VATICAN - Benedict XVI tells professors and students of the Pontifical French Seminary: “The task of forming priests is a delicate mission. Seminary formation is demanding, as a part of the people of God will be entrusted to the pastoral care of the future priests, a people that Christ has saved and for whom He gave His own life.”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father Benedict XVI received the professors and students of the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome on June 6, as the institution, having been run for years by the Holy Ghost Fathers, is now to pass under the aegis of the Conference of Bishops of France. “I am delighted to receive you on this occasion of the celebrations that mark an important moment in the history of the Pontifical French Seminary of Rome,” the Pope said at the beginning of his address. “The Holy Ghost Fathers, who have directed the school since its foundation, now pass on the management after 150 years, to the French Bishops Conference. We should give thanks to the Lord for the work accomplished by this institution, founded in 1853, where some 5,000 seminarians have been prepared for their future vocations.”
The Holy Father praised the work of the Holy Ghost Fathers and Brothers, entrusting the “apostolates that the Congregation founded by the Venerable Fr. Liberman conserves and carries out throughout the world – especially in Africa – rooted in their charism that has not lost any of its strength and relevance.”
Benedict XVI then highlighted that “the task of forming priests is a delicate mission. Seminary formation is demanding, as a part of the people of God will be entrusted to the pastoral care of the future priests, a people that Christ has saved and for whom He gave His own life. Seminarians should recall that the Church is demanding with them because they will have to care for those that Christ has drawn to Himself at a high cost.” Mentioning the many attitudes required of future priests, the Holy Father highlighted that in order to acquire these virtues, “the candidates to the priesthood should not only be a testimony to their formators, but they should – more importantly – be the first to receive these qualities lived and spread by those in charge of their maturation...Those whose duty it is to discern and form [seminarians] must remember that the hope they place in others is, first and foremost, a duty they themselves must shoulder.”
On the eve of the inauguration of the Year of the Priest, the new group of priest formators from the French Bishops' Conference are being given, “along with the entire Church, the possibility of delving deeper into the identity of the priest, mystery of grace and mercy,” Benedict XVI said, quoting Cardinal Suhard and recalling the figure of the Cure of Ars, with the hope that it will be “a vocational call to many young Christians in France who seek a meaningful and fruitful life at the service of God's love!”
Lastly, the Pope expressed his hope that “during the period they spend in Rome, the seminarians may familiarize themselves with the history of the Church, discovering the true dimensions of her catholicity and her living unity around Peter's Successor, and always maintaining love for the Church alive in their hearts.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 8/6/2009)