Sixteen New Catholic Priests, Deacons in Angola Urged to Serve Without Seeking “a position of advantage”

“May you be friends of the poor, friends of the forgotten, friends of homeless street children, widowed and abandoned mothers, women suffering domestic violence, those who have been treated unjustly and those forgotten in the midst of suffering,” he said.

He also challenged the idea that Priests must be extraordinary, powerful or highly influential figures.

“God does not seek geniuses, the strongest, the most influential or the most intelligent as his ministers,” he said.

What God seeks, he explained, is a willingness to surrender to his will.

“The Church does not need extraordinary people as priests, but ordinary people,” he said, urging ministers to combine a profound Priestly identity with simplicity.

That simplicity, he added, should allow Priests to remain close to the people rather than becoming distant from the communities they serve.

Archbishop Zeca called on the candidates to cultivate fraternity within the presbyterate and obedience to their Bishop.

“Cultivate friendship within the presbyterate,” he said, while urging them to respect Priests who are older in ministry.

He urged the new ministers to remain available for evangelization because many people still do not know Christ.

Archbishop Zeca presented the Virgin Mary as a model of the Christian life and, by implication, of authentic ministry.