The Diocese of Madrid has about 2,500 incardinated priests. A large number of them, more than 1,200 were registered, gathered at the Fundación Pablo VI for the two key days of Convivium, the presbyteral assembly convened by the Archdiocese of Madrid, and that these days brings together the priests of the diocese to reflect on their identity and mission in the current context.
The classroom of the Paul VI Foundation was not enough to accommodate the priests of Madrid gathered for the priestly assembly, who had to spread out in three rooms.
The key days of meetings began with a joint prayer, a video on Madrid accompanied by the voice of Joaquín Sabina, the singing of the hymn composed for this Assembly and the reading of the letter that Pope Leo XIV addressed the priests of Madrid on the occasion of this meeting.
The Pope to the priests of Madrid: “No one should feel alone”.”
The Pope appreciates, in this letter, He also pointed out that the priests that Madrid needs must be “men configured to Christ, capable of sustaining their ministry from a living relationship with Him”.
“It is not a matter of inventing new models or redefining the identity we have received, but of re-proposing, with renewed intensity, the priesthood in its most authentic core - being alter Christus -, letting Him be the one who shapes our life”, the Pope emphasizes in this letter in which, taking as a model the Cathedral of Madrid, the Pontiff wanted to point out how “no one should feel alone in the exercise of the ministry” and encourage priests to confess and to drink from the Fountain that they must then give.
The Pope also recalled the need for different charisms in the Church, “with the different charisms and spiritualities through which the Lord enriches and sustains your vocation. Each one receives a particular way of expressing the faith and nourishing interiority, but all remain oriented towards the same center,” which is Christ.
Cardinal Cobo: “We are not Gospel snipers”.”
For his part, Cardinal Cobo gave St. Isidro Labrador as an example and also emphasized priestly fraternity, stressing that “the miracle that the Lord gives us today is not having to “plow alone’.
“We also work in fields that we do not see flourishing, but we know that we are not snipers of the Gospel, but brothers in a diocese,” the prelate recalled.
“Let us pray that this time may make us ‘more priests,’” the Archbishop of Madrid stressed in conclusion.
Cardinal Bustillo: “A shepherd does not manage his flock, he loves it”.”
Cardinal Francisco Javier Cardinal Bustillo OFMConv, Bishop of Ajaccio (Corsica), was in charge of the inaugural lecture “The situation of priests in the present time”. The Franciscan developed an interesting presentation structured around 5 phrases, some taken directly from the Gospel, to highlight the profile and challenges of the priest today.
The points developed have been:
The priest is an authentic man
The priest cannot be artificial or superficial. He must be coherent with the Gospel. On this point, the Franciscan, giving as an example some literary titles, emphasized the need to ask oneself “Have I really lived? This question is important for us priests. We have a frenetic life, but does it fill us or empty us? We can fall into the tyranny of the social or ecclesial gaze. Act in order to be looked at”.
God's word to Jonah: set out on your journey
Cardinal Bustillo encouraged priests to take advantage of a time when “There are young people thirsting for better lives. Many lives need guidance. The world of faith is there in spite of everything, the Christian Faith is still alive and Christian spirituality helps man to emerge from emptiness and find meaning”. To this end, he appealed to the need for the “vitamin C of the priest: the energy of the Holy Spirit” and encouraged them to take care of joy and health to respond to the challenges of today.
Feed them yourselves. We have only 5 loaves and 2 fish
This third point was perhaps the most extensive and profound of the talk given by the Bishop of Ajaccio, who repeatedly stressed that “the priest is a man of faith, not a manager”. The priest must be able to integrate changes and passages. Jesus always risks, he leaves the ‘we have always done it this way’.” In this sense, he advocated “to get out of an all too human conception of faith, often linked to tactics and statistics, and to develop a paschal mentality, capable of creating and believing in the opening of new passages.”.
Priests, Bustillo reiterated, have to avoid three dangers
Amnesia to forget the first love that was strengthened at his ordination. The priest does not receive these gifts to accumulate them but to share them.
TibiezaLukewarmness turns our life into a cemetery, it is the peace of cemeteries. Lukewarmness is the crisis of non-choice.
AnemiaThe logic of gift, in vocation, leads us to imitate Jesus, who gave everything. The logic of gift, in vocation, leads us to imitate Jesus, who gave everything. Priests are there to give their lives, not a 20 %.
Peter, do you love me? Shepherd my sheep
On this fourth point, François-Xavier Bustillo emphasized that “we are priests to love, not for the organization. The priest is not a leader, he is a shepherd, a disciple of Jesus. Jesus raises the question of love, because love precedes the mission of leading the flock. From the primacy of love for the Lord flows the mission and not the other way around. The pastor is the opposite of a civil servant. A pastor does not manage his flock, even if he is efficient. He loves him. Within this primacy of love, the Bishop of Ajaccio stressed that ”priestly fraternity is the manifestation of this love“.
I make all things new
Finally, Bishop Bustillo emphasized that “Jesus is a novelty for us. He says ‘You have heard,...but I say to you’, he proposes a new life to us”. In this line, “the Church has to make us dream, not cry. It is not a matter of erasing tradition but of enriching the life of the Church” and for this, “to live the priesthood with fidelity. In fidelity and joy there is always fruitfulness”.
The day continued with a series of group meetings and, in the afternoon, will continue with Focus groups on the topics proposed in the pre-assemblies, to which the priests will have signed up according to their preferences, followed by the Plenary and Holy Mass in the Almudena Cathedral.
During the previous weeks, several working groups organized in 28 thematic groups have been held to discuss specific issues, such as:
- The holiness and affectivity of the priest.
- The care of elderly priests.
- The challenges of migration and poverty in Madrid.
- The exercise of authority and synodality.
- The mental and relational health of pastors.
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