RSSPenang diocese launched its celebration of the Year for Priests during its annual nine-day novena to Saint Anne.
About 30 priests of the diocese gathered at the Church of St. Anne in Bukit Mertajam on July 17, the start of the largest feastday celebration in the Malaysian Church.
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Banners in Penang diocese announcing the Year for Priests |
During the event, Bishop Antony Selvanayagam of Penang called on priests and laity to reconcile with all people and encouraged them to participate in spiritual formation programs.
Pope Benedict XVI designated the Year for Priests to run from June 19, 2009.
According to diocesan chancellor Father Jude Miranda, Bishop Selvanayagam has announced that Catholics can obtain plenary indulgences on certain days during the special year, including attending Mass on July 17.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines a plenary indulgence as full “remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.”
The diocese’s organizing committee for the special year has decided to hold monthly Holy Hour devotions, with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, in all parishes to pray for priests and for more vocations to the priesthood. Catholics who attend are also eligible for an indulgence.
The committee has also produced prayer cards and leaflets on the Year for Priests in English, Tamil, Chinese and Malay. The diocese also plans to send some priests to Rome for retreats.
Penang diocese, one of nine dioceses in the country and the northernmost of three dioceses in peninsular Malaysia, has 45 priests, of whom four are retired and three are on medical leave. They serve more than 65,000 Catholics in a total diocesan population of 6.8 million.
Some local priests UCA News spoke to said one of their biggest challenges is to ensure that their vocations remain relevant in a “modern secularized world.”
Father Anthony Pillai noted that some people “don’t see the need for a priest anymore.”
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