A Silent war begins when a Priest no longer trust his brothers

 A Silent war begins when a Priest no longer trust his brothers

My dear brothers, I speak to you from my experience, as a brother struggling among you, carrying the same oil of ordination and the same fragile humanity. There are moments in our priestly journey when the wound is not directed inward, and not even primarily toward the people we serve, but toward one another. There are moments when a priest discovers, sometimes painfully and sometimes quietly, that he no longer trusts his brother priests. This reality is rarely admitted aloud, yet it can deeply shape the way we live our priesthood.

When trust among priests is weakened, something essential in the Body of Christ suffers. The priesthood was never meant to be lived in isolation. From the day of our ordination, we were inserted into a presbyterate, not as independent contractors of grace, but as brothers sharing one priesthood in Christ. Presbyterorum Ordinis reminds us that priests form one presbyterate and are bound together by a special sacramental brotherhood. When trust disappears, this sacramental bond is wounded, even if it remains ontologically intact.

The dangers of this lack of trust are subtle but serious. A priest who cannot trust his brothers begins to live defensively. He measures his words carefully, guards his struggles, and slowly retreats into a private inner world. Fraternity becomes formal, polite, and distant. Collaboration gives way to competition or suspicion. The joy of shared ministry is replaced by loneliness, and loneliness, when prolonged, can become bitterness. The Directory for the Ministry and Life of Priests warns that isolation exposes priests to discouragement and spiritual vulnerability. A divided presbyterate also weakens our witness to the Gospel, because the Lord himself prayed that his disciples might be one so that the world may believe John 17:21.

Why does this lack of trust arise among us? Often it is born from painful experiences. A confidence shared in good faith may have been betrayed. A brother may have spoken carelessly, judged harshly, or acted in ways that caused harm. Sometimes trust is eroded by gossip, clerical politics, or subtle struggles for influence and recognition. At other times, the wound comes from deeper systemic issues, such as lack of transparent leadership, unhealthy comparison, or a culture where vulnerability is mistaken for weakness. When priests feel that honesty will be used against them, silence becomes a form of self protection.

There is also the burden of unrealistic expectations we place on one another. We expect our brother priests to be strong at all times, spiritually mature, emotionally balanced, and pastorally competent. When a brother fails or reveals his limits, disappointment can harden into mistrust. Yet the Church teaches clearly that priests remain men marked by weakness and in need of ongoing conversion. Pastores Dabo Vobis emphasizes that priestly formation is lifelong, precisely because growth and healing are continuous processes.

How then can trust be restored among us? The first step is to return to a shared vision of who we are. We are not rivals but co workers in the vineyard of the Lord. We do not share the priesthood because we earned it, but because we received it as a gift. Lumen Gentium reminds us that all ministry in the Church flows from Christ and serves communion. Trust begins to heal when we see one another again through the eyes of faith, not merely through the lens of past wounds.

Restoring trust requires deliberate commitment to charity in speech. The Church has consistently warned against detraction and gossip as sins that destroy communion. Choosing to speak well of one another, or to remain silent rather than spread suspicion, is not weakness but pastoral maturity. Charity does not deny truth, but it always seeks truth in love.

Trust also grows where there is honest encounter. Fraternity cannot survive on meetings alone. It needs shared prayer, shared meals, shared laughter, and even shared tears. Presbyterorum Ordinis urges priests to support one another spiritually and materially, recognizing that no one can carry the burden of ministry alone. Creating safe spaces where priests can speak without fear of being exposed or judged is an act of pastoral care toward one another.

Forgiveness is indispensable. Some wounds among us are real and deep. The Gospel does not offer us an escape from forgiveness, even when it is costly. Forgiveness does not erase memory, but it frees the heart from being imprisoned by the past. As ministers of reconciliation, we cannot exclude ourselves from the grace we preach to others.

Finally, trust is restored when we place our fraternity back into the heart of Christ. We belong to one another because we first belong to him. When priests pray for one another by name, when we consciously entrust our brothers to the Lord, something within us begins to soften. The Holy Spirit, whom we invoke daily in the sacraments, is also the principal agent of communion in the presbyterate.

My brothers, the Church needs priests who trust one another enough to walk together, to correct one another with charity, and to support one another with humility. When trust is wounded among us, let us not pretend it does not matter. Let us bring it into the light of faith, allow grace to heal it, and choose again, patiently and deliberately, to be brothers to one another. In doing so, we will rediscover not only the beauty of fraternity, but the quiet strength that comes from knowing we are not alone in the service of Christ and his people.

Fr Lawrence Ogundipe SDV