Catholic priests urged to preach the Word of God

Hundreds of Catholic priests attending the Indian Priests Congress, at Velankanni, on Feb. 9, were urged to make the Word of God relevant to modern man.

"The modern man hungers and thirsts for the Word, it is a time for us priests to reflect how we can make the Word of God relevant to modern man, convincingly without diluting as preached by Christ," said Rev. Chibuike Onayeaghala, Apostelic Nuntio to India, while addressing the gathering of over 900 priests from more than 140 dioceses.

"The world today needs priests more than ever despite anti-clerical movement to stop us from preaching the goodness for salvation," he added.

The Feb. 9 - 11 event was organised by the Clergy Commission of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, to mark the Year of Priests.

"It is true there is a drop in priestly vocation, the Church's image affected due to sexual abuses. It is easy to criticise the clergy. But this Year of Priests is an opportunity for priests and the people to reflect in prayer the gratitude of priesthood," explained Rev. Onayeaghala.

The three-day meeting was inaugurated by Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Priest, Congregation for Clergy, Vatican.

In his keynote address, he urged priests to be "true missionaries both towards the non-Christians and towards the baptised of your own parishes who have grown distant and thus need to be re-evangelised."

He added: "One must, as a good shepherd, go out in search of the sheep that are far away. The mission will certainly renew you in the understanding and realisation of your priestly identity and of your ministry."