ST.JEAN MARIE VIANNEY:
PATRON SAINT OF ALL PRIESTS
VATICAN CITY, 16 MAR 2009 (VIS) “Faithfulness of Christ,
faithfulness of priests” is the theme of the Year For Priests
announced in March 2009 by the Holy Father, according to a
communiqué issued by the Holy See Press Office.
The Pope will inaugurate the Year on 19 June, presiding at
Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica where the relics of the saintly
‘Cure of Ars’ will be brought for the occasion by Bishop Guy
Bagnard of Belley-Ars, France. He will close the year on
19 June 2010, presiding at a “World Meeting of Priests”
in St. Peter’s Square.
During the course of the Year, Benedict XVI will proclaim
St. Jean Marie Vianney as patron saint of all the priests
of the world. A “Directory for Confessors and Spiritual
Directors” will also be published, as will a collection of
texts by the Supreme Pontiff on essential aspects of
the life and mission of priests in our time.
The Congregation for the Clergy, together with diocesan
ordinaries and superiors of religious institutes, will
undertake to promote and co-ordinate the various spiritual
and pastoral initiatives which are being organized to
highlight the role and mission of the clergy in the Church and
in modern society, and the need to intensify the permanent
formation of priests, associating it with that of seminarians.
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