An Ambitious Priest

[Magickman]

At my mother’s parish, the well liked pastor was recently transferred to another assignment. The departed priest developed strong personal relationships within the parish community, my elderly mother among those.

The new priest has a different style, and comes to the parish with a reputation for ambition. His program is less focused on pastoral relationships, and more devoted to fundraising and remodeling projects.

While the former pastor was like a beloved uncle, a member of the family, the new one is more like a hustling insurance sales agent.

Her church is very important to my mother, and through her, to me. This change in leadership is quite upsetting to her. So, I am upset, also.

Have others here been in similar situations?

What actions were taken to find accommodation between an ambitious priest and a family oriented parish?

 

[kage_ar]

Trust that your Bishop is a wise and loving shepherd, he knows what the Parish needs at this time. For some reason, this Priest has been sent to your mom’s parish. Pray for him and support him.

 

[Galnextdoor]

Change is difficult for many people. It often takes awhile to adjust the idiosyncrasies of people you don’t know. Although the priest may seem ambitious, it might be that your mother’s parish is experiencing growth and needs new buildings or remodeling. Some priests are very good at overseeing these types of projects, as well as fundraising.
I once knew a priest who was transferred from parish to parish because he had great organization skills and a talent for fundraising. Whenever a particular parish needed remodeling or new building facilities, he was transferred to that parish. It was difficult for him, because he would get to know people and make friends then he would be moved to the next parish that needed building modifications etc. Could this be the same case with the new priest at your mother’s church?

 

[Tonks40]

My pastor is like this, but he hides it really well Actually, not only is he responsible for the major rebuilding project of our parish, but he has injected new life into it, bringing back pious practices and more involvement of our parishioners. To me, he’s laying a foundation at our parish which I hope continues for generations to come.

 

[BamaRider]

Been in the same parish for 42 years, and our diocese practices limited tenure, but I don’t know if that is any longer the case.

Seen many pastors come and go in the that span of time. Really not a whole lot you can do to change the pastors leadership style. He’s gonna do what he’s gonna do.

It is probably why limited tenure at a parish is a good thing. The Bishop has to do what is best for the diocese, not just the intrests of one parish, if that means shipping a guy out, then that’s what we do.

There will be folks that will glad to see a priest leave, and those that will be sad. I think we just have to adapt.

 

[PaulinVA]

Our diocese has a notional 10 year pastor assignment.

I get the impression that the Church wants the pastors/associates to have relationships with parishioners, but certainly doesn’t want them to “go native” and adopt all of the idiosyncrasies of a particular congregation.

The Sacraments and the dogma are what is important. What a particular franchisee (Bishop) does at the particular retail outlets (the Parishes) is less important than the product itself.

 

[mom2boyz]

We had a similar situation. Our previous pastor had been here for 16 years. He was well liked, but the parish was growing by leaps and bounds. He didn’t have the personality for fundraising so our parish was in quite a bit of debt. Here comes the new priest from a close by parish with a reputation for fiscal responsibility. First thing he does is cut some positions. This was not popular.

Fast forwards 3 years. The debt is greatly reduced and the collection plate is up. As much as we may not like it fundraising is necessary. It would be nice if everyone who is registered gave, but that doesn’t happen and it isn’t always because they have limited funds.

Turns out the new pastor is very faithfilled. He has instituted other opportunities for growth in one’s faith. He has done wonders for our school and now we have the Dominican sisters present for our school children. And the children’s faith is a larger part of their school day. So what seemed bad at first has really turned our parish into a better place. I would take a wait and see attitude. Maybe invite Father to dinner. I bet as a new guy he would appreciate that.