Become a priest in 2022? Nine months after the publication of the Ciase report, which was an earthquake for the Church of France, future and new priests are facing a still troubled context. Questions about their training, their emotional life or even their possible “sacredness” were at the heart of the debates when the report was received. In addition, during the field phase of the Synod on synodality, which opened in October 2021, the place of the priest and his way of exercising his ministry gave rise, here and there, to some tensions and frustrations.
While the month of June is traditionally the month of ordinations, the young men who enter the priesthood are obviously not outside these questions. On the contrary. The six newly ordained in six different dioceses that The cross a questioned all affirm their desire to collaborate further with the laity.
They too are wondering, in a context of scarcity of priestly vocations and the problem of the territorial grid which can sometimes lead to exhaustion and a loss of meaning for priests. This year, the ordinations also take place in the context of the suspension by the Vatican of those planned in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, sanctioning the reception of communities with sectarian aberrations.
But trust seems to be the key word for future and new priests, who all testify to a unique journey to respond to the call they felt. Despite the difficulties and a form of poverty in the Church of France, they believe, as assured by Florian Aubonnet who will be ordained for the diocese of Pontoise, in “a missionary Church, which speaks of Jesus and allows people to meet him”.
