The Church wants priests who are unafraid of persecution, are angels of hope and charity, and are convincing witnesses with a life rooted in prayer and the Gospel, Pope Francis told new archbishops.
"It's quite simple, because the most effective and authentic witness is one that does not contradict, by behaviour and lifestyle," what one preaches and teaches, he said during a Mass celebrating the feasts of Saints Peter and Paul on Monday.
Forty-six archbishops representing 34 countries, who were named over the course of the last year, were invited to come to Rome to concelebrate the feast day Mass with Pope Francis.
The Choir of New College, Oxford, sang at the Mass. The Emeritus Professor of Choral Music at the University of Oxford and New College Fellow, Edward Higginbottom, told The Tablet the invitation was “a characteristically ecumenical move”.
Among those invited to concelebrate were Archbishops Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland; and Kieran O'Reilly of Cashel and Emly, Ireland; Blase Cupich of Chicago; Anthony Fisher of Sydney; John C Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Denis Grondin of Rimouski, Quebec.
This year, however, the Pope set aside an element that had been part of the Mass for the past 32 years, by no longer conferring the pallium on new archbishops during the liturgy.
The archbishops were to be present for the Pope's blessing of the palliums in order to underline their bond of unity and communion with him. But the actual imposition of the woollen band was to take place in the archbishop's archdiocese in the presence of his faithful, and bishops from neighbouring dioceses.
The change was meant to better "highlight the relationship of the metropolitan archbishops with their local churches, giving more faithful the possibility of being present for this significant rite," Mgr Guido Marini, papal master of liturgical ceremonies, said in January.
During his homily, the Pope said the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles recalled the harsh persecution faced by the early Christians.
"However, I do not wish to dwell on these atrocious, inhuman and incomprehensible persecutions, sadly still present in many parts of the world today," which he said often happened right in front of everyone's eyes and is often met with complete silence.
Instead, the Pope said he wanted to "pay homage to" these courageous Christians who evangelised fearlessly in a pagan culture; they are, he said, models for Christians today, and a "powerful call to prayer, to faith and to witness."
"The Church does not belong to popes, bishops, priests or the lay faithful; the Church in every moment belongs solely to Christ," he said, and this is how, despite the many "storms" in time and sins of its members, the Church is able to remain "ever faithful to the deposit of faith shown in service."
As is customary, an Orthodox delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople attended the Mass. After the liturgy in St Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis walked side by side with Metropolitan John of Pergamon, head of the delegation, down the stairs under the main altar to pray together at the tomb of St Peter.
Top: Archbishops Anthony Fisher of Sydney and Blase J Cupich of Chicago exchange sign of peace during Mass marking feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican. Above: The palliums. Photo: CNS photo/Paul Haring
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