Pope expresses closeness to sick, elderly priests (Vatican Press Office)

In a message to the sick and elderly priests of Lombardy (map), Pope Francis said, “In reality, you are priests who, in prayer, in listening, in the offering of suffering, carry out a ministry that is not of secondary importance in your churches ... Fragility can be ‘like a refiner’s fire, like fuller’s lye’ (Malachi 3:2), which, lifting us up towards God, refines us and sanctifies us. Let us not be afraid of suffering: may the Lord bear the cross with us!”