Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - On 27 May at the basilica of St Eugenio in Rome Opus Dei celebrated the ordination of 34 new priests.
At the beginning of the Mass Bishop Javier Echevarría, Prelate of Opus Dei, told the 34 deacons and their families that Pope Benedict XVI sent his special Blessing to them all on the important occasion. In his homily the Bishop reflected on three aspects of the priestly ministry: the Eucharist, preaching and exercising divine mercy.
Bishop Echevarría said "God’s loving paternity never leaves us" and the principal task of the priest is to "mirror this paternity of God in spiritual direction and in the administration of the sacrament of penance which Saint Josemaría called the sacrament of joy ".
One of the new priests is Australian born Amin Abboud, aged 41, a former medical doctor who used to work at Concord General Hospital in Sydney. Another of the new priests is Italian Luca Fantini, from Genoa with a passion for astronomy and physics. Also ordained was Alfonso Sánchez de Lamadrid, from Seville aged 45. A biologist, he studied for 15 Cadice Bay and the coast of Andalusia. Adilson Martini from Brazil left his job with a building company to study in Rome and become a priest. These men left professions to become, as St Josemaría used to say, priests ‘one hundred percent’.
The new priests come from Brazil, Italy, Australia, Guatemala, Venezuela, USA, Austria, Spain and Peru. (AP) (7/6/2006 Agenzia Fides; Righe: 25; Parole: 269 )
