Here are excerpts from an article in the December 17, 2007 issue of America: The National Catholic Weekly. The article is written from the perspective of an imagined American bishop, seeking counsel from the people of his diocese on a concern that is common to virtually all bishops, priests and people in the United States.
How would you respond to this bishop?
I Need Your Help
- An imagined bishop asks for advice...
…Our diocese has 83 parishes to staff. Until three years ago we were able to supply a priest-pastor for each one. Since then, as a result of deaths, resignations and retirements, the number of our priests capable of active ministry has declined to 76. I need your help in figuring out how to proceed.
Prayer for Vocations
I am sure many of you will suggest that we begin by storming heaven with prayers for new vocations. And I assure you we have been doing that and we continue to do so… In the past year, however, we lost 11 men through death and retirement. The bottom line is that right now our new vocations are not achieving replacement levels… I also believe in a God who is present and acting in the realities we confront, using them to transform us and help us to grow. Is it possible that we are getting an answer by the very shortage, that God is challenging us to become a different kind of church? A person of faith once said that God is magnanimous and always gives us the resources we need—whatever those are.
And may I ask you, please, not to use our precious time together to tell me all the ways we’ve gone wrong, what brought us to this pass… We haven’t the luxury of paralysis by analysis.
The ‘Big’ Options
Some of you might propose that we begin right now to expand the pool of those eligible for ordination.
The options under that heading are easily named. Each one would involve challenging beliefs that have shaped our church’s way of ministering for centuries. Ordain married men? That would call us to rethink a longstanding commitment to a celibate priesthood. Although the practice is not a matter of faith but of church discipline and remains within the province of the pope to change, many even of our Protestant brothers and sisters caution us against assuming that you just say, “Let’s ordain married men,” rub a magic lamp three times, and—voilà!—the Parousia arrives. Ordain women? That would call us to challenge a belief that Pope John Paul II considered a matter of faith: that Jesus’ calling only male apostles constitutes a norm that binds the church forever, regardless of cultural changes across the centuries. Bring resigned priests back to active ministry? That would challenge our understanding of choices once made and raise issues of fairness, as if the priesthood were a matter of an individual’s personal sense of calling rather than a call by the church community...
I do see some kind of potential in each of these options, but I call them “the big options” for two reasons: one, they fall within the compass of the church’s universal authority, way beyond my pay grade and, two, because even if they were to be adopted it would take years to think through all their consequences and develop reasonable plans for implementing them before they would be ready to “meet the road…”
Possible Strategies
So let’s just keep those conversations going in the background, shall we? What are my options in the immediate future? And what beliefs might each of those options challenge?
Close parishes. In one sense this is the easiest option to carry out, administratively. But what does it do to our belief that once formed, a faith community is not just a branch office of the diocese, just as a diocese is not a branch office of the universal church. (How would my brother bishops react to the notion of closing a diocese?) A parish is rather a unique incarnation of the body of Christ in a particular piece of geography. How is the “easy” choice for closure to be reconciled with the dignity of such a gathering of the faithful? The parishes being considered for closure will probably be those with fewer parishioners than the rest of the parishes in the diocese, but is the mere fact of smaller or larger numbers a criterion Jesus would find apt? Closing a parish may gain me a priest who can provide sacramental services for a parish with more parishioners, but what does that say about our concept of priesthood…?
Appoint a layperson as pastoral agent of the parish. I’ve seen wonderful men and women give excellent leadership to parish communities, as effective as any ordained priest, frankly—theologically, spiritually and pastorally. But that reality doesn’t really help us with the directly sacramental needs. Liturgical presiding, absolution and sacramental anointing require an ordained priest. The number of regular weekend liturgies does not necessarily decrease, and the pastoral agent still has to call for help from a sacramental minister who comes in to the parish from elsewhere…
Import priests from other priest-rich parts of the world. Several of my brother bishops are pursuing this strategy. It does meet the goal of a quick replenishment of priest-presiders to lead the liturgies needed, but so far the results appear to be mixed at best…
Loosen the connection between a particular day of the week, Sunday, and the community’s weekly public gathering around the table of the Lord. I have recently heard of dioceses in Europe where a priest is assigned as sacramental minister to as many as six parishes. On Sunday he presides at liturgy in one of them; on Monday evening in another, on Tuesday in another and so on. The people in each of those communities view that midweek liturgy as their central act of worship for the week—fulfilling the Sunday obligation, if you will. An arrangement like that challenges our identification of Sunday with the Lord’s day. On the other hand, I have to ask myself: did our church already fracture that identification when it introduced Saturday night Mass?
