To open the Year for Priests in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, over 100 priests serving in the diocese gathered with Bishop Edmond Carmody to celebrate Mass in Corpus Christi Cathedral June 19. On the same day, Pope Benedict XVI venerated the relics of St. John Vianney, the Cure D'Ars, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The Pope is encouraging priests to live the evangelical counsels following the saint's example, and is urging them to help lay people live these virtues as well.

Celebrations on the local and international level marked the opening of the Year for Priests.

Formally opening the year, Pope Benedict urged all priests to strive for holiness and said the ordained ministry was indispensable for the church and the world.

"The church needs priests who are holy, ministers who help the faithful experience the merciful love of the Lord and who are convinced witnesses of that love," the pope said at a prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica June 19.

At the same time, in an apparent reference to cases of priestly sex abuse, he warned of the "terrible risk of damaging those we are obliged to save."

"Nothing makes the church and the body of Christ suffer so much as the sins of its pastors, especially those who transform themselves into ‘robbers of sheep,' either because they lead them astray with their private doctrines, or because they bind them in the snares of sin and death," he said.

On the same day in the Diocese of Corpus Christi 100 priests gathered with Bishop Edmond Carmody to mark the beginning of the year with a Mass in Corpus Christi Cathedral. The priests, originally from countries around the globe including, India, Africa, Ireland, the United States, Mexico and the Philippines are a witness to the universality of Christ's message of love and service for all through their calling to the priesthood, said the bishop.

Bishop Carmody thanked the clergy for their service, the essence of which is to bring people to Christ. "They are the shepherd's of God's people. They are to make the Church a home and school of Communion. They must strive to present the face of the Church as a place where all feel welcome and loved."

Addressing the priests he said, " You are God's gift. He has called you from among men, an awesome responsibility. You must be thoroughly grounded in your spiritual life by intense prayer. You are also called to cultivate fraternal relationships with fellow priests. You must also always be looking out for the confused, hurt and those in need of pastoral care. You must love the people with compassion and ask the people what they need. He advised the priests "not to be manipulated by pressure groups, who often try."

Bishop Carmody then asked the laity "to love and pray for your priests. Remember he is not your CEO or the director of the parish. He is present to help you know Jesus and to listen to you with compassion. Treat him with kindness and love and pray for him."

In Rome, thousands of priests packed the basilica for the evening prayer service, which was preceded by a procession of the relic of the heart of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. The pope proclaimed the yearlong focus on priestly ministry to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the saint's death.

Pope Benedict stopped to pray before the saint's heart, exposed in a glass and gold reliquary. In his homily, he said the French curate's heart was "burning with divine love," a love that priests today need to imitate if they are to be effective pastors.

The liturgy was celebrated on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a day of prayer for the sanctification of priests.

In his homily, the pope said the "essential nucleus of Christianity" is found in the heart of Jesus: the saving love of God that "invites us to step outside of ourselves" and "make ourselves a gift of love without reserve."

"God's heart throbs with compassion," he said.

He said priests should never forget that they are consecrated to "serve, humbly and with authority, the common priesthood of the faithful."

"Ours is an indispensable mission for the church and for the world, which demands full fidelity to Christ and unceasing union with him. It demands, therefore, that we tend constantly to sanctity, as St. John Vianney did," he said.

The pope said pastoral formation of priests was certainly important for modern priests. But even more necessary, he said, was the "'science of love' that one learns only in a ‘heart-to-heart' encounter with Christ."

The day before the opening liturgy, the pope issued a six-page letter thanking God for the gifts the majority of priests have given to the church and the world, even while acknowledging that some priests have done great harm.

He said he hoped priests would use the year and its special events to deepen their commitment to their own renewal "for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today's world."

Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Benedict has given special attention to priests and their ministry, holding frequent and lengthy off-the-cuff discussion sessions with clergy of Rome and other parts of Italy.

He has forcefully condemned the scandal of priestly sexual abuse, most notably during his visit to the United States in 2008. More recently, Irish bishops said the pope was visibly upset listening to their report on decades of abuse suffered by thousands of Irish children in the care of religious congregations. The pope has many times noted the burdens carried by priests in the modern age, including their increasing workload and their responsibility to preach and witness to Gospel values in a world that often seems indifferent to them.

The pope has also insisted on improved selection and formation of priests, so that they can live up to the promises made in their vocation -- in particular priestly celibacy.