Are diocesan priests supposed to change parishes?

[Reverent_Howler]

Normally, our priests here are reassigned every six years.

 

[Gorgias]

So 4 for 4 is pretty good.

4 for 4 is amazing! Congrats!

I rarely here of people in surrounding parishes who do not like their pastors.

That’s a different consideration entirely. Catholics generally love their priests… despite their flaws. It’s a very Christian virtue. But, you can hear the real story when you listen to how they talk about their beloved priests: “he was a really good guy… even if he did drink a bit too much”; “he was a great homilist… but he really didn’t do a great job with parish finances”; “he was a good guy… but you had to catch him in a good mood.”

We love our priests – and rightly so! – but to say that “the vast majority of priests are good examples of priestly life”? Maybe I’m just a bit more jaded than you.

A new pastor always spends two years figuring things out before he will change anything of some bstance, and those two years of “dead time” simply allows the much to become more ingrained in parish life.

Maybe that’s the way it works in your neck of the woods. I’ve seen a different dynamic here. Some things get better, others don’t. But change is change, and it tends to do some good.

Your ideal works in companies and management. A new guy comes in at most levels of management and is expected to kick up the much. It never happens at a parish. Just the opposite.

I feel bad that your experience of change is “the same old same old, just with a new face.” Then again, if you’re 4-for-4, then that’s a good thing, no?

 

[Joe_5859]

That’s a different consideration entirely . Catholics generally love their priests… despite their flaws. It’s a very Christian virtue.

I’ve definitely seen this. One of my parents old pastors was much loved. He was there for my mom when her sister unexpectedly passed away. But, his homilies weren’t very inspiring, he was late to everything (even Mass), he wasn’t that good at administrative tasks, and the rectory was literally falling apart, but he never mentioned it to anyone. So when the new pastor came in, he had a lot of clean up to do (some of it quite literally in the case of the rectory).

Which is not to denigrate the previous pastor. When it counted, he was a great shepherd of souls and his parish loved him. But none of us is good at everything. There will always be areas that don’t get as much attention no matter who is in charge.

 

[adgloriam]

Your prayers were efficacious. I woke up the next morning and all the troubles were gone. ty

 

[twf]

It’s because of this canon that our bishop appoints mostly “administrators” and very few “pastors”. He then has the leisure of assigning them as needed.
Of 28 parishes, only 3 have a “pastor”.

Really??? Wow… is that just an oddity in your diocese, or is it common in the region? Definitely have not encountered that in BC… parishes almost always have pastors unless, due to a shortage of available priests, a single priest serves as administrator of a parish in which he is not resident.

 

[Phemie]

w… is that just an oddity in your diocese, or is it common in the region? Definitely have not encountered that in BC… parishes almost always have pastors unless, due to a shortage of available priests, a single priest serves as administrator of a parish in which he is not resident.

I probably should have paid attention to the word “Diocesan” in the title.

It’s due to the lack of priests. Many of our priest are missionaries from India. Several are from Heralds of Good News” (HGN), a Clerical Missionary Society of Apostolic Life of Diocesan Right from the diocese of Eluru in India. I see there are also members of that Society in B.C. (Langley, Delta, and Powell River).

 

[twf]

I recognize the acronym, but didn’t know who they were.
I believe Vancouver has about a hundred diocesan priests and a hundred religious priests - about 50/50, but the latter would include Benedictines at the monastery without parish assignments. The majority of pastors are diocesan.

 

[midori]

We have Reconciliation scheduled twice a year: once during Lent, once during Advent. And sometimes not even that much, if our priest ended up being borrowed by too many other parishes to help out with theirs. This Advent, I haven’t noticed a Reconciliation schedule posted at all.

So, for what it’s worth-- following up on Confession being encouraged.

It was announced at church on the 16th that we would have Confession available on Friday the 21st, from 6-7. (We never do anything at church on Fridays, so it’s outside our routine.) So I assigned my Sunday School kids to make sure they went; it got posted to Facebook; etc.

On Friday, I had to go run an errand that afternoon. I got back into town at 6:15 and drove past the church. The lights were on, yay. I changed out of my grubby clothes, got the kids, and headed that direction. The lights were off. Hm. It was about 6:20. We got closer-- and the priest was locking the door. He had made his decision to go, so we didn’t call out to him— but we stood across the street to see if he would notice us in the parking lot. He didn’t, and he made the drive back home, and we turned around and went home ourselves.

So-- we had five days’ notice, zero people showed up, and the priest got discouraged and left 15 minutes into the hour that had been blocked out. (Of course, he had been there for 30 minutes by that point.)

So, yeah. That’s what it looks like when the Sacraments get neglected in an area.

 

[HeDa]

That is as bad as it possibly can get.

My parish priest has been sitting in the confessional for more hours than I can count this week. A lot more than the usual 7 or so. In addition, there have been two other priest come and hear confessions in other languages for about two hours each. I think his goal was to hear every ones confession before Christmas start. But then on the other hand, he talks a lot about confession in homilies etc.

 

[adgloriam]

so we didn’t call out to him— but we stood across the street to see if he would notice us in the parking lot.

Immediate shout and go wish him merry Christmas. Give him a big smile, say you’re sorry for not having arrived earlier. Let the kids say hi and all together walk with the priest to his car to have the privilege of his company. You might have missed the sacrament and be disappointed, but at least you’d been together that short while. And I think he’d been happy. Don’t be a stranger.

Write him a short snail-mail letter explaining exactly this and how it happened. I think he’ll appreciate it.

 

[midori]

I mentioned it to him in the sacristy before church on Sunday, just so he’d know someone had shown.

“Hi! I was so sorry that we missed you! I had to run errands in the city and didn’t get back until 6:15. We arrived right as you were locking up. I don’t know if you saw us across the street?”

“No. If I’m by myself and don’t see anyone for 30 minutes, I leave.” He’s from another country, and is pretty blunt.

I didn’t get into the finer points of how those 30 minutes had been arranged vs the advertised start time… I just wanted to let him know someone had tried, and it hadn’t worked out.

 

[InThePew]

“Hi! I was so sorry that we missed you! I had to run errands in the city and didn’t get back until 6:15. We arrived right as you were locking up. I don’t know if you saw us across the street?”

“No. If I’m by myself and don’t see anyone for 30 minutes, I leave.” He’s from another country, and is pretty blunt.

So at this point you should say: “okay, well could you hear my confession after mass please”. If he can’t then ask him when he’d next be available… priests have an obligation to hear confessions - hold them to it!

 

[Phemie]

I’ve approached my priest for confession because I was flying out for a bone scan involving radioactive dye and didn’t want to risk that without confession. We were at a wake and we just stepped into the office and he heard my confession there.