The Pope: «There is no place in the Church for worldliness»

For the general audience this Wednesday in Saint Peter's Square, in the presence of some 15,000 faithful, Pope Francis devoted his catechesis to the episcopal ministry and to the profile of the bishop.

«Brothers and sisters, Christ raises up ministers in his Church, the Bishops, the priests and the deacons, who form the hierarchy. It is through it that the Church exercises her motherhood: she gives us birth through baptism and makes us grow in faith. She nourishes us through the Eucharist, leads us to the Father to receive his forgiveness, and accompanies us throughout our life, especially in difficult moments and at the hour of death. »

«The Bishop», declared the Pope, «is at the head of the Christian community, he is the guarantor of the faith and the living sign of the Lord's presence. He is in the image of the Good Shepherd, who came not to be served but to serve, and who gives his life for his sheep.  The Bishops are the successors of the Apostles; they form a single college, in communion with the Pope, even when they are scattered throughout the world and live in different places and cultures.»

«The bishop is a shepherd and he must be, among his people, a «living sign of the Lord's presence in their midst». This is why «it is very sad when we see some seeking this office at all costs and doing so many things to attain it, and when they attain it they are not at the service of others, they strut about and live only for their vanity». «To be a bishop is not a position of prestige, an honorific function, it is to be of service; there is no place in the Church for worldliness».

The worldly mentality, the Pope explained during the general audience, is when one thinks «that so-and-so has made an ecclesiastical career, whereas to be a bishop is a service, it is not a post for boasting; to be a bishop means having in mind the example of Jesus who, like the good shepherd, came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life for his sheep». «In the history of the Church», the Pope recalled, «we find many holy bishops who show us that this ministry is not sought, is not requested, is not bought, but is received with obedience, not to rise up but to lower oneself, like Jesus who humbled himself even to dying on the cross».

The Pope went on to add that the recent synod of bishops on the family had made it possible to experience the beauty of collegiality. «When Jesus called and chose the apostles», he declared, «he did not imagine them separated from one another, but together, so that they might be with him united as a family. It is beautiful when the bishops around the Pope express this collegiality and seek to become ever more servants of the faithful and to be more Church. We experienced it again recently at the synod on the family». Finally, Pope Francis recalled that «if a Church is not united with the bishop, it is a sick Church, for Jesus willed a Church united with the bishop.

Source: News.va