On Wednesday, May 3, more than 20 new priests of the Legionaries of Christ, ordained on April 29 in Rome, greeted Pope Francis at the end of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square. The Holy Father asked the group of new priests for their blessing, and encouraged them to be “priests for all God’s people” while warning them, “Beware of becoming elites.”  

Among these new priests was Fr. Salvador Arellano. The new priest said that the Pope had asked them to “give him the blessing. Then he bowed to receive the blessing from all of us.” 

In statements to ACI Prensa, Fr. Arellano recalled that in “a moment of silence, we laid hands on him, prayed for him, and gave him the blessing.” 

The new priests come from Germany, Colombia, Chile, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, El Salvador, Spain, the United States, Italy, Mexico, and Venezuela. 

Fr. Arellano also emphasized that Pope Francis had given them “first some words of encouragement, of encouragement, for the ministry.” 

“The most important message he gave us was ‘be priests for all the people of God. Beware of becoming elites. We must not remain enclosed in the elites. The priest’s heart is for the whole Church, for all the people of God,'” he said. 

He added that, for his part, some of the newly ordained gave him priestly reminders. “I showed him my priestly memento, where I printed a meeting I had with him last year,” in which the Pope had blessed a stole. 

The Legionary priest recalled this episode to Pope Francis: “Last year, you blessed me a stole to be a good confessor, and now that I meet him again, I am already a priest.” 

He assured that the Holy Father “was happy” and then posed to have their official and other personal photographs taken. “And some brother told him: ‘We pray for your health so that you don’t become capricious.'” 

This article was originally published on ACI Prensa.