By Msgr. Owen F. Campion

The Year of the Priest

In persona Christi, in the person of Christ, defines the priesthood

We chose with special care the photograph for the cover of this month's edition of The Priest. We choose the cover photo with special care every month. But, the difference this month was in the fact that we wanted to capture Pope Benedict XVI's particular affection for priests. He is their pastor, and he knows it.

This month begins the Year of the Priest, proclaimed as such by the Holy Father. It is an indication of the Pope's realization that priests, united with the bishops, and the bishops in union with each other and with the Bishop of Rome, actually bring the millions upon millions of Catholics, as well as others, into direct contact with the Lord.

Fourteen months ago, the Pope celebrated Mass in New York's wonderful St. Patrick's Cathedral for over 2,000 priests. Later that day, he appeared at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York, the New York archdiocesan seminary, to meet with students from seminaries all across the country.

No one who participated in, or watched, these events could fail to see the intense love the Pope feels for priests, and for the priesthood.

Enough biographies already have been written about Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, to provide a glimpse into his heart and soul as they developed during his childhood, youth, and early adulthood, and as his own priestly vocation eventually took form.

He was born in Bavaria, at his time, as for so many long centuries, a place of strong and holy Catholicism. He was born into, and reared in, a firmly Catholic family.

However -- and few Americans today can imagine the situation, living as Americans do in a society where democracy flourishes -- just as he entered adolescence his entire cultural milieu radically changed with the coming into power of Adolf Hitler. Millions upon millions of Germans saw in this charismatic figure, with his thundering eloquence and stark, revolutionary ideas, the hope not only for their country but for human civilization itself.

Josef Ratzinger saw something other than hope. He saw death.

Hitler's entire philosophy ignored God. Young Ratzinger and his brother knew that only in God is peace, joy, hope and order in life.

Their perceptions were confirmed in less than a dozen years. The boasts and diabolical audacity of the Hitler Era left millions dead, many dying in the face of great cruelty, an entire race depleted in a systematic program of targeted extermination, and the German nation, along with much of the rest of Europe, left in humiliation, despair, want and utter ruin.

It might be said that Josef Ratzinger's Catholic heritage was tested by fire, and that from this intensive testing came not only his great faith in God, as revealed in the Church, but his vocation. So, thinking about the Pope's own deep love for his vocation and for the priesthood, this magazine begins its Year of the Priest.

It honestly can be said that, for this magazine, every year is the Year of the Priest. For many decades, The Priest has existed solely with priests in its mind. Its articles, columns and even advertisements appear in the desire to enrich and accommodate priests as they serve the Lord in the Lord's Church.

Nevertheless, as the next 12 months unfold, The Priest will renew its dedication to its mission and its policy of presenting to priests materials useful to them as they find fulfillment in their own vocations and enhance the efforts put forth in their priestly ministries.

Emphasis will be on the nature of the priesthood itself. Today, as always, priests perform many functions. Some are pastors. Others teach. Others assist in the administration of the Church and in the coordination of the actual apostolic undertakings of the Church.

Others are contemplatives. Some are contemplatives by vocation.

Others spend their days in prayer because they have retired from active ministry.

Some are young; some are old. Some are in good health; some are in poor health. Many are happy and contented, fulfilled in their priesthood. Frankly, some are not so contented.

All of them share the priesthood, but they share the priesthood not simply among themselves. They share in the priesthood of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, the priest and victim of Calvary, now glorious in the victory of Easter. It is a reality so often and so fondly defined by the late Pope John Paul II as being in persona Christi, in the person of Christ.

Articles this year will look at the nature of priesthood, deliberately drawing upon Revelation and upon the Church's Magisterium in considering what the priesthood is, and what priests are.

This effort begins with this month's edition. The inaugural article is a reflection on the life of St. Jean Marie Vianney, the patron of priests. What prompted him to follow his vocation? What moved him in his priesthood? How did he define reward, and cost, in living his life as a priest?

As the year passes, other priests will be considered through the same lens. In October, as we observe the canonization of Father Damien of Molokai, we will publish his biography, applying the same questions as those applied in looking at the life of the Curé d'Ars.

In December, remembering the great enrichment to the Church in this country given by persons of Mexican background, we will feature Padre Pro, St. Miguel Pro, the Jesuit martyr in Mexico of the 1920s.

In March, as we pass through Lent, we will consider the heroism and dedication of Father Emil Kapaun, the military chaplain from the Diocese of Wichita, who died as prisoner-of-war in the Korean War, and whose cause for canonization is underway.

Finally, next May, we will look at the personal approaches to the priesthood of the late John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Each is a marvelous model for priests.

Additionally, each month, we will continue to feature articles and columns that we hope will be useful to priests. TP