World Day of Prayer for Priests

Today marks the Seventh Annual World Day of Prayer for Priests. The Day, which falls on the Feast of the Sacred Heart each year was an initiative put in place by the late Pope John Paul II in 2002. This day encourages and invites all believers around the world to pause at 3pm, local time, and offer up a prayer for their priest. In a Letter sent on this occasion to all priests, from the Prefect and Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes and Archbishop Mauro Piacenza respectively, the priority of prayer over action is made explicit, "since it is on prayer that the effectiveness of action depends. The Church's mission largely depends on each person's personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and must therefore be nourished by prayer." A special Mass will be celebrated in the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock, Co Mayo in Ireland at 3pm. The Mass will be broadcast from Knock today at 3pm GMT at www.worldpriestday.com The site was built by Quantum Universal, a Catholic charity which also developed www.worldpriest.com , a site with resources for priests around the world. Source: Fides/Quantum International