2024-01-24-eEdition

JANUARY 24, 2025 THE CATHOLIC WEEK PAGE 19 VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A priestly vocation is not merely a path to- ward salvation for the one who is called but should be a continuous self-gift that aligns each priest's life with God's plans for them, Pope Francis said. Speaking to his countrymen in a meeting with students and staff from the Argentine Priestly College in Rome Jan. 16, the pope began by noting how he would miss joining the college com- munity for dinner and eating Argentine barbecue. Pope Francis spoke to the group about St. José Gabriel del Rosario Bro- chero, a 19th-century Argentine priest he canonized in 2016 and about whom his friends said, "He should not have existed if not as a priest." The saint, known as the "Cura Bro- chero," was renowned for his pastoral work, especially among the poor and marginalized in rural areas of Argen- tina. "We must firmly assume this priestly identity, and realize that our vocation is not an appendix, a means to other ends, even pious ones, such as salvation; ab- solutely not," Pope Francis said. Rather, a vocation "is the project of God in our life, what God sees in us, what moves his gaze of love." Pope: Priesthood is a gift meant to be given