Vatican prefect sees no future for the priesthood without fidelity
December 24, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, said in an interview that “there can be no future” for the priesthood “without fidelity.”
“Fidelity, especially in the Western world, tends to be considered almost a negative value, something for immobile, static people of another era,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth ... Fidelity, in fact, is the very measure of charity.”
The prelate also said that the crisis in priestly vocations is not universal and that, where it exists, it affects marriage and the religious life as well.
“A world that encourages temporary, partial relationships and discourages stable, lasting commitments—let’s say faithful ones—is a world that distracts everyone from seeking their vocation, let alone persevering in it,” he said.
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