Priests urged to transmit the 'beauty' of truth and goodness

A united nations of priests, bishops and cardinals wrapped in a sea of scarves which reflected most colours of a hope-filled rainbow descended gently into the deep-red chairs of the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta yesterday for the start of proceedings at the International Convention of Priests.

A gentle bee-like drone slowly filled the huge hall until the crescendo climaxed into a forceful expression of collective chant by an orderly swarm of soldiers with just one objective in mind: the sanctity of priestly life.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, said in an informal concluding address he had told the Pope that in no other institution were there so many representatives from different countries. This was in exemplifying evidence at the congress as faces ranging in colour from white to yellow to black and wearing anything from the formal cassock to a pair of shorts, listened intently to the proceedings, though the pace proved a little much for some who preferred to take a discreet nap instead.

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos asked out loud if the eight Polish priests caught up in a storm at sea on their way to Malta had made it to the congress. One priest did stand up but he was not so much lost at sea as in translation and the false alarm revealed that none has yet made it.

However, the cardinal's appeal for priests from other nations to stand up yielded one from Iraq, whose presence was met with resounding applause, together with one from Israel and one from Palestine - all sitting in close proximity of one another in perfect harmony. Two more familiar faces wearing violet caps were also forced by the other bishops to stand up when Malta's name was called out and the hosts were greeted with boisterous cheers.

In the history-filled corridors of the Mediterranean Conference Centre during the morning break, the Archbishop, Mgr Joseph Mercieca, said the congress was a great gain because it would help priests in their quest to be saintly. And he added: "Sanctity is also open to lay people. It is something for all of us."

The Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Nikol Cauchi, said the congress was a new experience and that there was a need for people to live a better spiritual life. "What we receive from the congress, we can pass on to the clergy, who in turn can pass it on to our faithful," he said.

The Metropolite Archbishop of Chieti, Mgr Bruno Forte, gave a powerful presentation in which he asked how priests could introduce holiness to men and women "of this troubled post-modern age we live in".

And he went on: "How can we make it attractive to young people, to the extent that they might be prepared to put their lives at stake for it? This is the first question which needs to be addressed when we talk about holiness, especially the holiness of priests, and if we want priestly life to be a viable option for young people to achieve a truly fulfilling and meaningful existence."

Mgr Forte insisted that the main subject of his talk, holiness as beauty, was found in unity and not in separation.

But, he said: "The meaning and road to holiness... have been completely lost to modernity, the age of strong and emancipated reason... in the age of the senselessly ambitious utopia of adult reason, beauty has been rejected, exiled or reduced to mere self interest, to utterly vulgar kitsch."

He said there was therefore an urgent need to recover the "beauty" of truth and goodness. Only by doing this could priests proclaim truth and goodness as significant values for mankind, "where the homogenising power of mass ideologies has given way to a multiplicity of loneliness engendered by the overpowering might of fragmentation".

Mgr Forte concluded: "Hence, being priests... will not only mean leading a useful existence but will mostly mean living a beautiful life, enriched by meaningfulness and passion."

The congress, which continues today, comes to an end in Gozo on Friday.