December 10, 2009. The international meeting of priests will be the event that marks the end of the Year for Priests. It will take place in Rome from June 7 to 11th 2010.
The Opera romana pellegrinaggi is organizing the event and is making sure everything is ready to receive participants. Reportedly, some 5 thousand priests from all over the world will come to the Eternal City.
Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, is the person responsible for all the Year for Priests intiatives. He says priests will come from places like the North Pole and Uganda.
The meeting will take place in the basilicas of St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Mary Major and St. Peter's Basilica where in addition to personal testimonies, topics such as the adaptation of priestly work to society will also be addressed.
With the Year for Priests, the Vatican wishes to acknowledge the work of priests, and help them get what Archbishop Piacenza jokingly defines as the 'Rambo’s spiritual muscles'.
Arz. Mauro Piacenza
Secretary, Congregation for the Clergy
“This year aims to help priests regain an awareness of their own identity, and how their pastoral ministry can relect it. In today’s world, we can be overcome with so many demands and issues which may not be directly tied to this identity and can even risk diminishing it.”
To ensure that the priests engage fully with thier responsibilities, the Congregation for the Clergy proposes an active and responsible participation by the laity.
The International Meeting of Priests, a proper conclusion in the works to close a historic Year for Priests.
BR/MC
DC/FF/LB
-WP-
