and works in you and through you, I therefore, at the same time, pay the greatest honor to each of you. I beg you, always be worthy of this honor that Christ himself gives to us priests; always be infinitely grateful to him for this gift of the priesthood and reciprocate it with your whole life. May this life be blessed in the spirit of the beatitudes which are the synthesis of the Christian vocation, of the evangelical vocation. May your life be fruitful with that fruitfulness to which you are called, renouncing family and personal life in order to be able to dedicate yourself more to everyone.

I entrust you to the heart of the Mother of priests.

I remember the generations of high priests of the Archdiocese of Poznan united with the Bishops and Archbishops of this See since 968, and together with your Archbishop and the Cardinals and Bishops present here I bless you with all my heart.

 

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