On June 9, 2010, Paul VI Hall in the Vatican witnessed an amazing event. As the Year for Priests was coming to a close, songs, experiences, and artistic pieces from around the world celebrated the figure of the priest in today’s world.

Promoted and put together by priests of the Focolare and Schoenstatt movements, in collaboration with the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal and other Church organizations, the gathering’s main objective was to highlight examples of authentic communion in priestly life which are supported by the new charisms, and how these can be a gift for clergy.

A particularly meaningful artistic piece was prepared by the musical group Gen Verde together with a Romanian Orthodox choir, the Psalmody Transylvania and the drama group Ars Amoris, about the life of St. John Marie Vianney.

Three survivors shared the story of the massacre of a group of seminarians in Burundi, one of them now a priest, in memory of those who bore witness with their lives that unity between these warring peoples (Hutu and Tutsi) is possible. Brendan Purcell, an Irish priest, shared how he overcame a spiritual trial in which his celibacy was put at risk by embracing even more radically his choice of God. Finally there was the story of a German priest who fell into alcoholism and was saved by his community.

“The breath of communion is essential for the health of the body of the Church,” said Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who came to bring the Pope’s greetings. A priest, who spoke at the conference, also said: “Today I start again to live my priesthood with the enthusiasm of the first years and the maturity of the 40 years that I have been a priest.” The reactions of the laity were also significant: “Today I saw the Church of tomorrow, the Church that will accompany my children as they grow.” The global embrace of the Church, the unity of the Church that I’ve discovered, has taken up a central place in my heart.”

On June 11, 2010, Feast of the Sacred Heart, an image of the newly proclaimed patron of all priests, St. John Marie Vianney was center stage in the closing ceremony in Rome. There were about 15,000 priests who concelebrated the solemn Mass for the closing event.
Benedict XVI’s words were full of encouragement for the priests. The Bishop of Rome told them that the priesthood is “a gift concealed in ‘earthen vessels’ which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes [God’s] love concretely present in this world.”
The Year for Priests thus came to its final moments in the same light with which it began: with the Pope inviting his priestly brothers to Christ.
In the letter with which the Holy Father proclaimed the year, he wrote: “Dear priests, Christ is counting on you. In the footsteps of the Curé of Ars, let yourselves be enthralled by him. In this way you too will be, for the world in our time, heralds of hope, reconciliation and peace!