POPE REMINDS BISHOPS THEY ARE PART OF GOD’S PEOPLE

POPE REMINDS BISHOPS THEY ARE PART OF GOD’S PEOPLE

‘THE LAYPERSONS ARE not our peons or our employees. They don’t have to parrot back whatever we say.’

Pope Francis on January 16, 2018, reminded bishops that they are part of God’s people, warning of the dangers of clericalism. His comments came in a meeting with bishops of Chile in

the sacristy of the Cathedral of Santiago.

He noted that in the “postmodern” world, a feeling of “not belonging to anyone…we forget that we are part of God’s holy and faithful people.” He explained that “the Church is not, nor will it ever be, an élite of consecrated men and women, priests and bishops.”

The Holy Father claimed that without the “consciousness of being a people, we will not be able to sustain our life, our vocation, and our ministry.” And he said that a failure to understand the mission of the Church as belonging to all the people, that mission is limited.

‘A failure to realize that the mission belongs to the entire Church, and not to the individual priest or bishop, limits the horizon, and even worse, stifles all the initiatives that the Spirit may be awakening in our midst,” Francis stressed. “Let us be clear about this. The laypersons are not our peons or our employees. They don’t have to parrot back whatever we say.”

 -ZENIT

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