Priesthood Under Criticism, Catholic Bishop in Nigeria Urges Priests to Work “towards creating right image”

He emphasized the need for Priests “to take a critical look at ourselves, our values, our life-styles, the way we exercise authority and the way we relate with others.”

While it is not possible to escape criticism, Bishop Yakubu said, “we must allow prudence to instruct us to question from time to time the type of leadership we exercise among our people, whether we are forming them after the mind of Christ's image and likeness or molding them to our own likeness.”

“There is no doubting the fact that the false images of the priesthood that many of us Priests have created has wounded the mystical body of Christ and slows down the work of Evangelization,” he observed. 

He continued, “Nevertheless, for our celebration and appreciation of the call to the priesthood in this Chrism Mass to become more meaningful, we need to take time out to rethink how to restore the dignity and the correct image of what should be known and celebrated as Catholic Priesthood.”

“My brothers, be men of a Priestly heart so that the faithful will want to listen and to hear what you have to say; so that the faithful will feel the closeness that comes from the ministry of your anointed hands,” the Nigerian Catholic Bishop during the March 26 anticipated Chrism Mass traditionally marked on Holy Thursday.  

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He added, “In the heart of the Priest, there is no room for unforgiving anger or deliberate greed, no room for selfishness or lust, no room for jealousy or calculation, no room for isolation, separation or distancing ourselves from our brother Priests. My brothers when your heart is divided, your priesthood is fractured and not revealed as Christ would have it.”

“When you speak, when you preach, when you teach, when you give counsel as Priests, the faithful listen for God’s voice. Yes, your words matter. Not only what you say but how you say it,” Bishop Yakubu further said, and added, “Therefore, be thoughtful when you speak. Be careful when you speak. And be faithful in your words of truth.”

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