This past March, Pope Benedict announced that this coming year would be celebrated as a Jubilee Year for Priests. The Year for Priests coincides with the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. ...
SUNLIGHT ILLUMINATES CRUCIFIX--Evening sunlight illuminates a crucifix. Priests of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau have been invited to share their reflections and observations on their vocations to the priesthood. These will be added as they are made available. (CNS file photo/Mary Ann Wyand)
YEAR FOR PRIESTS--Pope Benedict XVI has established a year for priests in an effort to encourage “spiritual perfection” in priests. The pope opened the special year with a vespers service at the Vatican June 19, 2009, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the day for the sanctification of priests. (CNS graphic/Emily Thompson)
The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ and its Corpus Christi procession are important opportunities for Catholics to reaffirm their faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, Pope Benedict XVI said. ...
The Catholic Church must acknowledge that some priests have done great harm to others, but it also must thank God for the gifts the majority of priests have given to the church and the world, Pope Benedict XVI said. ...
Each and every one of the world's 408,000 priests should feel loved, respected, valued and supported in his vocation to bring the Gospel to an increasingly secular--but still open--world, said Cardinal Claudio Hummes. ...
Total number of priests worldwide
Number of Catholics, Clergy
Priest-Catholic ratio
Catholics-to-priest ratio
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Card. Claudio Hummes, cautioned that some priests have an "inadequate and superficial" encounter with Christ and have turned their ministries into "a sort of ecclesiastical profession." ...