Cut back the number of Masses. In some communities pastors have tried so hard to accommodate the desires of their people that too many Masses of convenience have come to be expected. Add multiple Saturday wedding Masses and, at times, many priests find themselves violating canonical prescriptions concerning the number of Masses a priest may celebrate on a weekend. I can mandate reducing the numbers, but of itself that won’t be sufficient to deal with the communities where I will need to find presiders in the coming years.
Introduce regular use of the ritual officially called Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest. Midweek. Communion services are common in many parts of the country now. The church permits and has created officially sanctioned rituals for this kind of a service. I can inform my priests that when they have a sound reason—vacation, retreat, study program or the like—to be absent from their parish over a weekend, they are not to scramble around trying to find replacements but have a trained layperson conduct such a service. Does this practice risk treating the reception of Communion as something separable from the sacrifice of the Mass? Do we want to take that risk…?
You see, whichever option I actually choose—and I must make a choice—challenges some conviction that has shaped our identity as Catholic Christians for a long time. If we aren’t willing to challenge any of them, we will just continue trying to do what we have always done, and our situation will become more and more stressful. My question to you is painful but simple: which traditional conviction do you want me to challenge this year?
-George B. Wilson, S.J., is a church organizational consultant who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio
You have given me a lot to think about- and not necessarily directly about this article/problem. Thank you for helping me to focus my thoughts away from my usual fears and anxieties and towards things that may help me with my life!
ReplyDeleteI think that is the key: if things are not working, we need to stop and change direction, go a different way, even if that way is scary or where few have gone before...
I believe prayer is a great way to start. Prayer for vocations- and strength and energy to conquer our fears and go in a different direction.
I too, 'believe in a God who is present and acting in the realities we confront, using them to transform us and help us to grow'. I think God is giving us answers; it is very often a great and seemingly impossible challenge to SEE those answers- to see what resources we have been given, or have had all along.
Well, I'm sorry I could not give you any "solutions", but, I feel I now have new insight to use in my own life, and who knows, maybe with this new energy I can be of help to others...
For starters...I think the time has come for every diocese in the United States to issue what they are doing to address the shortage of priests. Many dioceses are already having one priest cover several parishes, using pastoral administrators, lay-led communion services, etc. In addition to issuing the statistics, there should be an evaluation of how these steps are working and how are they being received. I personally still think that if we want to remain a sacramental church as we have known it, the first step that should be taken to ease the priest shortage, is to invite back priests who left to be married who continue to want to be priests. There are many men who would love return to the ministries they had to give up because they left to be married. We can go-all-around-the-mulberry -bush trying new approaches that in the end won't please anyone and won't solve the problem. I don't know why the Roman Catholic Church is so stubborn to change on the issue of celibacy for priests. Supposedly, because Christ picked twelve men to be his apostles, that is Rome's rationale for why women should not be allowed to be priests. Using this same thread of logic...Peter, as well as many of the apostles were married. Therefore, priests should be allowed to marry if they wish, and those who left to marry should be invited to return, if they wish. Enough already!!!
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: these solutions are offered for fun and entertainment purposes only. Your mileage may vary.
ReplyDeleteThis problem is huge. Unless it is solved, the people of God will be denied the sacraments. Clearly, that is not God’s will. There is not one answer to this problem. There are multiple answers that will vary by vicariate, depending on the needs of the parishioners in each parish. There are two parts to the solution, short term and long term.
Decisions should be based on the needs of the local parish, not a tops down, one size fits all, overly simplified, solution from the chancery. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary flexibility and creativity. Parishioners have amazing experience and education. If they participate in developing the solutions, through the discernment process, they will be stakeholders and work harder to make the choices succeed. But, if you do what you always did, you will get what you always got. None of these choices is simple or easy. But, if parishioners and clergy work together, respecting each others experiences, needs, and limitations, while practicing patience, God will help us succeed.
Prayer for Vocations? – yes, but the seminaries need to be made a much healthier environment for formation. This is a longer term solution.
Ordain married men? In reality, today’s priesthood is not as celibate as we would like to believe. Celibacy is a huge barrier to men joining the priesthood. Many celibate priests are lonely. A number of our current priests have called for discussion of making celibacy optional. This may allow some existing priests, struggling with celibacy, to remain in active ministry. The earliest apostles, that Jesus personally recruited, were not required to be single, celibate, men. If that was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for us. Besides, other rites in the Catholic church have married priests, today. Let’s learn from them. This is a longer term solution.
Ordain women? It is time to lift the ban, and start discussing this topic. There are many spiritual, pastoral, loving women who feel called to serve and already have been trained in the faith. Many have Masters degrees in theology, divinity, etc. Perhaps a first step might be to ordain them as deacons and see where that leads. This could be a medium term solution, if approved by Rome, based on training already completed.
