A message from Rome

ROME --

I was here 11 years ago today, I am remembering. A pope from Latin America was elected. Everyone was surprised.

I've been staying at the North American Pontifical College here in the Eternal City. The seminarians have a love for the pope and want to teach the treasures of the Church to all who are open.

As we approach Easter, are we thinking about our encounters with others?

As I talked with some of the seminarians in Rome -- men willing to give up natural fatherhood in service for the Church -- they were glad to hear about people's desire for fundamental truths. In life and politics, we tend to complicate things. Just talk about God. Just talk about love. Just talk about the Gospel. That's complicated enough.

A few years ago, I talked with a secular Ivy League sociologist who was impressed with Pope Francis. He wondered why more Christians didn't spend time talking about the Beatitudes, as Pope Francis so often does.

That's an important challenge. The Beatitudes are themselves a challenge, asking us how we can serve others and make the world a better place at the expense of our own comfort.

I left the country as Vice President Kamala Harris was visiting an abortion clinic. This was a first for a president or vice president. There was something especially jarring about a woman doing so.

And yet we, at the same time, can think of St. Joseph and his protection of Mary and the Holy Family. I think of the young men I have met here who come from families whose parents love one another. They want to care for people. They want to serve. They love God and see Him in His people.

There are no perks in being a priest in the Catholic Church today. So many of the young men I've talked to in recent days just want to care for people where they are, knowing how difficult life in the world can be.

That's not about ideology or controversy. The vast majority of the seminarians from the North American Pontifical College I talked with simply care for people's souls and want to remove obstacles to ministering to them. They don't think they are anything special. But they know God can work miracles in lives and want to be vessels, if He wills, for whatever He wills.

We spend a lot of time obsessing and arguing about politics in the United States and even in the Church. I think about that as I look down on the Vatican from the roof of the college here. But we're called to something more.

I may be crazy, but I cried once I went down the hill and prayed at the bones of St. Peter, at St. Peter's Basilica. I prayed for the first time at Pope Benedict's tomb -- someone I had the blessing of not only meeting, but seeing God the Father's love in His gaze.

I prayed for you, for everyone who reads or has ever read my column. And I ask you: Would you please pray for these young men studying to become priest? They want to be humble and serve. Could we possibly pray for each other? This isn't always the stuff of op-ed punditry, but isn't it what's most important?

klopez@nationalreview.com