Several of the ordination invitations that I have received over the last few years have been very clear to say the man was being ordained a priest of Jesus Christ. And this really needs to be the focus — that is, a Christocentric focus, a Christological focus. We share in his mission.

We share in his priesthood. Just as all other aspects of our lives must be Christological, so, too, the way we lead must always be in and through Christ. There are ways in which we share this, ways that (1) are focused on entering into greater communion with God and with others, (2) being in deeper collaboration, particularly in the fraternity of priests and also with others who are around us, and (3) extensive co-responsibility in mission, for the mission of Christ, as a leadership stance.

Communion

Who are we in communion with? When we look at our lives as priests, we are called to a life of communion with God. We cooperate with the grace that we have received in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders to be more fully configured to Christ. And that requires our being in a stance of prayer. And not just simply prayer, which is what we do as an obligation, such as praying the Liturgy of the Hours, a promise that we made. But rather the prayer of the Church, which unites us with the Church, offers us an even deeper and more intimate connection with the Word of God. And in that prayer, we have a way of being in communion with God throughout the day.

But it can become rote. It can become routine. How do we enter into deeper silence and listening in our personal prayer and, particularly, how we are in communion through the Eucharist, in our celebration of the Eucharist, as well as in our adoration of the Eucharist, coming before our Eucharistic Lord in silence, in listening, in communion? It is that communion that we are called to draw others into.

We are in a time of Eucharistic revival. Beyond the Eucharistic Congress, the revival continues into a time of mission — going forth and assisting others in recognizing the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and coming together as the Body of Christ, particularly in the Mass, and to assist others into coming into communion with Christ in and through the Eucharist. But that needs to be born out of our own prayer.

What is the way that we come to the Eucharist? We come with all sorts of difficulties, situations or issues, often when we are trying to sit down for prayer or when we are about to celebrate Mass. It can be challenging. What do we do to silence ourselves, to be in a more listening and receptive stance, and to cooperate with the grace that we are given? We have an opportunity, an opportunity to be in greater communion.

That communion is not only with God, but it is also with others, with our bishop or our major superior if we are in a religious community. Religious priests, though, are always serving the Church of a given diocese in one way or another, even if it is simply through receiving faculties. Religious priests are meant to be in communion with the local bishop, with the religious that they may be collaborating with, with staff members, with leaders in the parish or in other ministries, parishioners and various others who we are called to be in communion.

And if we are leading Christologically, our life as priests is meant to build and to provide and to enhance greater communion; not to create disunity, but instead unity; not uniformity, but unity — greater union with one another. Also, it creates a deeper communion and fraternity, particularly with brother priests. And that opportunity is there. It is important to ask ourselves, In what ways am I in communion with others?

Am I a builder of communion, one who is enhancing communion wherever I am and in whatever I am doing? That can be a challenge, at times, because there are many ways in which there is disunity, where there is polarization, where there is the possibility to be in this camp or that camp. It is not about the camps. It is about what Christ is calling me and this community that I am leading to. What is he calling me to do to build the Body of Christ even more fully?

He builds the body. He is the one who creates the body. But in what ways are we assisting others in deepening their communion as the Body of Christ? Within a diocesan presbyterate, or even within a religious community, in what ways is there greater communion and fraternity that is occurring? And if religious are involved in diocesan ministries, particularly in parishes, what is the way in which those members of the community are in communion with their diocesan brother priests?

We share one priesthood of Jesus Christ. And, yes, religious do that in and through a charism. But that doesn’t mean it is a different priesthood. It means that religious are called to both. All priests are called to an even greater working toward true priestly fraternity among all. That sometimes can be challenging.

Sometimes it is generationally and culturally challenging. Sometimes it is ecclesiologically and politically challenging. Sometimes it is a challenge between diocesan priests and religious priests. There are all sorts of challenges that are within the priesthood. This communion needs to be even more full. More work needs to occur to come to deeper communion with God and others.

Collaboration

What kind of mentorship are we getting? What kind of accompaniment are we receiving, spiritual accompaniment? Spiritual direction is critically important for priests to remain Christocentric; it is this opportunity to review where we are and how we are engaging in our priestly ministry, how we are before God and how our spiritual life is informing all that we do.

Our relationship, our encounter with Christ should inform all that we do. If there is no regular spiritual direction, then what can occur is simply an internal dialogue that may go on in a way that is not fruitful. Spiritual direction gives a reality check of whether or not we are on the right path. We have all of this background in theology and spirituality and various aspects of our education, our formation, but that does not make us independent spiritual operators.

We are meant to collaborate with others, particularly with a spiritual director, but also with priests who may have additional experience, and others who have experience. We are called to be in a position of learning from others who may well be younger and less experienced but may have a fresh perspective, showing us what we are not seeing. As a priest of 30 years, I learn from priests of various ages, as well as from religious and laypeople.

The leader needs to be a learner, as well, someone who can recognize that there is always more in the way of formation. This is especially true of peers, classmates or those who are around our age or have a similar experience. There is more that we can learn from our peers, and the way in which our peers can assist us, who perhaps have known us for many, many years and can probably say things to us that others may not be able to.

But do we trust? Are we vulnerable? We know that there are fewer and fewer priests of certain generational cohorts. And sometimes this learning dialogue just doesn’t occur because there may not be significant peers, which makes it even more important to develop various relationships so as to grow spiritually, to be in spiritual support.

