Catholic Clergy Inaugurate Year for Priests Together with Pope Benedict XVI
MEDIA ADVISORY, June 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy (a national association of 600 priests and deacons) has joined Pope Benedict XVI's inauguration of a "Year for Priests" by launching a revamped web site and announcing an international convocation for English speaking priests in Rome January 4th - 8th, 2010.
The Holy Father decided to inaugurate a "Year for Priests" in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birthday of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. His intention is to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today's world.
The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy was founded by a group of priests in 1975 to provide ongoing spiritual, theological and pastoral formation for clergy. At their annual and regional convocations they spend time together before the Blessed Sacrament, pray in common, participate in spiritual conferences, workshops and seminars just as the Church has prescribed for centuries. "Vatican II and the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests, as well as Canon Law, make it clear that ongoing formation of the clergy is not an option or luxury, it is a necessity," said the President of the Confraternity, Fr. John Trigilio.
The new revised web site ( www.catholic-clergy.org) will now bring higher- tech conveniences so that clergy can network with one another and access Magisterial material in addition to following what is going on in the Church and in the CCC at large. Thomas McKenna, Executive Director of the organization, described it as "a bridge between the best of the old and best of the new."
"Our improved homepage will not only be user friendly, but will also help with our upcoming gathering in Rome to celebrate the Year for Priests. If Saint John Vianney himself was alive today, he would be online helping his parishioners and his brother priests," commented Fr. Trigilio.
The Confraternity holds that while individual dioceses sponsor events year round, it is imperative that in the Year for Priests, the clergy themselves take ownership of their spirituality and seek to grow in wisdom and grace to better serve the People of God. As the Holy Father is inviting everyone to pray for priests through the intercession of Saint John Vianney, the CCC hopes their new web page will also encourage the laity to support their clergy and encourage them to seek ongoing formation.
No comments:
Post a Comment