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Pope Francis’ address to bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons,
seminarians and pastoral workers
St. Stephen’s Co-Cathedral (Budapest) – Friday, 28 April 2023
“Christ: it is not “the future is Christ” but Christ is our future.
We cannot confuse the two!”
Dear brother bishops, priests and deacons,
consecrated men and women and seminarians,
pastoral workers, brothers and sisters,
dicsértessék to Jézus Krisztus! [Praised be Jesus Christ!]
I am happy to be with you once again, after sharing the experience of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress. The Congress was a moment of great grace, and I am sure that you will continue to enjoy its spiritual fruits. I thank Bishop Veres for his kind introduction, in which he expressed the desire of the Catholics of Hungary in these words: “In this changing world we want to witness that Christ is our future”.
Christ: it is not “the future is Christ” but Christ is our future. We cannot confuse the two. This is one of the most important things that is asked of us: to interpret the changes and transformations of our time, trying to face the pastoral challenges as best we can.
With Christ and in Christ. Nothing is beyond the Lord or too far from him.
This is possible if we look to Christ as our future.
He is “the Alpha and the Omega – who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8), the beginning and the end, the foundation and the ultimate goal of human history.
In this Easter season, as we contemplate the glory of the One who is “the first and the last” (Rev 1:17), we can face the storms unleashed upon our world, the rapid pace of social change and the crisis of faith afflicting our Western culture without giving in to resignation or losing sight of the centrality of Easter. The Risen Christ, the center of history, is indeed the future. Our lives, for all their frailty, are held firmly in his hands. If we ever forget this, we, clergy and laity alike, will end up seeking human ways and means to defend ourselves from the world, either retreating into our comfortable and tranquil religious oases, or by running after the shifting winds of worldliness.
In both cases, our Christianity will lose its vitality, and we will cease to be the salt of the earth. Let us return to Christ, who is the future, lest fall into the shifting winds of worldliness. That is the worst thing that could happen to the Church: a worldly Church.
A bleak defeatism and a worldly conformism
These are the two approaches – I would say the two temptations – against which we, as the Church, we must always be on guard.
The first is a gloomy reading of the present, fuelled by the defeatism of those who insist that all is lost, that we have lost the values of the past and have no idea where we are going. Father Sándor beautifully expressed his gratitude to God for “freeing him from defeatism”! And what did he do with his life, build a big cathedral? No, he built a small “emergency church”, a country church. You did it; defeatism did not win. Thank you, brother!
Then there is the other risk, that of a naive reading of our times, based on a comfortable conformism which would have us think that everything is basically okay. The world has changed and we just have to adapt without thinking critically about it. This is bad.
So, to combat a bleak defeatism and a worldly conformism, the Gospel gives us new eyes to see. It gives us the grace of discernment, so that we can approach our own time with openness, but also with a spirit of prophecy. In a word, a receptivity open to prophecy.
I do not like to use the adjective “prophetic”. It is used too often. The noun: prophecy.
We are experiencing a crisis of “nouns”. We rely too much on adjectives.
Instead, prophecy, Spirit, a receptive and open attitude with prophecy in the heart.
Here I would like to reflect briefly on a parable used by Jesus: that of the fig tree (cf. Mk 13:28-29). He uses it in the context of the temple in Jerusalem. To those who, in a certain spirit of worldly conformity, were admiring its splendor, finding their security in the sacred space and in its solemn grandeur, Jesus says that nothing on this earth is absolute, everything is precarious: the day will come when stone will not remain on stone. These days in the Office of Readings we read from the Book of Revelation, where we see that stone will not remain on stone.
At the same time, so as not to cause discouragement or fear, he goes on to say that when everything passes away, when the human temples fall, when terrible things happen and violent persecutions break out, “then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory” (v. 26).
He asks us to look at the fig tree: “Learn from the fig tree its lesson: when its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, at the very gates” (v. 28-29).
We are called, then, to be open to the times in which we live, with their changes and challenges, and to see them as a fruitful plant pointing, as the Gospel says, to the time of the Lord’s future coming.
In the meantime, however, we are called to cultivate this present time: to interpret it, to sow the seeds of the Gospel, to prune the dead branches of evil and make them bear fruit.
We are called to prophetic receptivity.
