D. Manuel Clemente presided over the ordination of five priests at the Jerónimos Monastery following the guidelines of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference in the context of the pandemic
Foto Arlindo Homem / AE, Ordinations at the Jerónimos Monastery
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Lisbon, June 28, 2020 (Ecclesia) – The cardinal-patriarch presided over the ordination of five priests today at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, referring to the option for the poor and celibacy and warned of “physical limitations” and “educational order” and cultural ”that mark growth.
For D. Manuel Clemente there are “physical limitations in some cases that require a competent clinical response” and “others are added in an educational and cultural order, when some ideology or prejudice contradicts the formation and growth in a general framework of humanizing values”.
The cardinal-patriarch underlined the need to safeguard “values such as respect for life, conceived or weakened, the essential complementarity between men and women, equal dignity for all or openness to transcendent religion”.
“Omitting or countering such values deforms and dulls anyone. And since very early, unfortunately, ”he said.
Asked by the ECCLESIA Agency at the end of the celebration whether these references were made taking into account any specific fact, namely the broadcast of a television series aimed at children and adolescents, D. Manuel Clemente stated that “nothing in particular was at issue”, rather, it is a “general indication that there can be no education without conviction”.
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Foto Arlindo Homem / AE, Ordinations at the Jerónimos Monastery
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Foto Arlindo Homem / AE, Ordinations at the Jerónimos Monastery
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Foto Arlindo Homem / AE, Ordinations at the Jerónimos Monastery
“This is just what I wanted to say: we have a tradition of our own, which is one that we extract from the Gospel, which in relation to the fundamental equality of all men and women and also its complementarity, which has to do with the respect for life from conception to natural death, religious freedom, and these indications are general and are the same, ”he said.
In the homily of the priestly ordination Mass, D. Manuel Clemente recalled that the priestly vocation is “much more than a mere professional choice”, to be realized in following Jesus Christ, who “went far beyond the natural order of things and the limit spontaneous affection, preferring the latter to loving everyone equally, with an undivided heart ”.
“It is in this sense that the preferential option for the poor or celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, the heavens signal what goes beyond flesh and blood. Demanding permanent conversion, they are a great service of the Church to the world so that it does not end in itself, so that the world becomes the matter of the Kingdom and all good is eternalized in that Love that will never end ”, he stressed.
From priests today ordained by the cardinal-patriarch of Lisbon, three are from the Olivais Seminary (Artur Delgado, Mendo Ataíde and Tomás Castel-Branco) and two from the Redemptoris Mater Seminar (Eduardo López, from Guatemala, and Gonzalo Palácios, from Spain)
According to the guidelines published by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference for the celebration of Catholic public worship in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, in early May, the ordination of priests and deacons follows the “same restrictions and conditions as Sunday Mass”, with “ hygiene procedures ”when physical contact is necessary, namely in the“ gesture of obedience ”and in the assistance of the“ newly ordained to put on the vestments of their order ”, which no longer happens in the“ laying on of hands ”and in the “embrace of peace”.
The anointing of the hands of the new priests was also done differently, with the addition of a little and oil with a spoon.
For Father Alberto Gomes, from the Liturgy Department of the Patriarchate of Lisbon, the celebration of ordinations, “as after weddings, baptisms and other sacraments”, involves living the rites “with more care” and with a “reduction of the intervening parties” .
The celebration of the ordination of five priests at the Jerónimos Monastery was attended by 50 priests from the Lisbon Presbytery, who represented the various regions and different bodies of the diocese.
PR
7. Ordinations63. In terms of participants, ordinances are subject to the same restrictions and conditions as Sunday Mass. 64. With more than one candidate, there will have to be hygiene procedures between the gestures that imply contact with each ordinant. 65. The laying on of the hands, in silence, of the ordering Bishop on the heads of the ordinands, required for the validity of the ordination, will not have physical contact. 66. In the ordination of new elders, the representation of the presbytery should be reduced (members of the Cabido, seminary formators, parish priests of residence, residence and internship…); only these will make the gesture of laying on of hands, but without establishing physical contact with the ordinands (this is not required the validity); in the greeting of welcome in the Order, the embrace of peace will be replaced by a collective reciprocal bow. 67. In the ordination of deacons, the presence of other deacons should be reduced to the minimum necessary for the seasonal liturgy. In welcoming the Order, the embrace of peace will be replaced by a collective reciprocal bow. 68. Before and after the gesture of obedience (hands in hands) and anointing, ordinands and bishops will clean their hands. 69. The elders and deacons who help the newly ordained to put on the vestments of their order will also clean their hands. Guidelines of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference for the celebration of the Catholic public service in the context of the pandemic COVID-19, of May 8, 2020 |
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