Cardinal You Heung-sik: Pope invites priests to fraternity

By Vatican News

Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Letter “A fidelity that generates the future” emphasizes that the priesthood is “an indispensable ministry within the mission of the Church,” according to Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery of the Clery.

In this interview with Vatican Media, the Prefect says that, in his Letter, the Holy Father indicates the path to “preserve, proclaim, and foster the beauty of a priesthood faithful to Christ, His Word, and the Church,” and calls for “pastoral ‘styles’ that do not seek to diminish or water down the radical proposal of the Gospel, but that proclaim it without fear.”

Interview with Cardinal Lazarus You Hueng-sik

Your Eminence, Pope Leo XIV – just a few days before Christmas – wanted to surprise us with this Apostolic Letter on the ordained ministry. What are your impressions of the Letter?

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the Holy Father’s decision to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the conciliar decrees Optatam totius and Presbyterorum ordinis, which, albeit from different perspectives, deal with the life of priests, their formation, and ordained ministry. I believe that the Holy Father’s choice is particularly important, especially at a time when the priesthood can be seen as a legacy of an ancient world destined to disappear or – perhaps because of the many painful scandals – as a vocation that has lost its appeal, its beauty and its relevance. I believe that this Apostolic Letter reminds all God’s holy people that the priesthood is a wonderful gift, a very high responsibility, but above all an essential ministry in the mission of the Church as willed by the Lord Jesus.

“A fidelity that generates the future”: What do you think are the Pope’s main indications for the future of the priesthood within the mission of the Church?

I believe that the answer to this question can be found immediately in the title: there can be no future without fidelity. Fidelity, especially in the Western world, tends to be considered almost a negative value, something for immobile, static people of another era. Nothing could be further from the truth! The future of the Church is always built in a present that is nourished by history and tradition and that draws strength from these roots.

Obviously, fidelity does not mean closing oneself off to any kind of creativity of the Holy Spirit, but it means - on the part of all ordained ministers - always maintaining a spirit of inner adherence to the Lord’s call and to the mission that He has entrusted to us through the Church.

Fidelity, in fact, is the very measure of charity. True and authentic love, not centred on oneself, is nourished primarily by the Word of God and lives on small and great acts of fidelity. I therefore believe that the Holy Father’s Letter shows us the way forward, which we as the Dicastery for the Clergy must also follow in preserving, proclaiming, and fostering the beauty of a priesthood faithful to Christ, His Word, and the Church.

The text uses the lens of fidelity to analyse the different areas of the priest’s life. Which of these do you think is closest to the Holy Father’s heart?

The Holy Father explicitly says that he is particularly concerned about the effective exercise of communion and therefore of synodality in the life of the priest. A communion that effectively realises what is proper to the nature of priests. No priest can exist and work alone, but all are inserted into ecclesial communion and all live the same mission together with the other ordained ministers and the holy people of God.

I share the Holy Father’s exhortation to insist on the dimension of communion and on the assumption of a synodal form that is inherent in the ecclesial community and that can concretely represent a happy antidote to self-referentiality and isolation, which are common temptations in priestly life. A fraternal and friendly relationship with the bishop, authentic relationships with fellow priests and deacons, and relationships of co-responsibility with the laity are not simply accessory realities in the life of the priest, but are truly fruitful contexts for living one’s vocation and specificity in the best possible way, which does not dissolve into the “we” but finds its full realisation in it.

A Church that lives synodality more fully is not a Church that distributes roles or becomes democratic, but one that seeks to achieve true co-responsibility in sharing the ecclesial mission according to the specificity of each person for the growth of the Kingdom of God.

The letter insists on the theme of vocation as a gift and at the same time calls for a ‘renewed vocational Pentecost in the Church’. How can we respond pastorally to what many define as a real vocational crisis?

First of all, it must be clarified that it is not the Church that is experiencing a vocational crisis, but rather certain parts of the Church in particular, where secularisation has now reached all levels of society.

Furthermore, it seems that all vocations are in crisis, not just those to the ordained ministry. A world that encourages temporary, partial relationships and discourages stable, lasting commitments – let’s say faithful ones – is a world that distracts everyone from seeking their vocation, let alone persevering in it.

I believe, then, that as a Church – also by virtue of this text from the Holy Father – we must not resign ourselves to this state of affairs. We must insist on proclaiming the beauty and complementary diversity of all vocations, from marriage to religious life to the ordained ministry, because they all contribute to the building up of the Church and to the happy fulfilment of oneself.

For this reason, Pope Leo XIV invites us to adopt generative pastoral styles that do not seek to diminish or water down the radical proposal of the Gospel, but proclaim it without fear, certain that the Lord continues to call each and every one of us to a full and meaningful life for the good of the whole Church.

In paragraph 25 of the apostolic letter, there is a very interesting passage on the responsible use of social networks by priests, who have tens of thousands of followers on some platforms. What is your opinion on this?

Yes, I found this specific passage that the Holy Father includes in his exhortation to fidelity to the mission rather interesting.

It is clear that the context of the internet, and social networks in particular, can and, I would say, must be places where priests can live and proclaim the Gospel.

At the same time, however, the Holy Father’s text contains an invitation to every priest to always point to Christ and never to himself, in the style of John the Baptist, by virtue of that concealment necessary for evangelisation. This can be very difficult to achieve in a “place” where image and the way it is communicated are fundamental.

Therefore, I believe that the discernment regarding evangelisation that the Holy Father invites us to make should be the subject of future reflection for our Dicastery as well, so that we can give everyone the necessary tools to wisely inhabit places and contexts that present new challenges for the mission of the Church.

This dimension also requires greater awareness and adequate preparation, without fear or closed-mindedness, but with enthusiasm and passion for the ever-new proclamation of the Gospel, in fidelity to the call to generate the future.