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Pastoral Experience and Collaboration

We read more about priestly collaboration in the Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests, from the U.S. bishops Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, published June 2023: “Every diocese has a great deal of pastoral experience, and certain priests will be especially effective in particular ministries. When a priest is given a new assignment, he can find it helpful to make on-site visits to priests successfully doing similar work, learning from them on the ground. In addition, those who serve in similar capacities — for instance, those involved in campus ministry, hospital work, or military or prison chaplaincy — might consider gathering periodically to share best practices and speak about particular situations they face. They can be means of ongoing formation for each other, as well as a source of encouragement and new friendships” (No. 232).

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In a recent study by The Catholic Project, based at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., one of the questions on that survey, which was the largest survey of priests in 50 years, asked about the sources of support. What kind of spiritual support system do you have? This is another way of collaborating.

Among those priests, 93% of them received support from lay friends, 88% from family, 87% from parishioners (for those in diocesan assignments) and 80% from the leader of one’s religious institute (for religious priests). Unfortunately, it goes down from there to 73% from fellow priests. And then the bishop, for diocesan priests, was down to 60% as the place of support (“National Study of Catholic Priests – Highlights,” The Catholic Project, Oct. 19, 2022, p. 9). There certainly seems to be a need for enhancement in different areas of support with the leaders of religious institutes, with bishops, but also with fellow priests. That number of 73%, lower in comparison to lay friends, family and parishioners, is something that could be an important area to work on in the coming years of how collaboration can be more fully done.

Co-Responsibility

Greater co-responsibility in mission is really the way in which Christ acted. The way in which Christ and his method centers us on himself was that he made all the baptized co-responsible for his mission. Sometimes as leaders, when we hear this term co-responsibility, it is looked at as co-governance. Of course, we recognize as the ordained that we share in sanctifying, in teaching and in governing.

We are also called as priests to emulate the method of Christ. If we’re going to lead Christologically, to emulate the method that Jesus used, it will be sending out disciples, sending them forth to continue the mission, just as Jesus sent out the 72. This is a leadership stance, assisting others in becoming co-responsible for the mission of Christ and the Church. Some have thought about the Synod on Synodality, as it really has as a central focus this co-responsibility in mission (cf. Synthesis Report, XVI Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops, First Session).

But this thinking is not a new thing. Many people will point to an address of Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 to the Pastoral Convention of the Diocese of Rome, where he spoke about moving beyond collaboration to co-responsibility. But he was talking about mission. Pope Benedict was clear about the role of priests: “This common awareness of being Church of all the baptized in no way diminishes the responsibility of parish priests. It is precisely your task, dear parish priests, to nurture the spiritual and apostolic growth of those who are already committed to working hard in the parishes. They form the core of the community that will act as a leaven for the others.”

These terms — communion, collaboration, co-responsibility — are also found in the final Report of the Extraordinary Synod of 1985, on the 20th anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council. “Because the Church is communion there must be participation and co-responsibility at all of her levels” (Part C, No. 6).

As we well know, it was in the documents of the council, particularly in Lumen Gentium and Apostolicam Actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), as well as Presbyterorum Ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests) and Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Appropriate Renewl of the Consecrated Life), we see how all of these states of life, as well as in marriage, there is a communion, there is a collaboration and there is a co-responsibility for mission. Pope Francis put it this way when he spoke in Philadelphia in 2015: “One of the great challenges facing the Church in this generation is to foster in all the faithful a sense of personal responsibility for the Church’s mission, and to enable them to fulfill that responsibility as missionary disciples, as a leaven of the Gospel in our world” (Homily, Sept. 26, 2015).

How do we go about developing this co-responsibility? By doing the things that were mentioned earlier about communion and collaboration, but also by working at being in good communication with others. And that communication is both prayer and communicating with those around us. And that means focusing on: What are we communicating? Are we witnessing Christ?

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Checklist for spiritual formation

Offering a checklist, of sorts, for spiritual formation, the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests suggests the following: “It is hoped that each priest, perhaps during spiritual retreats, would develop a concrete plan of life, possibly in agreement with his own spiritual director. The following points may be indicated: 1. daily meditation on the Word or on a mystery of the Faith; 2. daily personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist apart from the devout celebration of the holy Mass; 3. Marian devotion (Rosary, consecration or offering, intimate conversation); 4. periods of doctrinal formation and study of hagiography; 5. due rest; 6. renewed effort to put into practice the indications of the bishop and to verify his convictions of adherence to the magisterium and to ecclesiastical discipline and; 7. care for his communion and friendship with other priests” (No. 76).

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It also calls us to greater compassion, to a deeper suffering with the other who is present before us. This offers us an opportunity to be a compassionate presence, the presence of Christ to the other in communion with the other. The way in which co-responsibility occurs is through cooperation, a recognition of the various charisms that we and others have been entrusted with by God, the Holy Spirit.

Co-responsibility in mission provides a way in which we are sharing in the mission of Christ. The priest helps to form others to take on this co-responsibility when they are sent from the Mass, but also in the preaching, the teaching and the way in which leading is done, which will witness to how co-responsibility can be lived, because it is a co-responsibility for the mission of Christ. Ours as baptized, especially as priests, is not a personal mission, but the mission of Christ.

Leading Christologically requires greater communion, deeper collaboration and true co-responsibility in mission. When these things are done, the focus is less on self and much more on Christ. If we are going to live and lead as priests of Jesus Christ, we need to be doing even more, more for his mission, not our mission; his priesthood, not our personal priesthood. 

FATHER FRANK DONIO, SAC, is executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men.