Priests in Love with God and Eager to Witness to the Gospel

Book excerpt: "Rooted in the lessons of history and the saints and woven together with prayer, Archbishop Emeritus Hughes calls present and future ministers of the Church back to the transformative basics of the priesthood." —From the foreword by Bishop Robert Barron Clerical sexual abuse, COVID-19, declining parishes, and racial unrest—these are some of the many challenges facing Catholic priests and bishops today. Where can they find the wisdom they need to address these and other daunting difficulties? Archbishop Emeritus Hughes draws on the some of the greatest spiritual guides the Church has ever known to offer a vision for contemporary priestly life—Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and beyond. He also turns to the timeless advice found in great conciliar documents. What emerges from his survey of the past is the understanding that the Catholic priesthood has overcome many trials throughout its history and the confidence that it will do so in our own day by rediscovering the timeless sources of renewal. This book is intended to serve a double purpose. It can be used as a text for seminarians, together with a reader drawn from the cited classics, or as a rich source of spiritual reading for priests and bishops.