Receptivity with prophecy
Receptivity with prophecy: it is about learning how to recognize the signs of God in the world around us, including places and situations that, while not explicitly Christian, challenge us and call for a response. At the same time, it is about seeing all things in the light of the Gospel without yielding to worldliness, as heralds and witnesses of the Christian faith.
Watch out for worldliness.
Falling into worldliness is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to a Christian church. Even in this country, with its solid faith tradition, we witness the spread of secularism and its effects, which often threaten the integrity and beauty of the family, which exposes young people to lifestyles of materialism and hedonism, and lead to polarization regarding new issues and challenges.
We may be tempted to respond with harshness, rejection and a combative attitude.
Yet these challenges can be opportunities for us as Christians, because they strengthen our faith and invite us to come to a deeper understanding of certain issues.
They lead us to ask how these challenges can enter into dialogue with the Gospel, and to seek out new approaches, methods, and means of communication.
In this regard, Benedict XVI said that various periods of secularization have proven helpful to the Church, because “they have contributed significantly to its purification and interior reform. Secularizing trends have always meant a profound liberation of the Church from forms of worldliness.
With every kind of secularization, there is a challenge and an invitation to purify the Church from every kind of worldliness. Let us focus again on the word that is the worst: to fall into worldliness is the worst thing that can happen. It is a soft paganism that does not take away the peace. Why? Because it is good? No, because it numbs you.
The commitment to enter into dialogue with our present situation requires that the Christian community be present as a witness to the Gospel, capable of responding to questions and challenges without fear or rigidity. This is not easy in today’s world; it requires great effort. I am thinking in particular of the excessive workload of our priests.
The demands of parish and pastoral life are numerous, yet vocations are declining and fewer priests are available. Many priests are older and show signs of fatigue.
This situation is common in many parts of Europe, and everyone, pastors and lay people alike, should feel responsible for addressing it.
First, through prayer, because the solutions will come from the Lord and not from the world, from the tabernacle and not from the computer.
Then, through renewed zeal to promote vocations and to find ways to attract and excite young people to+ a life of following Jesus, even in a special consecration.
What Sister Krisztina told us is beautiful. But, her vocation was difficult. To become a Dominican she was first helped by a Franciscan priest, then by the Jesuits with spiritual exercises. In the end, she became a Dominican. It was a beautiful journey.
It is beautiful what she told us about “arguing with Jesus” about why he called her. she wanted her sisters to be called, not her –, because we need people who can listen and help us to “argue” well with the Lord!
More generally, we need an ecclesial reflection’ a synodal reflection that involve everyone, on how to update pastoral life without being satisfied with merely repeating formulas from the past and without being afraid to reconfigure local parishes, making evangelization a priority and promoting active collaboration between priests, catechists, pastoral workers, and teachers.
You have already begun this process: please, continue. Look for ways to work together joyfully for the Gospel, each one bringing his or her own charism, and considering pastoral work as a kerygmatic proclamation, that is, something that moves consciences.
In this regard, what Dorina told us about the need to reach out to our neighbour through storytelling and talking about daily life, is important.
Here, I would like to highlight the beautiful work of the catechists, an antiquum ministerium (i.e. an old service). There are places in the world, for example in Africa, where evangelization is carried out by catechists. Catechists are pillars of the Church. I thank you for what you do. I also thank the deacons and catechists, who play a decisive role in passing on the faith to the younger generation, and all those teachers and formators who are so generously committed to the work of education. Thank you!
I want to assure you that good pastoral ministry is possible if we are able to live as the Lord has commanded us, in the love that is the gift of His Spirit. If we become distant or divided from one another, if we become hardened in our ways of thinking and in our different groups, if we think only of ourselves, our ideas and our theologies, then we will not bear fruit. It is sad when we become divided, because, instead of playing as a team, we begin to play the enemy’s game: it is the Devil who divides. He is a master at it; it is his specialty.
We see bishops not communicating with each other, priests in conflict with their bishop, older priests against younger ones, diocesan priests against religious, priests against laity, Latins against Greeks. Questions about the life of the Church, and political and social problems, polarize us and we become entrenched along ideological lines.
Do not let ideologies in.
The life of faith
The act of faith cannot be reduced to an ideology: that comes from the devil. No!
