Being close to others with God’s tenderness and compassion

Pope Francis offers a reflection on his more than 52 years of priesthood, giving advice to other clerics in his opening address of a three-day conference on the theology of the priesthood, held in the Vatican. There is “no theory here, I’m speaking about what I lived”, the Holy Father said. “It may be that these reflections are the ‘swan song’ of my own priestly life, but I can assure you that they are the fruit of my own experience”. Pages 4-5