Benedict criticises careerism in Church

BY JOHN THAVIS IN ROME
ORDAINING FIVE new bishops, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged a spirit of service and criticised careerism in the Church.
“We know how life in society and not infrequently even in the Church suffers because many of those called to a position of responsibility work for themselves and not for the community,” the Pope said at a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.
He said the Church was not something that belonged to its highest officials. “The Church is not our Church, but ... the Church of God,” he said. “We do not bind men to ourselves; we do not seek power, prestige or admiration for ourselves. We lead people to Jesus Christ and thus toward the living God.” The Pope said that being faithful to the ordained ministry should be an experience of selfsacrifice, and therefore “liberating for the minister himself and for those entrusted to him”.
In addition to fidelity, Christ asks prudence and goodness from his ministers, he said. The essential virtue of any priest is to be imprinted by the truth of Christ, which requires an open mentality and a setting aside of prejudices. “We should not allow ourselves to be guided by the little window of our personal cleverness, but by the great window that Christ has opened on the whole truth,” he said.
The Pope ordained five Vatican officials who have been promoted to new positions.