The Celibacy 'debate'

Well, I'm not sure its a debate, more a question of the Pope saying one thing, and his former student Cardinal Schonborn saying another. As always Sandro Magister is informative and thorough. Please see here and click the button in sidebar for English translation. The link tells you the page can't be found. Click the 'Did you mean....' suggestion and the right page should come up.

Half of France's Diocesan Priests are 75 or over

This information was published on Friday in the French daily Catholic newspaper "La Croix". It formed part of the paper's report on a recent statistical study.

There are 14,000 diocesan priests in France and the study found that 7,ooo of them have reached their 75th birthday and beyond, many of them being in advanced old age.

As for the ratio of priests to people, the national average has been worked out at one priest to every 5,200 inhabitants.

The situation in some urban dioceses is critical, for instance Bordeaux, Montpellier, and the suburbs of Paris, with for example at St. Denis, in the latter, one priest to 20,00 inhabitants.

Faced with this situation and the crisis of lack of vocations, the dioceses are calling upon non-incardinated, many of whom are not French; on Deacons; and on ordained members of religious orders. As an example at Pontoise which has 181 priests, there are 51 foreign priests (mostly Polish), 68 are from Religious Orders and only 62 are incardinated to Pontoise.

There does not seem to be any mention of the Traditional Fraternities in full communion with the Church, and which are flourishing in many parts of France, notably the FSSP (not to be confused with the SSPX). It would be disingenuous of me to give the impression that I don't know that the French Bishops' Conference seems largely against the idea of receiving any help from that quarter.

Please spare a prayer for France, the Church's "eldest daughter".

"Clerical Reform" and the rite of Ordination

In case you haven't already found this, the priest who authors the Clerical Reform blog, is posting an intermittent series on the Rite of Ordination. He has reached Part V in his latest post and began the series on May 12. All Parts are easily found on his blog archive as they are so recent.

A plea for your prayers

Spiritual Mothers and friends, please pray for the priests of England, Wales and Scotland, lands of Martyrs, in the four months that remain before our Holy Father's visit. And for him above all.

In Christo pro Papa

Pope Benedict Consecrates all priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Father Mark has the full text of the Holy Father's act of consecration, here at Vultus Christi.

Thank you Holy Father, and to Father Mark for making the text available so quickly.

Priestly news and a question about priestly duties

My apologies for absence. Explanations would be complicated and time-consuming. Please forgive me.


In the run-up to the end of the Year for Priests, some time ago the Holy Father said he was 'eager' to devote some of his weekly General Audiences to the three marks of the priesthood, - Teaching, Sanctifying and Governing. He began with the first aspect on April 14th and continued this last Wednesday with the second. (Full texts available at the Holy See Site) The third will in likelihood be delayed at least until May 26th because of his visit to Portugal next week, and he will probably devote his Audience of May 19th to a report on this trip. He who hath ears to hear, let him hear!

Two futher items:
Zenit report on Fr Popieluszko: his priesthood and patriotism; and 3,000 priests make pilgrimage to Czestoch0wa

My Question:
I read somewhere recently that the requirement that all priests should offer Mass and recite the Breviary daily, had been abolished. Somehow I missed said abolition. When did it happen? Can anyone clarify?