Asunción, Paraguay, Jun 19, 2010 / 11:29 am
During his visit to the Seminary of St. Joseph in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, the country's papal nuncio, Archbishop Eliseo Antonio Ariotti, reminded the seminarians that the Church needs “passionate priests who are faithful to the Gospel.”
The prelate thanked Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano and the other members of the seminary’s board of directors for the invitation and the welcome they extended to him.
“I send you the fraternal greetings of Pope Benedict XVI, who constantly prays to God that He will protect you with His grace in your journey to one day become pastors of God’s flock,” the nuncio said.
Archbishop Ariotti told the seminarians that the Church “needs priests who are passionate for the Lord and very close to their brother priests.” He added that they must “stand up for the Church's teachings” and “speak of God to others of the love He has for them.”
“The Church needs priests who are men of God,” he added, “who are faithful to the Gospel and have the missionary spirit in their hearts.”