Bring resigned priests back to active ministry? If resigned priests are interested in returning to active ministry, they should be welcomed back by their fellow priests. Many left because they could not fulfill their vow of celibacy. They have not lost their calling to serve their fellow parishioners. This could be a short term solution, if approved by Rome.
The above decisions cannot be made at the diocesan level. They must come from Rome. Although Rome wasn’t built in a day, we don’t have the luxury of delaying these decisions for very long.
Close parishes? Only as a last resort, after all other options have been exhausted. In one sense this is the easiest option to carry out, administratively. But, as we have seen in the RCAB it is one of the most destructive. 5 parishes are still in vigil protesting their closure, more than three years after being suppressed. Hard feelings remain among the parishes closed. Some parishioners have left the church. A parish is a unique incarnation of the body of Christ, a true faith community in a particular piece of geography and must be respected. Closing parishes is not a long term solution. In the RCAB we have already closed 25% of the parishes in the last three years. How much deeper can we cut? Continuing to use this option is the equivalent of a “going out of business” sale.
Appoint a layperson as pastoral agent of the parish? Let’s take another look at the work that needs to be done and who is capable of doing it. Why not let lay people handle the administrative and business tasks and the priests and deacons handle the sacramental and pastoral work? Liturgical presiding, absolution and sacramental anointing require an ordained priest. Handling administrative and business matters could be done more efficiently with experienced, specially educated lay people. If a priest was freed from the burden of administration, maybe he could handle the sacramental and pastoral needs for two parishes in the same, or adjoining, towns. This could be a short term solution.
By the way, why do we need a rectory in each parish occupied by one priest? Why not have priests in neighboring towns live together in one rectory? This would reduce loneliness and foster camaraderie within the cluster. Driving one town over to go to work is not the end of the world. I’ve been commuting to work for 30 years.
Import priests from other priest-rich parts of the world? This is certainly a possibility, but may be a less than desirable option as there may be cultural differences that will make the connection between priest and congregation challenging.
Loosen the connection between a particular day of the week, Sunday, and the community’s weekly public gathering around the table of the Lord? This is a possibility.
Cut back the number of Masses? If Masses were coordinated among parishes in neighboring towns (the same cluster), this could be done without eliminating the ability of parishioners to attend a Mass in close geographic proximity. We no longer have the luxury of three parishes in the same cluster offering Masses at the same time. Also, if Mass times were staggered, one priest may be able to cover two parishes.
Introduce regular use of the ritual officially called Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest? Yes, this is another tool that could be used, when necessary.
So let’s review how our plan might work.
In the short term:
1. Pray for vocations
2. Look at the Mass schedule to see if 1 Mass could be eliminated in each parish. But Masses in adjacent towns would be scheduled to eliminate duplication in times, but offer a broader range of choices. This could be supplemented by a weekly layperson-lead Celebration in the Absence of a Priest.
3. Realign parish duties so lay people handle administration and business issues and priests handle the sacraments and pastoral outreach.
4. Maybe there’s a retired or resigned priest, or a priest that is in an administrative (or non-parish) position, who can come back to help, even if it’s part-time.
5. Perhaps we can get one priest from another country who can serve the cluster and “float” among parishes as needed.
6. Have 2 priests in adjoining towns move into the same rectory and rent or sell the empty house to generate additional cash.
In the longer term:
1. Pray for vocations.
2. More male priests, if ordaining married men is approved
3. Female deacons or priests, if ordaining women is approved
4. Expand the role of lay people, as appropriate
5. Welcome back additional resigned priests
6. Maybe another priest from another country
7. Maybe more prayer services, as people become more comfortable with them
I agree with Michael that there are options out there.... the question is whether or not we have the courage and the wisdom to take advantage of them in a timely manner. Too little, too late is a real possibility here...,
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michael, for your very thoughtful input on the subject of the priest shortage in the Roman Catholic Church. I would like to add some personal notes to this conversation. A childhood friend of mine has now lived in the Midwest with her husband and children for many years. They attend a Catholic Church which for years has had approximately 13,000-14,000 members. They have one pastor, one assistant and what she calls "Rent-a-Priest." Each weekend priests are recruited to come help with the Mass schedule. For years she had talked about how much she loved this church, the involvement of so many of the laity in a variety of ways, what a great pastor they had, etc. In the last couple of years their much-loved pastor retired. The new one is an academic, lacking in the people skills of the former. Her husband's and her feeling for this church has dramatically changed. Many former members have left. I bring this up, because I think the leadership by a pastor is vital to the overall health and well being of an individual church (parish.) If a pastor is in charge of several parishes in different towns (which is the case in many dioceses, e.g., North Carolina's,) in my judgment, he is unable to do justice to them. Sometimes the distance between parishes is considerable. The travel, as well as not being able to establish roots in any one community, must take its toll. When I look at the number of churches we have in Concord, I see that each of them has its own minister or rabbi. Many of them, in addition to their senior minister, have one or more assistant ministers. For large churches this is ideal to meet the needs of its members. I do not think that a Catholic parish should be without its own pastor. If, the imaginary bishop in this example puts the "Big Options" on the back burner, the priest shortage will only grow more critical. The "Big Options" need to be put front and center in order to avert this crisis.