Always remember that our first pastoral priority is to bear witness to communion, because God is communion and he is present wherever there is fraternal charity.
May we overcome our human divisions and work together in the vineyard of the Lord!
May we be immersed in the spirit of the Gospel, grounded in prayer, especially in adoration and listening to the Word of God, and cultivating ongoing formation, fraternity, closeness and concern for others.
A great treasure has been placed in our hands; let us not waste it by pursuing after things that are secondary to the Gospel!
Here, I want to say this: be careful with gossip, gossip among bishops, priests, sisters and lay people. Gossip is destructive. It seems to be a very nice thing, a sweet candy.
We often fall into it. Be careful, because it is a way of destruction.
If a consecrated person or a lay person avoids speaking badly about others, that person is a saint. Follow this way of avoiding gossip. “Yes, Father”, one may comment, “but it is difficult and sometimes one slips”.
There is a beautiful remedy against gossip: prayer, for example. There is another remedy: bite your tongue. Bite your tongue and stop gossiping. Do we agree?
There is something else I would like to say to the priests. In order to show the face of the Father to God’s holy people and to create a family spirit, let us avoid rigidity and instead look at others with mercy and compassion. In this regard, I would like to highlight something: God’s style. God’s primary style is an attitude of closeness. He said it himself in Deuteronomy: “Tell me, which peoples have their gods as close as I am with you?”
The attitude of God is closeness, compassion and tenderness. This is God’s style: closeness, compassion and tenderness.
Let us follow this style. Am I close to people? Do I help people? Am I compassionate, or do I condemn everyone? Am I warm and gentle? No rigidity, but closeness, compassion and tenderness.
I was struck by the words of Father József, who reminded us of the dedicated ministry of his brother, Blessed János Brenner, who was barbarously murdered at the young age of 26.
How many witnesses and confessors of the faith did your people have during the totalitarian regimes of the last century! You have suffered greatly!
Blessed János experienced much suffering in his life, and it would have been easy for him to become resentful, withdrawn and hardened. Instead, he was a good shepherd. This is what is required of all of us, but especially of priests: a merciful gaze and a compassionate heart that always forgives, that helps others to begin again, that accepts and does not judge or send away, that encourages and does not criticize, that serves and does not gossip.
This attitude is our training in receptivity, a receptivity that is prophecy: to bring the consolation of the Lord to situations of pain and poverty in our world, being close to persecuted Christians, to migrants seeking hospitality, to be close to people of other ethnic groups and to anyone in need. In this regard, you have great examples of holiness, such as Saint Martin. The image of his sharing his cloak with a poor man is more than a mere example of charity: it is an image of the Church we aspire to be and of what the Church in Hungary can bring to the heart of Europe: the prophetic witness of mercy and closeness.
But I would like to mention once again Saint Stephen, whose relics are here with me.
St. Stephen, the first to entrust entrusted the nation to the Mother of God, was an intrepid evangelizer and founder of monasteries and abbeys. He also listened and talked well with everyone, and showed special concern for the poor, lowering their taxes and begging for alms in disguise, so as not to be recognized. This is the Church we must strive for.
A Church capable of listening to one another, dialogue and of caring for the most vulnerable. A Church that welcomes all and courageous in bringing the prophecy of the Gospel to all.
Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is our future, because he is the one who directs all history. He is the Lord of history. Your confessors of the faith were firmly convinced of this: the many bishops, priests, men and women religious who were martyred during the communist persecution. They bear witness to the unshakeable faith of the Hungarians.
This is no exaggeration. I am convinced that your faith is like granite.
Let us thank God for it.
Here I would like to mention Cardinal Mindszenty, who believed in the power of prayer so much that even today his words are repeated almost like a popular saying: “If a million Hungarians pray, I have no fear for the future”. Be hospitable, bear witness to the prophecy of the Gospel, but above all be men and women of prayer, because the future depends on it. Thank you for your faith and fidelity, for all the good you are and do. I always remember the courageous and patient witness of the Hungarian Sisters of the Society of Jesus whom I met in Argentina after they left Hungary during the religious persecution. They were great witnesses! They helped me with their witness.
My prayer for you is that, following the example of your great witnesses, you will never be seized by an inner weariness that leads to mediocrity, but that you will always go forward with joy. And I ask you to continue praying for me. Köszönöm! [Thank you!]
