Nothing captured Pope Francis’ vision for ordained ministry better than his invitation to priests to “be shepherds with the odor of the sheep.” First expressed in his homily at the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday in 2013, the vivid image was used by the late pope to challenge clericalism, which he often described as a serious disease. Recently, reading Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic letter “Una Fedelta,” issued in 2025 on the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s decrees “Optatum Totius” and “Presbyterorum Ordinis,” led me to a deeper insight into what it means to smell like the sheep.