OP, I really feel for you. I am in the situation that none of the priests I hear, either in my home country, or in the one where I live and work for most of the year, speak English as their first language. All speak excellent English, but each with a different “foreign” accent that reflects the country or area they come from. As you get more accustomed to the accent it becomes easier. One priest here I found most difficult to follow when I first heard him and could probably understand about 10% of his homily. Now I follow everything he says, it does get easier as you become attuned to the accent.
What would be a kind act would be talk to Father, and in around about way ask him would he like some English lessons and that you would provide them, once or twice a week, get some basic books out from your Library for children and see how advance he is, and get books accordingly
to how he reads the children books so you know what level for the next English lesson.
Others have commented, but, as a teacher, I have to say this would be most insulting - he studied in the USA, his level of reading English is well above that of a children’s book - it is the accent, which is part of his natural speaking style, that is making it difficult to understand him.
They give up life in a third world country, living in a shack, starvation, disease… I welcome them being here, but at the same time I believe the church should have them take more speech lessons… maybe the church puts us through this frustration intensionally to strengthen our prayer life…lol…I’ve seen church attendance go way down because the congregation couldn’t understand the priest… maybe you got the priest from here…
Excuse me, I come from a third world country - we don’t all live in shacks with starvation and disease! That is certainly not why our priests leave our countries and come to yours.
Also, bear in mind that to people who are not from the USA many of you are almost impossible for us to understand as you also have very different accents. (In fact, possibly the priest in the OP has difficulty following the accents of his parishioners too.)
That’s rather arrogant…
They give up their friends, their culture, their language, their family, the places they knew as children, their history, their favourite foods, their mom and dad, the Church they grew up in.
Absolutely spot on, triumphguy! If you’ve never lived as an ex-pat, you have no idea of how much you give up when you go to live in a different culture.
And remember why they give it up - not for fame or money or prestige or worldly goods or safety or health - they give up these things for us, for each of us, to bring us the Sacraments and the Word of God.
Most of us have probably read of the lives of the great missionaries. Do we think St. Francis Xavier, St. Isaac Jogues or Father Damien dropped into their mission territories speaking the language perfectly? Do we welcome our modern “missionary” priests from overseas as we would welcome Francis or Isaac?
I would hope our “exported priests” are welcomed, otherwise they might as well just come back to us.
