"We have to look at the truth head-on: the priesthood seems to be failing," explains Cardinal Robert Sarah in this book. "The priesthood, its status, its mission, and its authority have been placed at the service of the worst crimes. . . The search for worldly glory, power, honors, earthly pleasures, and money has infiltrated the hearts of priests, bishops, and cardinals. How can we tolerate such deeds without trembling, without weeping, without asking ourselves probing questions?"

Cardinal Sarah urges priests to become more visible symbols of God's presence in the world, especially in the spiritually barren Western world, where many people feel that life is better without religion.

The greatest saints' writings are compiled here to assist priests rediscover the core of their priesthood, allowing God's people to look at them with fresh eyes. Cardinal Sarah says that this is not a scholarly book on theology, but rather a theology of the saints that is both inwardly reflective and outwardly applicable.