ReplyDeleteThis “request for help” is an interesting, yet unusually direct discussion about the 800 pound gorilla in the corner…of the church.
ReplyDeleteAs I see it, we are stuck between the rock of tradition and the hard place of day-to-day life in a diocese. Coming from a business context, I always like the line “you can’t cut your way to growth”. You can cut. You can grow. You may even be able to grow after cuts. But you can’t do both at the same time. That sums up my opinion of the parish closing strategy. How can we somehow recover from the decades long shrinking of our religion in the United States by reducing the number of practicing churches and parishes in any given town/county/state/region? Show me another institution that grew, or overcame a long decline, by reducing the places and level of participation from its core membership. When there is not another alternative, each individual parish can be rationalized and eliminated as part of a closing initiative; but where does that leave us in 20 years, especially if after five such events, the number of priests has not suddenly changed and reversed its trend? Will we be reduced to the same status as orthodox churches or specific language parishes that have been forced to drive long distances just to practice their faith?
The three big questions seem to hold the real solution. Who knows how or when or why a Pope will address such a major change, but it seems to me, that change is inevitable, at least in the western world. It may not happen in my lifetime; but a church, and an organized religion, cannot survive without the cornerstones of its faith, the sacraments and the priest. Without the priest, we are reduced to a prayer group and a faith community without a leader, without access to the most fundamental events of our faith, the sacraments. If I were to predict the eventual winning argument, I would bet on the fact that the entire early church was built upon married men, and holy women. “Upon this rock I will build my church” did not happen when Peter was single and celibate. I think that will eventually carry the day. I would think any changes to the big three would probably only occur after the threat of, or maybe actual schism within the church. To solve the vocation problem, we might have to witness a replay of the separation of the eastern and western church.
In the mean time, we are faced with making the best of a difficult situation. That requires us to do what most humans do when faced with adversity, prioritize. I am quite sure that there is no one priority system that will work for each parish. At the same time, there has to be some sense of rationing of the scarce resource, or that resource will be overwhelmed by all the demands of too many constituencies. Without the trend reversing, there will be no choice but to substitute lay leadership for ordained priests in non-sacramental parish work. That is hardly a good tradeoff on a number of levels, but it will be a practical reality. It will be like a local version of Confirmation, where the Bishop is shared for a major event, but could not possibly prepare all the candidates prior to showing up for the event itself. We will be faced with sharing priests across multiple parishes, or the more drastic action of physically closing parishes to create ever larger geographic parishes in order to maintain the ratio of 1-1 between priests and parish communities. Any option that involves rationing will of course force a reduction of priestly involvement in parish life. We get Father John for 8 hours a week, should we have five Masses and two prayer groups, or should we have three Masses and have him preside over weddings, funerals and tend to the sick in the hospital? Who gets him for Midnight Mass? We want him for Stations of the Cross! Since every community can easily absorb 100 hours a week from any priest (during normal non-holiday periods), especially good ones, something will clearly have to give to avoid conflicts and undue stress on the priests themselves. Being in demand is flattering and empowering. Being under a constant sense of stress and anxiety because you can’t possible meet the needs of large, diverse communities is hardly an easy life. I doubt that it will bring the best out of all but the most dedicated and easy going priests.
The entire situation is ironic. Both the “big 3” solutions, and the more traditional alternatives, face the same inevitable reality, that people that do not currently provide core parish services will be doing so in the future. Married men, women, ex-priests, all will be asked to step up to additional roles, formally or informally, for the church to survive. Those with the most faith, the most dedication, and the most desire to protect and grow our faith communities will have to fill the gaps left by the dearth of priests. In short, the people that are the most likely candidates to be priests should the rules change will fill those roles. Whether that is as lay people, or as fully ordained priests, is the only real question left to be answered.
Excellent commentary! Any chance, Concord Pastor, of having a spring program devoted to the topic of the priest shortage including the "Big Options"? I think the time has come for people to sit up and take notice of this soon-to-be crisis in our local church.
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