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Comments taken from the Homily of Pope Benedict XVI as he brought to a close the 'Year of the Priest'

The Pope noted how the Year for Priests was celebrated to ensure "a renewed appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry. The priest is not a mere office-holder. ... Rather, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ's name he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life. Over the offerings of bread and wine he speaks Christ's words of thanksgiving, ... which open the world to God and unite it to Him. The priesthood, then, is not simply 'office' but Sacrament". "This audacity of God Who entrusts Himself to human beings (Who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead) this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word 'priesthood'. ...This is what we wanted to reflect upon and appreciate anew over the course of the past year. We wanted to reawake...
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The "Year of the Priest" comes to an end

This Friday, the Catholic Church, brings the "Year of the Priest" to a close with the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. I think it is fair to say that the year did not unfold exactly as Pope Benedict intended as it seemed that every week brought another aspect of the sex abuse scandal to the fore, culminating in a Holy Week/Easter season that saw the tentacles of this evil reach right to the Chair of Peter. It reached its zenith with the likes of Christopher Hitchens calling for the arrest of the Pope during his upcoming visit to Great Britain. Yet, as we reach the end of this priestly year, I cannot help but feel uplifted and strengthened by the response of the faithful to this papal call of support for the Church's priests. In our Diocese here in the Ottawa Valley, celebrations have been held in various parishes to fete the men who have undertaken the difficult task of representing Christ the eternal high priest to all the baptized. There was also a Dioces...
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Using Catholic 'tools' to begin to move on past these rocky shores! Here's a response to Mary G. who asks why we just can't 'move-on' from the Sex Abuse Scandals

Mary G:  AMEN...AMEN...AMEN! Why do you think it is that our leaders don't seem to want to do just that? I earlier posted a blog post from Deacon Greg Kandra (http://blog.beliefnet.com/deaconsbench/2010/04/a-deacons-proposal-for-public-penance.html ) calling for clerics of all ranks (either in a Diocese, Province, Country or universally) to participate in a mass of atonement on the closing Sunday of the 'Year of the Priest'. This would allow all of us to prostrate ourselves in penance before God, and in solidarity with the faithful to acknowledge our failures and sins. Then to ask for forgiveness. I've been arguing that it is necessary for clergy to practice the same regimen of confession as any Catholic should. 1. First we should examine ourselves (institutionally and personally) in preparation for confessing. This would involve bringing in an outside expert to review any records of allegations received, to ensure that the universal protocol has been faithfully an...
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Priests honoured at dinner - The Daily Observer - Ontario, CA

A Tribute Dinner offered for the Clergy of my Diocese was part of the world wide "Year of the Priest" celebrations. It was a joint venture of the Diocesan Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Woman's Leagues, and it was very much appreciated by the clergy in attendance. Although the planning for this event preceded the recent revelations of documents demonstrating that our Diocesan administration of the day failed to follow its own stated policy in dealing with such allegations, denying victims who remained mute for many years, satisfied with assurances that their predator was under tight supervision - something that proved not to be true. It has not been pleasant to minister in what for a week was in the current cross hairs of the international media, and these days were certainly challenging for Pembroke's priests. The serendipity of events which brought this dinner quickly on the heels of these trials was a blessing for all the Diocesan family who celebrated tog...
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