A recent suicide by an Italian priest, Fr Matteo Balzano, aged 35 from the Diocese of Novara, Italy brought around a lot of comments of support to priests who are human and vulnerable like everyone else. This tragedy opened a wound that sometimes remains hidden, and it elicited the need for accompaniment to priests, who often carry tremendous burdens, challenges and responsibilities. A Peruvian priest wrote on FB ‘Like every other man, I feel, I suffer, I laugh, I cry, I show anxiety, often I am sad, and I feel the massive weight on my shoulders which appears about to crush me. In every priest there is a human heart with its own feelings: joy, wounds, traumas and stories that few people know about them. And when such a tragedy occurs, I stop and ask myself about my life and my personal journey. It’s true that God is our strength, but we also need to be treated like men, not machines. At times the emotional weight is enormous and without God, I too feel overwhelmed and crushed.’
Another
Spanish priest wrote: ‘The priest is not a superhero, and our vocation does not
minimize suffering. When the priest feels lonely, he needs support, because frequently
the suffering is more emotional than physical. Many priests live in a climate
of indifference, facing prejudice and excessive demands thrown at them. Indifference
does more damage than hatred. If we make a mistake, they quickly tell you about
it. When we do good, normally no one says anything. We need to rediscover the
humanity of the priest. They are poor men with fragile souls, men who left
everything behind them and were ordained
priests full of hope. We don’t need people to feel sorry for us, but that they
pray for us and carry the burden with us. God sustains us, but no one is
excluded from such tragedies. How many such tragedies happened because of
excessive work, the uncalled for gossiping of people, their indifference, weak
mental health, anxiety and depression.’
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