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Catholic World News News Feature

Archbishop Of Westminster Says Priests Better Than They Think April 19, 2000

LONDON (CWNews.com) - The new Archbishop of Westminster has called on his priests to set aside more time for personal prayer.

Preaching at the Chrism Mass at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday, Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said "there must be time spent before God."

"Yes, your Office, the Mass, the liturgy but also quietness before God," he said. "If we persevere in it, from time to time God's glory breaks through, touching us often when things are most difficult. It is then that God comforts us with his presence."

Archbishop Murphy-O'Connor also reassured his priests that their work was appreciated by lay people and that there was "no need for any identity crisis of priests."

"You are better than you think you are," he said. "The close bond and affection between the people and their priest is something that is very profound, very comfortable, very real."

The archbishop encouraged his priests to dwell on the positive rather than negative aspects of their priesthood. "I do not lose sleep over falling numbers because I leave that to God," he said. "What I want is a prayerful, enthusiastic clergy, open to new ideas and not worrying if they fail. After all, we are, are we not, witnesses to someone whose life ended in dying on the cross and who rose to new life. It is in dying that we live."