Pope Francis once again launches an invitation to priests to be more concise during their homilies. Already last January 13, in a closed-door meeting with around 800 Roman priests, he had reiterated the need for homilies to last no more than 10 minutes. An appeal too often unheeded by the priests who on Sundays force the faithful to endure endless speeches. “The homily must help to transfer the Word of God from the Book of Life”, reiterated Bergoglio at the general audience today 12 June. This time the Pope goes even more specifically and indicates to the priests an ideal scheme on which to base the sermon schedule: “The homily must be short: an image, a thought, a feeling”.
Short and concise sermons are therefore needed, so that at least they are listened to and so that the faithful sitting at the benches are prevented from closing their eyes out of boredom: «A homily must not go beyond eight minutes because after that time attention is lost and people fall asleep, and they’re right.” The Pope’s appeal is also aimed at those many priests who dwell beyond what is necessary, in vain attempts to show off their culture with almost academic speeches and flights of fancy, often incomprehensible. «Priests sometimes talk a lot – says Bergoglio – and not you understand what they’re talking about.”
That same call was launched some time ago by Benedict XVI when he was still cardinal, as Corriere della Sera recalls. To the journalist Vittorio Messori, Joseph Ratzinger said: «For me, confirmation of the divinity of faith comes from the fact that it survives a few million homilies every Sunday». And as Pope in October 2008, in a general assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Benedict XVI also indicated at the time “not to exceed eight minutes, the average concentration time of the listeners”.
