Pope ordains new priests, tells them to spread Gospel joy

Published: 2008-04-28

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI ordained 29 new priests, including an Iraqi, and told them their mission was to spread Gospel joy. "To be collaborators in the joy of others in a world that often is sad and negative, the fire of the Gospel must burn within you, the joy of the Lord must dwell within you," the pope said April 27 at the ordination Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Twenty-eight of the new priests were ordained for the Diocese of Rome; the group consisted of 22 Italians and men from France, Haiti, Paraguay, Colombia, Chile and India. The 29th ordinand was Father Jarjis Robert Sayd, 34, a Baghdad native who will serve the church in Iraq. Reciting the "Regina Coeli" prayer after Mass with visitors in St. Peter's Square, the pope said that where Christ is preached with the strength of the Holy Spirit and welcomed with open hearts "society, even if it is full of many problems, becomes a 'city of joy.'"

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