PATTAYA, Thailand (UCAN) -- The Office of Clergy of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences has released the following statement about the seminar it recently conducted on the role of bishops in caring for priests in Asia:

CARING FOR PRIESTS - ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WITH DIFFICULTIESSeventy-four participants, including one cardinal, sixty-eight archbishops and bishops, and five experts met for a week long conference at Redemptorist Centre in Pattaya, Thailand, from Aug. 27 to Sep. 1, 2007, to discuss their responsibilities in caring for the clergy.

The conference was inaugurated by the papal nuncio, Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, who conveyed the Holy Father's sentiments of closeness and solidarity with the participants as they deliberated on a very central topic for the life of the Church.

Resource persons included Archbishop Evarist Pinto from Pakistan, Archbishop Peter Fernando from India, Archbishops Fernando Capalla and Orlando Quevedo OMI from the Philippines, Bishop Vianney Fernando from Sri Lanka, and Father Vimal Tirimanna CSSR, Father Francis Jayapathy SJ, and Father Lawrence Pinto, the executive secretary of the FABC Office of the Clergy, which organized the conference.

The bishops reflected on their shepherding role in the Church, caring for the whole diocese, but showing a special love for priests, their closest collaborators in the ministry. A particular need of our times is continuous ongoing formation so that priestly ministry can respond adequately to the needs of people.

The bishops expressed deep appreciation of their priests, many of them working in very difficult and in several ways inconvenient circumstances. In the Asian context the demands on the priests are many and this can lead to exhaustion and burn out. The bishops were conscious of their duty to assist the priests to carry out their ministry joyfully and effectively after the model of Christ the Good Shepherd.

A special study was made of the relational aspect in the life and ministry of the priest: a call to holiness with a deepening of the relationship to God and a call to service and sacrifice based on the establishing of healthy and sound relationships with people.

The bishops were conscious of the values prevalent in many countries of Asia: love for the spiritual, detachment from the material, strong family ties and respect for elders. These should be fostered as the basis for getting good vocations to the priesthood.

Special care must be given to priests with particular difficulties. These problems are often caused and accentuated by the influence of the media, the prevalence of a spirit of hedonism and the increasing predominance of a secularist culture.

The bishops felt the need to acquire skills to deal with such cases. When professional help is required and specialized treatment is needed, this should not be shied from.

The conference ended with a note of optimism and joy at the large number of dedicated priests in the Church in Asia, and with an expression of gratitude to the FABC Office of the Clergy which had organized the very successful conference.

END

(Accompanying photos available at here)