“The priesthood is going through a dark time,” write Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah. “Wounded by the revelation of so many scandals, disconcerted by the constant questioning of their consecrated celibacy, many priests are tempted by the thought of giving up and abandoning everything.”In this book, Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah give their brother priests and the whole Church a message of hope. They honestly address the spiritual challenges faced by priests today, including struggles of celibacy. They point to deeper conversion to Jesus Christ as the key to faithful and fruitful priestly ministry and church reform. From the Depths of Our Hearts is an unprecedented work by the Pope Emeritus and a Cardinal serving in the Vatican. As bishops, they write “in a spirit of filial obedience” to Pope Francis, who has said, “I think that celibacy is a gift for the Church … I don’t agree with allowing optional celibacy, no.” Responding to calls for refashioning the priesthood, including proposals from the Amazonian Synod, two wise, spiritually astute pastors explain the biblical and spiritual role of the priesthood, celibacy, and genuine priestly ministry. Drawing on Vatican II, they present priestly celibacy as more than “a mere precept of ecclesiastical law”. They insist that renewal of the Church is bound to a renewed understanding of priestly vocation as sharing in Jesus’ priestly identity as Bridegroom of the Church. This is a book whose crucial message is for clergy and laity alike.

    The penalty is the lash of his whip. The ache in her body is not from the sting of his flogger but from the scorching heat of his touch. Still, she has to resist him if she wishes to safeguard the secrets she hides.Jide is the prince’s closest guard. His duty is to keep the royal family safe, so he should deliver instant justice to the spy in his chambers. Yet the intense fire in the eyes of his beautiful prisoner Oma stirs him beyond that of any other maiden in his past. When his self-control is tried which will he choose—hand her over for punishment or defy the prince and protect her?