Pope Leo XIV has asked the priests of Portugal to face their encounters and differences without falling into «naive enthusiasms» or fueling «sterile fears,» in a message addressed to the XI Clergy Symposium, which brings together priests from the country in Fátima, Portugal, until September 3. The meeting began this Monday at the Pablo VI Pastoral Center under the motto «Brothers in the Priesthood and Witnesses of the Gospel.»
The message from Leo XIV was read during the inaugural session by the apostolic nuncio in Portugal, Monsignor Andrés Carrascosa Coso. The Pontiff invited participants, both in the scheduled meetings and in informal conversations, to avoid «words that humiliate or divide» and to multiply «the frankness that illuminates, warms, and opens paths.»
Leo XIV also asked to take into account «the diversity and even the tensions» that exist in the priestly sphere, noting that the Holy Spirit can use them to rekindle in hearts «zeal for the common mission.» The Pope invoked for the Portuguese clergy «divine wisdom for the common journey,» «enthusiasm for faltering steps,» and «the gift of unity for all.»
«The only way to live a healthy priesthood is not to walk alone»
The apostolic nuncio focused his intervention on priestly life and accompaniment. Carrascosa stated that «the only way to live a healthy priesthood is not to walk alone» and recalled that «no shepherd exists alone.»
The pontifical representative especially insisted on the need for priests themselves to have spiritual accompaniment in order to later exercise that task with the faithful. «No one who is not accompanied knows how to accompany,» he affirmed, before warning that those who stop receiving guidance run the risk of losing the ability to recognize what is happening in their own interior.
Carrascosa also referred to clericalism, which he described as a «wound in communion,» and maintained that the Church needs bishops, priests, and deacons capable of carrying «the heart of the Gospel.»
The inaugural session also included the intervention of Monsignor Vitorino Soares, president of the Episcopal Commission for Vocations and Ministries, the body that promotes the symposium. Soares explained that this edition will not follow the usual format of a succession of conferences, but that a large part of the work will be structured based on the results of a survey on the «Challenges of Priestly Life in Portugal.»
A survey on the situation of Portuguese priests
The questionnaire was completed anonymously by the participants before the meeting and collects, in addition to sociodemographic information, data related to the four major issues that will be addressed during the symposium.
The survey also addresses the care of each priest in the «emotional, spiritual, and psychological» spheres, with the aim of reflecting on the integration of these dimensions in priestly life and in the exercise of pastoral ministry. Its results began to be presented this Monday during the first day of the meeting.
The president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference and bishop of Coimbra, Monsignor Virgílio Antunes, pointed out during the opening several of the problems currently affecting the country’s clergy. Among them, he mentioned the high average age of priests, changes in pastoral organization, and the accumulation of tasks.
Antunes warned that priests may end up becoming «hostages of the multiplicity of activities» and called for communities in which respect for each person prevails. «We need to continue working persistently so that the communities we preside over are healthy and safe places for all,» he affirmed, demanding that in them «there be no form of abuse.»
The president of the Portuguese bishops also alluded to the negative image that sometimes exists of the Church and its clergy in society, which he attributed sometimes to «prejudices» and other times to the priests’ own «personal weaknesses.»
Spiritual life, fraternity, and evangelization
The program enters this Tuesday, September 1, its first full day of conferences and working groups. The morning will be dedicated to «Paths of Integration of Spiritual and Pastoral Life,» followed by an assembly organized by ecclesiastical provinces. In the afternoon, «Priestly Fraternity: A Redemptive Challenge» will be addressed, before a second working session among the participants.
On Wednesday, the other two central conferences will be held. The first will be dedicated to «Paths for Accompaniment and Care of Persons» and the second to «Evangelizing Mission and Cultural and Digital Challenges in the Current Context.» Both will be accompanied by interdiocesan study groups.
The days include daily the recitation of Lauds and the celebration of the Eucharist with Vespers. The XI Clergy Symposium will conclude on Thursday, September 3, with the synthesis of the various assemblies, a debate, and the closing by Monsignor Vitorino Soares. The final Mass will be celebrated at noon in the Chapel of the Death of Jesus, where certificates of participation will be awarded.