On the 10th of June in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, His Eminence Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, presided the Eucharistic celebration opening the Third Worldwide Priests’ Retreat organized by the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal (ICCRS) and by the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships (CFCCCF) on the theme: “Called to sanctity for the new evangelization”. During the homily, first of all, Cardinal Rylko invited all more than thousand priests, coming for the occasion from the five continent and from more than ninety countries, to live those retreat days having the Virgin Mary as a companion: «We want to be at Her school to become “nowadays contemplatives of the mystery of God in our world” as She is…». After underlining this, the bishop wished for each priest present a renewed discover of the gift and mystery of his own priestly vocation, and the reawakening of a profound missionary thrust. A risk exists, explained Cardinal Rylko, and that is tiredness and self-referentiality, and the risk of losing the closeness and enthusiasm of the “first love”. He then invited to give praise to the Lord for all those priests who were ‘sad’ and thanks to Charismatic Renewal or through other ecclesial movements rediscovered the joy of priesthood and priestly ministry.
The retreat ended on June 14, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The climax of that day was the presence of the Holy Father Francis.
