Several priests who attentively keep up on what Pope Francis teaches have expressed to me their dismay and sorrow because they have noticed the frequency with which His Holiness denigrates priests. He has called them “bitter (‘cod-faced’),” “old bachelors,” “sacramental clerks,” “ambitious,” “gossipers,” “climbers,” and other disparaging adjectives, revealing a lack of justice and charity.
There are thousands of priests in the world; some of Francis’ epithets do apply to certain ones. But the generalizations in his sermons, catecheses, and messages contradict the truth, and what is scandalous is that they radically depart from the affirmations of the Second Vatican Council, which dedicated Presbyterorum Ordinis to speak about the ministry and life of priests. I quote some passages from that text:
Priests are made in the likeness of Christ the Priest by the Sacrament of Orders, so that they may, in collaboration with their bishops, work for the building up and care of the Church which …More