Of all the titles he has held — bishop, archbishop, cardinal, and pope — Pope Francis says he prefers to be called “Father”.
“What I love is being a priest,” he has said.
On December 13, he will celebrate 50 years as a priest. He sees his ministry as being a shepherd who walks with his flock and yearns to find those who are lost.
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Prayer for Pope Francis Father of mercy, we come before you with gratitude for the 50 years of priesthood of Pope Francis, whom you have made Peter’s successor. Support him with the Spirit’s gifts so that he can continue to preach the Gospel with priestly zeal and lead the church with wisdom and strength and courage. May his example of long and faithful service be an inspiration to your priests and to all your faithful. We ask this through Christ our Lord. |
Offers hope to priests
A Catholic News Service article on the pope’s golden jubilee notes that at a time when the priesthood continues to suffer, most visibly with the scandal of abuse and negligence by its members, the pope has continually offered priests a hopeful understanding of their vocation.
Change, transformation, and holiness are painful, but “the Lord is purifying his bride and is converting all of us to him. He is making us experience the trial so that we may understand that without him we are dust. He is saving us from hypocrisy, from the spirituality of appearances. He is blowing his Spirit to restore beauty to his bride,” he told Rome’s priests in 2019.
In a letter to priests in 2019, he said, “Our age, marked by old and new wounds, requires us to be builders of relationships and communion, open, trusting, and awaiting in hope the newness that the kingdom of God wishes to bring about even today. For it is a kingdom of forgiven sinners called to bear witness to the Lord’s ever-present compassion. For his mercy endures forever.”
Encourage prayers for the pope
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has encouraged people to honor the pope’s jubilee with special prayers and Mass petitions.
Archbishop Gomez has sent out a prayer for the pope as well as two petitions that can be used at Mass or in praying the Liturgy of the Hours.
December 13, the anniversary of the pope’s priestly ordination, is a weekday in Advent and the memorial of St. Lucy. Church practice allows for the celebrant to use an optional special Mass for the day, including one identified as “For the Pope.”
I encourage priests and people to use the prayer and petitions for Pope Francis on December 13 or other times during the Advent season as we give thanks for his 50 years of priesthood and ask God to grant him many more years of service.