By Joseph Tulloch
Pope Leo XIV sent a letter on Wednesday to the Major Archdiocesan Seminary in Trujillo, where he was once a professor and director of studies, expressing his gratitude for the institution’s “four centuries of history.”
In his letter, the Pope stressed that the essential task of those studying in the seminary remains the same as always: “to be with the Lord, to let Him form you, to know and love Him, so as to resemble Him.”
Priesthood is ‘total gift’ of self
Pope Leo invited seminarians to examine their deepest motivations, insisting that the priesthood cannot be understood as a mere personal ambition.
“The priesthood cannot be reduced to ‘reaching ordination,’ as if it were an external goal or an easy way out of personal problems,” the Pope wrote. “It is not a flight from what one does not wish to face, nor a refuge from affective, family, or social difficulties. Neither is it a promotion nor a safeguard, but a total gift of one’s existence.”
Pope Leo then warned against viewing the priesthood as a “mere prerogative or bureaucratic function,” stressing that “whoever seeks the priesthood for petty motives errs in his foundation and builds on sand.”
Prayer, study, and continuous discernment
The Pope explained that life in the seminary is “a path of interior reformation,” in which reflection and sincerity are essential for growth in maturity and freedom.
He urged seminarians to form a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer and listening to the Word: “He who speaks little with God cannot speak well of God!”
The Pope also underlined the value of theological study, since “the Church has always recognized that encounter with the Lord must take root in the intellect.” Study is “indispensable,” the Pope said, as it allows one’s faith to become “solid, reasoned, and capable of enlightening others.”
‘Flee mediocrity’ and live in communion
The Bishop of Rome then exhorted seminarians to “flee mediocrity” and not to allow themselves to be trapped by worldliness, activism, algorithms, or ideologies.
He also warned about the danger of priestly loneliness: “A priest in isolation is vulnerable… The Church needs holy pastors who give themselves together, not solitary functionaries.”
Bringing his letter to a close, Pope Leo assured the seminarians of his closeness and prayer: “You have a place in the heart of the Successor of Peter. The seminary is an immense and demanding gift, but you are never alone on this journey.” – Vatican News
