Pope Leo XIV offers an uplifting message urging seminarians to be joyful and honest

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV kicked off a weeklong celebration of Catholic clergy Tuesday by encouraging seminarians to be joyful and honest, offering an uplifting message after Pope Francis frequently castigated priests and decried what he called the sin of “clericalism.”

History’s first American pope presided over a rollicking encounter with thousands of young men who were in Rome for a special Jubilee week celebrating seminarians, priests and bishops.

Tuesday’s encounter turned St. Peter’s Basilica into something resembling a concert venue, with seminarians waving their national flags, interrupting Leo frequently with applause and shouts of “Papa Leone” and straining against barricades to kiss his ring as he passed.

In his remarks, Leo thanked the seminarians for agreeing to devote their lives to the church and said that with their energy “you fuel the flame of hope in the life of the church.” He urged them to be brave, joyful, truthful and not hide behind masks or live hypocritical lives.

“You also have to learn to give a name and voice to sadness, fear, anxiety and indignation, bringing everything before God,” the Augustinian pope told them. “Crises, limitations, fragilities aren’t to be hidden, but are rather occasions for grace.”

Francis also frequently met with seminarians, priests and bishops. But he often had a message of tough love, railing against what he called clericalism, or the tendency to put priests and clergy on a pedestal. For Francis, clericalism was the root of many of the church’s problems, especially the clergy sex abuse and cover-up scandal, given how he said it can contribute to abuses of power and authority.

While offering a more positive message, Leo cited many of Francis’ concerns in urging seminarians to accompany the poor and lamenting today’s “throwaway culture.” The seminarians interrupted him with applause when he cited Francis by name.

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The message of encouragement may also have been aimed at addressing the Catholic Church’s chronic hemorrhaging of the number of clergy.

According to the latest Vatican statistics, the number of seminarians worldwide continued to drop even as the Catholic population grew. There were 108,481 seminarians at the end of 2022, compared to 109,895 the previous year. Only Africa and Oceania registered increases and the church registered steep declines in the traditionally Catholic Americas and Europe, and a more modest decline in Asia.

Over the coming days, Leo is expected to hold similar encounters with priests and bishops before presiding over a Jubilee Mass this weekend. This week marks something of the halfway mark of the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year, a celebration of Catholicism held once every quarter-century that has brought millions of pilgrims to Rome.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.