"I have decided to establish a special "Year for Priests" that will begin on 19 June and last until 19 June 2010. In fact, it is the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Cure d'Ars, John Mary Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ's flock…As Church and as priest, we proclaim Jesus of Nazareth Lord and Christ, Crucified and Risen, Sovereign of time and of history, in the glade certainty that this truth coincides with the deepest expectations of the human heart."

-Pope Benedict XVI; March 16, 2009