Pope Leo XIV’s advice to priests: ‘Holiness cannot be lived in isolation’

The journey toward holiness is fulfilled in union with Christ’s perfect heart — a holiness that cannot be lived in isolation, Pope Leo XIV said in a message for the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

“Cherish your priestly fraternity: Seek one another, listen to one another, and support one another. The priest who isolates himself slowly fades away; the priest who walks alongside his brothers grows,” the pope said in the June 12 message.

The World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests takes place every year on the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which in 2026 is celebrated on June 12.

The Sacred Heart, Leo said, “is the ‘place’ where holiness is manifested as closeness and tenderness. The priest’s holiness, then, is embodied in humble and courageous nearness, in being all things to all people, and in keeping the gate of the sheepfold open so that many can enter and find pasture and rest.”

“For this reason, we are called to a relationship with God that does not distance us from others but brings us closer to everyone — shaping patient and tender hearts, capable of closeness, compassion, and listening,” he added.

Pope Leo said it is “through the union of our imperfect hearts with Jesus’ pierced heart, our journey toward holiness is fulfilled. It is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. Such holiness cannot be lived in isolation.”

Reflecting on the mystery of the Lord’s pierced heart, the Holy Father emphasized that holiness is not an abstract ideal but a share in God’s own holiness.

“When he calls us to be holy as he is holy, he indicates that the path we must follow involves being fashioned after his own heart. And for us, dear brothers, this call is particularly radical,” he said, addressing his fellow priests.

The holiness asked of priests, Leo continued, is of a trustful abandonment transformed by the Holy Spirit: “Yet it is precisely here that the great paradox of our priestly life emerges. We are called to share in God’s own holiness, but we carry this treasure in earthen vessels.”

Reflecting on the imperfect, human side of the priesthood, the pontiff noted that “we are limited and imperfect, often weak and weary, and at times wounded. How can such a vulnerable human heart respond to such a high calling? The priest lives this tension. Yet at the same time, he must recognize that he finds peace in the open side of the Lord Jesus.”

“Our humanity is not compartmentalized,” he said. “Prayer, ministry, relationships, weariness, joys, and failures — even time or love that apparently seems wasted — all become privileged places where God reveals himself and his infinite love.”

He urged priests to renew the grace of their ordination through the daily celebration of the Eucharist, prayer, meditation on the word of God, and humble service to others.

“A priestly life that is steady and configured to Jesus’ heart is a credible sign of unity, peace, and mercy. Thus, in an age marked by division and fear, we must be builders of peace and witnesses of the tenderness of the Good Shepherd who knows how to gather the scattered and heal the wounded,” he said.

In his message, Pope Leo invited priests to daily renew their “Here I am” before Christ’s pierced heart and to remember the words of the Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney, who loved to say that “the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”

“This love is a pledge and a guarantee that, if we surrender and offer ourselves completely, nothing of us will be lost,” the pontiff said.

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/pope-leo-xiv-s-advice-to-priests-holiness-cannot-be-lived-in-isolation