Speaking at a gathering, which was attended by Hundreds of ulama, scholars, clergymen and theology students of Yazd province, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, pointed to the occurrence of complicated economic, financial, political and social problems, and described modern society's need for theology as greater than ever before. He referred to insight, adoption of a comprehensive perspective, piety, enhancing scientific capabilities and responding to the needs of all people from various social backgrounds as a requirement of the present-day clergy.  

Speaking at a gathering, which was attended by Hundreds of ulama, scholars, clergymen and theology students of Yazd province, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, pointed to the occurrence of complicated economic, financial, political and social problems, and described modern society's need for theology as greater than ever before. He referred to insight, adoption of a comprehensive perspective, piety, enhancing scientific capabilities and responding to the needs of all people from various social backgrounds as a requirement of the present-day clergy.
"Pundits who enjoy enormous capabilities in Islamic jurisprudence and who have a modern perspective on the current issues must rely on Islamic jurisprudence and its various aspects and double their attempts to clarify different issues and meet these new requirements." The leader pointed out.
His Eminence described the growth and reinforcement of the structure and scientific capabilities of Islamic seminaries as necessary and added that "this auspicious growth must be advanced and developed so that after a certain amount of time, we have high status religious authorities in all towns of the country to further theology, which necessitates enhancing Islamic seminaries' scientific capabilities as a prerequisite."
Ayatollah Khamenei also described comprehensive perspective as another requirement of the clergy and Islamic seminaries and pointing to magnanimous Imam Khomeini's extremely valuable service concerning the raising of social and global issues at Islamic seminaries, he added," if a clergyman does not enjoy comprehensive perspective, he will not be able to identify the genuine manifestations of divine laws and decrees and as a result he will restrict these propitious verses to small and limited domains."

In this regard, Ayatollah Khamenei started a discussion on "counseling people to do good and advising them against evil" and went on to say that "the construction of an Islamic government and society is the true perfect manifestation of counseling people to do good and warning them against an evil society is the perfect manifestation of advising people against evil. However, in the absence of a comprehensive perspective, this great divine decree will be reduced to a trivial discussion."
His Eminence pointed to insight as another necessary attribute of the clergy and said, "A useful clergyman is an insightful one, because if there is a lack of insight, the individual cannot recognize his own position and that of his enemy and as a result, as it has unfortunately happened so many times in political and religious and social arenas, he strikes the friendly front."
The leader stressed that a theology student cannot and should not settle for studying alone in his room; on the contrary, it is absolutely necessary for him to be well aware of domestic and international issues, political developments, the weak points that provide the enemy with the opportunity for infiltration, and other such issues.
He pointed to the variety and scope of the clergy's audience and noted, "We should not judge individuals by their appearances and superficially conclude that they do not need religion or are indifferent to it. Instead, we should consider all people as the audience of the clergy and prepare to spread the religion among them."
The leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran referred to the discovery and understanding of essence of piety by the Iranian nation as one of the blessings and great lessons bequeathed by the late Imam Khomeini and touching upon his continuous and deep trust in people, he added that "today people are still interested in the Quran, the religion and the clergy; therefore, clergymen should not rely on repeating the same things to people from all social backgrounds and at various intellectual levels and they should find something new and interesting to talk about."
In this regard, he described continual reviewing and reflecting on Shahid Mortaza Motahhari's works and thoughts as necessary and obligatory for both the clergymen and the theology students.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to piety accompanied by knowledge as another necessary attribute of the clergy.
"The clergy must behave in a way that people can clearly observe in their behavior the indifference to the material world. And achieving this characteristic requires purification and spirituality."
The leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran also stressed the expansion of reciprocal and intimate relationships between the clergy and management system of the country, especially the executive management sector.
Elsewhere in his statements, the leader called Yazd province "the house of worship" and "the house of knowledge" and extending his appreciation to its prominent ulama and honorable religious figures, he stated, "Yazd has been the cradle of theology and the clergy and theology students of the province must raise its scientific position to a glorious level, as we have always been proud of this city."
Having paid homage to the memory of Shahid Ayatollah Sadooghi, the late Ayatollah Khatami and the late Ayatollah Arafi, he added, "Each of these three honorable scholars of Yazd enjoyed prominent characteristics and young students of theology should follow their path with perseverance and doubled attempts."
At the beginning of this meeting, Ayatollah Sagooghi the present Imam of Yazd's Friday Congregational Prayers and the leader's representative in Yazd province, touching upon endeavors of Yazd's Islamic seminary to train scholarly and capable students, presented a report on the conditions of this Islamic seminary.