(OSV News): At the priestly ordination of 10 deacons on April 26, Pope Leo XIV urged them to keep the Church open to a “suffering humanity” and not “be an obstacle to those who wish to enter.” In his homily at St Peter’s Basilica, he described the priesthood as embodying Christ’s “patience and tenderness” and encouraged priests to “keep the threshold open and direct others to it, without using too many words.”
He added, “Today more than ever, especially when statistics seem to indicate a divide between people and the Church, keep the door open! Let people in, and be prepared to go out. This is another secret for your life: You are a channel, not a filter.”
According to Vatican News, about 5,000 family and friends attended the ordination Mass.
Pope Leo began declared, “This Sunday is full of life.” He added that “although death surrounds us,” Jesus’ promise—that he came “so that they might have life and have it more abundantly”—was fulfilled.
“We see great generosity and enthusiasm in the willingness of these young men whom the Church calls today to be ordained as priests,” the pope said. “As a numerous and diverse community gathered around the one Master, we feel a presence that renews us. It is the Holy Spirit who unites people and vocations in freedom, so that no one lives for themselves any longer.”
Today more than ever, especially when statistics seem to indicate a divide between people and the Church, keep the door open! Let people in, and be prepared to go out
Pope Leo XIV
He reminded them that the stronger their bond with Christ, “the more radical your belonging to all of humanity,” binding their hearts to “an indissoluble love.”
He compared priestly love to spousal love: “the love that inspires celibacy for the Kingdom of God must also be guarded and constantly renewed, for every true affection matures and becomes fruitful over time.”
“You are called to a specific, delicate and difficult way of loving and, even more so, of allowing yourselves to be loved in freedom,” he said. “This will make you not only good priests, but also honest, helpful citizens, builders of peace and social friendship.”
Reflecting on the gospel, the pope said Jesus knows “the cruelty of the world, where he walks with us.” This, however, does not “deter him from giving up his life,” the pope said.
“Denunciation does not become renunciation; danger does not lead to flight. This is another secret for the life of the priest: We must not be frightened by reality. It is the Lord of life who calls us. May the ministry entrusted to you, dear brothers, convey the peace of those who know that they are safe, even amid dangers,” he said.
Pope Leo observed that seeking security can “make people aggressive, cause communities to close in on themselves and lead people to seek out enemies and scapegoats.” Despite these fears, he urged the new priests to ground their security “in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as well as in your participation, along with your people, in the story of salvation.”
This salvation is already at work in the many good deeds quietly carried out by people of goodwill in the parishes where you will join them as fellow travellers
Pope Leo
“This salvation is already at work in the many good deeds quietly carried out by people of goodwill in the parishes where you will join them as fellow travellers. What you proclaim and celebrate will protect you, even in difficult times,” he said.
Pope Leo said Jesus’ reminder that he is the gate means “he does not stifle our freedom,” unlike “communities that suffocate; some groups are easy to enter but are impossible to leave.”
“This is not the case of the Lord’s Church, nor of the community of his disciples,” he said.
“We all seek shelter, rest and care,” the pope explained. “The Church’s doors are open, but not to cut us off from life: life does not end in a parish, in an association, in a movement, in a group. Whoever is saved can ‘go out and find pasture,’” he said.
The pope invited the new priests to “go out and discover culture, people and life” and to marvel “at the things that God makes grow without our having sown them.”
“The people you will serve as priests—lay faithful and families, young and old, children and the sick—inhabit pastures that you must come to know,” he said. “At times it will seem to you that you lack the necessary maps. But the Good Shepherd has them; listen to his very familiar voice.”
