What Makes a Good Priest?
July 3rd, 2008 by Fr. Pius, OP
On the Catholic Culture website, Dr. Jeff Mirus recently published an article entitled “What Makes a Good Priest?” The Article is a review of The Hidden Enemies of the Priesthood, a new book by Fr. Basil Cole, OP, a priest of the Province of St. Joseph and a professor of moral theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
Fr. Cole’s book is meant to help priests and seminarians reckon with the seven deadly sins in a healthy and faith-filled way so that they will not be taken aback by the trials these hidden enemies bring about.
The first paragraph of Dr. Mirus’s article is below, and the remainder of the article can be read here: What Makes a Good Priest?
What makes a good priest? I’ve found the answer in fine book by Dominican Father Basil Cole entitled The Hidden Enemies of the Priesthood. From the title, you might think the book is about a conspiracy against priests. But that’s only true if you regard the work of the Devil and the temptations of human vice a conspiracy. Rather, Fr. Cole is concerned to explain the vices to which priests are often prone, and which vitiate their ministries. Clearly this also implies a standard of goodness, but let’s take the bad news first.
At the end of his article, Dr. Mirus praises Fr. Cole’s book and strongly recommends it:
The Hidden Enemies of the Priesthood provides both a lucid explanation of what it takes to become a good priest and a practical reflection on the vices which too often ruin the work. For priests and seminarians, this is essential reading.
