On the morning of Thursday, January 11th, Pope Francis received in audience a group of priests from the Secular Institute of Missionary Priests of the Kingship of Christ. He reminded them that the Church, like every baptized individual, “is in the world, is for the world, but is not of the world”.

In his address to the priests, the Holy Father emphasized that the term “laity” is not the same as “secularity”.

According to the Pontiff, “secularity is a dimension of the Church, called to serve and bear witness to the Kingdom of God in this world”.

“And consecration,” he continued, “comes to radicalize this dimension, which is evidently not the only one but is complementary to the eschatological”.

In this regard, he highlighted that “each one realizes it according to their own condition in line with the mystery of the Incarnation”.

He also recalled that the institute to which the priests belong is governed according to the Franciscan charism, “which is that of minority: thus it forms you for humble, available, brotherly service”.

“And it does so according to the model of the kingship of Christ, which consists of serving, giving generously, paying personally, in solidarity with the poor and excluded. Kingship and minority are one and the same in Christ, and Saint Francis bears witness to this,” the Holy Father emphasized.

Next, Pope Francis asserted that “one is an apostle above all with one’s own humanity, with those human virtues described by the Second Vatican Council: sincerity, respect for justice, fidelity to one’s word, kindness, discretion, firmness of spirit, prudence, and integrity”.

Finally, he urged the priests to be faithful to their vocation and to avoid “two very widespread tendencies today, even among priests: self-referentiality and worldliness”.

In this context, he warned that “none of us is completely immune to them”.

This article was originally published on ACI Prensa.