Limit homilies to 10 minutes, Pope urges priests
February 07, 2018
» Continue to this story on Vatican Press Office
CWN Editor's Note: At his regular weekly public audience on February 7, Pope Francis said that a priest’s homilies “must not exceed ten minutes—please!” The Holy Father said that a homily “is not a current-events speech, nor a catechesis,” but a reflection on the Word of God. He encouraged the faithful to listen attentively.
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Posted by: brenda22890 -
Feb. 10, 2018 7:07 AM ET USA
Again, I find myself disagreeing with Pope Francis. Catechesis is sorely needed and is easily tied to the Gospel readings -- all within 10 minutes....
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Posted by: Comares -
Feb. 10, 2018 6:17 AM ET USA
The problem with poor homilies is because of two things. 1. Lack of preparation; and 2. The mistaken belief that you can speak off the cuff. No homily should be longer than 7 minutes. Any longer and you have lost the concentration of most of the congregation. Homilies need to be relevant and not the pet interest of the Preacher.
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Posted by: james-w-anderson8230 -
Feb. 09, 2018 9:46 PM ET USA
There are priests who obviously do not prepare their homilies. They may be less than 10 minutes but still be multiple repetitions of the same words.
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Posted by: feedback -
Feb. 08, 2018 3:56 PM ET USA
Many priests and Bishops ordained around 1970's and 80's, before the publication of the current Code of Canon Law (1983) and the Catechism (1992) never had a chance to be exposed to solid Catholic teachings. The problem of bad homilies comes from their poor quality rather than specific duration.
