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A shortage of Jesuit priests brings change to leadership of Christ the King
By Sandi Dolbee
RELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR
UNION-TRIBUNE
May 19, 2005
Father Joseph Spieler lifted the ceremonial wooden key over his head to show the congregation. Then he handed it to the priest beside him.
Sixty-three years passed with that key.
Since 1942, the Society of Jesus – a religious order commonly known as the Jesuits – provided the pastoral leadership for Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Logan Heights. In all, the religious order supplied 14 pastors, along with countless other priests who helped out from time to time.
. . . .
“We don’t have the horses anymore,” said the Rev. Thomas Smolich, provincial superior for the Society of Jesus in California. “We’re not pulling out after 63 years because we want to. We’re leaving because we have to.”
In the case of the Jesuits, the number of priests in this region is dropping at a rate of about 10 a year, and fewer want to go into parish ministry.
“It’s that pastor bunch we’re lacking. Most of our guys are service oriented,” said Spieler, who has been Christ the King’s pastor for three years. The majority of the religious order, which has a reputation for being progressive and scholarly, are in academia.
Full article
By Sandi Dolbee
RELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR
UNION-TRIBUNE
May 19, 2005
Father Joseph Spieler lifted the ceremonial wooden key over his head to show the congregation. Then he handed it to the priest beside him.
Sixty-three years passed with that key.
Since 1942, the Society of Jesus – a religious order commonly known as the Jesuits – provided the pastoral leadership for Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Logan Heights. In all, the religious order supplied 14 pastors, along with countless other priests who helped out from time to time.
. . . .
“We don’t have the horses anymore,” said the Rev. Thomas Smolich, provincial superior for the Society of Jesus in California. “We’re not pulling out after 63 years because we want to. We’re leaving because we have to.”
In the case of the Jesuits, the number of priests in this region is dropping at a rate of about 10 a year, and fewer want to go into parish ministry.
“It’s that pastor bunch we’re lacking. Most of our guys are service oriented,” said Spieler, who has been Christ the King’s pastor for three years. The majority of the religious order, which has a reputation for being progressive and scholarly, are in academia.
Full article