The encounter with the priests was very spontaneous.
How many here are from Latin America?
Argentina is waiting for you!
Argentina!
In his speech, Pope Leo emphasized the importance of developing a deep interior life.
However, his most heartfelt message came at the end, when he spoke off the cuff.
POPE LEO XIV
Many times, when you need help, seek a good companion, a spiritual director, a good confessor. No one here is alone. And even if you’re working in the most remote mission, you are never alone.
Pope Leo urged the priests to live in fraternity intensely among themselves and to be capable of loving, listening, praying, and serving together.
POPE LEO XIV
Try to live what Pope Francis often called ‘closeness’: closeness with the Lord, closeness with your bishop or religious superior, and closeness among yourselves, because you must truly be friends, brothers. Live this beautiful experience of walking together, knowing that, by being called to be disciples of the Lord, we have a great mission. And together we can do it. We always count on God's grace, and also on my closeness—and together, we can truly be a voice in the world. Thank you.
Just moments before, this priest was part of one of the most lighthearted moments of the afternoon:
Here are two zucchetti. Bless the one you prefer. Or just put it on, and that’s it. And then you swap it, Your Holiness. Will you give me a hug, please, Your Holiness?
The priests at this meeting were participants in an international gathering called “Happy Priests,” promoted by the Dicastery for the Clergy.
JRB
Trans. CRT
