Changing Pastors -- a lot

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In the Diocese where I live, some pastors are assigned to new parishes every after 3 years, some after 6 years. (local folks call it: “clergy reshuffle” or “rigodon sacerdotal” or “rigodon”) But no priest in our diocese exceeds 6 years in one parish. One priest here in the Diocese served in a particular parish
only for a short period of two years, before he died suddenly of a heart attack.

Last Holy Thursday, during the Chrism Mass, the Bishop announced the reassignments of the diocesan clergy and the confirmation of appointments by religious clergy. The Rector of the Cathedral will be assigned to a parish that has his personal patron saint as its titular – St. John Paul II. (He served as book bearer to that Pope when he visited the Philippines last 1978). Tomorrow, the parish community will be having a testimonial dinner for him, in recognition of the contributions he has done while serving as the Cathedral Rector for the past 6 years.

Always pray for your priests and be kind to them. They go wherever they are sent.
 
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I appreciate all the comments and information.

I’ve concluded that if a pastor is happy and good in his parish and the people like him; then he should be allowed to have an indefinite stay.

I wish there wasn’t so much ‘shuffling’.
 
RosalieM said:
I’ve concluded that if a pastor is happy and good in his parish and the people like him; then he should be allowed to have an indefinite stay.

I wish there wasn’t so much ‘shuffling’.
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Change is hard, but it isn’t always able to be avoided.

My parents are losing their pastor unexpectedly after he has been there a short time. It isn’t because he asked to leave (indeed, he exercised his right of refusal a few times before finally agreeing to the move). Rather, it was because there was a particular parish that was in need of the type of skills that he has.

The parish I grew up at had the same pastor for 17 years (which pretty much coincided for the first 17 years of my life). So I understand getting attached and not wanting to see them leave. But I’ve come to the point where I understand better why these changes happen, and that the Church is far bigger than any one priest—as awesome and holy as that priest might be. So I roll with the punches.

That doesn’t mean it’s not sad to see them go. But there always seems to be another great priest to take his place. And that priest will have different gifts and might speak more powerfully to another group of parishioners that wasn’t being reached as well by the previous pastor. I just trust in the Spirit and pray for our priests.
 
Thank you Joe. The pastor who left before this one (who has been with the parish only a year) was there for 25 years, which included the years that I had returned to the Church. In fact, he helped me to come back.

When the current pastor of only one year announced his departure; I had a similar feeling that the Church is bigger than any one priest.

Still, I think of a very distant past…as in the time of St. Bernadette, who had a country pastor take her under his protection. And St. Faustina; who had constant priests she confided in and went to for guidance. There was constancy.

I wonder if they shuffle in other countries.
 
Note that under Canon law, a permanent/indefinite appointment is normative, with an option for the national bishops to instead have terms.

AFAIK, all of the EC in the US use permanent appointments, and once appointed pastor (as opposed to administrator), a priest has certain rights to remain.
 
Communication is the swizzle-stick of life. Far better to have a priest than not. Regardless of how spiritual he may or may not be, regardless of his homiletic talent, those hands - those hands - by the power of the Holy Spirit, make our Lord present and bring Him to us.
 
Thanks.

There was a Ukrainian Catholic pastor that had to finally step down (to everyone’s dismay) a year or two ago.

He was in in his mid 90’s, and I believe had been pastor there for 49 years.

He found himself baptizing not just children but grandchildren those he’d baptized . . .

hawk
 
JackMcCoy said:
Should priests be assigned to parishes where they grew up? Can you go home?
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I know a priest who was assigned to a parish in the general neighborhood. At one point, his parishioners included his parents, grandparents, and all of his siblings. He is no longer at that parish, but his father currently serves there as deacon.
 
dochawk said:
Note that under Canon law, a permanent/indefinite appointment is normative, with an option for the national bishops to instead have terms.

AFAIK, all of the EC in the US use permanent appointments, and once appointed pastor (as opposed to administrator), a priest has certain rights to remain.
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I strongly believe that it should be this way and I believe that the bishops in the US have taken a very utilitarian approach, which is not necessarily in the best interests of parishioners or pastors. It does give the bishops themselves more flexibility and more control. I understand the desire for this, to be able to move pastors more easily in a more modern and mobile world and I know that Rome has approved this approach, but I don’t care for this way of doing things and I’m grateful that the Eastern bishops have not taken this approach.

We call our priests “Father” and they are called to be true spiritual fathers to their parishes, who are supposed to be a true family in Christ. Short of an absolute crisis, what sort of family gets a new father every 6-12 years? In a large parish especially, six years is scarcely enough time to get to know a priest, let alone love him and trust him as a true father. We live in such a mobile society and we change residences and parishes every few years and travel to whichever parish we like best that it is easy to lose sight of the fact that this is not normative.

Here’s a good blog post, from a canonist and priest, which attempts to take a balanced approach to the subject.

musingsofacanonist.wordpress.com

Pastoral Moves and Stability of Office

It’s that time of year again, at least in my diocese, when pastoral assignments are about to be announced. Thankfully, the rumour mill has been relatively quiet in my circle of communication…
musingsofacanonist.wordpress.com musingsofacanonist.wordpress.com
 
I think Fr. Essig founded the parish where I was raised in the mid or late 50s, with the church being built during the council (so it devised from the plans, including the lack of an altar rail).

He remained at the parish until his death sometime in the 90s. When he retired (in the late 80s? He was a paratrooper chaplain in WWII, dropping with the troops), the Mens Club built an apartment next to the rectory (Diocese policy said a retired priest couldn’t stay in the rectory), and remained in residence until his death.

Fr. Sheehan, a Holy Ghost father, arrived in the mid 70s (I know he coached our soccer team in the 77-78 school year, and he’d been there a bit by then), and was there to the late 80s or early 90s.

Fr. Spika was there as far as I can remember, and was in charge of the altar boys when I was able to join the summer before 4th grade. I think he was there to the early 80s.

Fr. Teheny, S.J. was there from the end of the 70s, I think, to at least the late 80s.

Fr. Lester I didn’t know well, but he was there when I was in jr. high in the late 70s, and came to each class roughly weekly.

Fr. O’Rourke, S.J. was a semi-retired weekend “rent-a-priest” from Bellarmine College Prep (where I would go) from as early as I can remember until I went to his funeral at University fo Santa Clara (while I was attending) in the mid 80s.

So for a parish with 3 full time priests, and an extra on weekends (it was the largest parish in the 80s), that’s pretty much the roster from sometime before I was in 4th grade through a couple of years after I graduated from college . . .

Yes, much better, I think, than the constant shuffle.

My current priest was ordained at our parish about 11 years ago, and plans to stay put until retirement (10-15 years). And if we can, we’ll take care of him in the rectory indefinitely after that (his predecessor was a Franciscan. When he asked to retire after his stroke, the parish had taken such care of him that his order told him, “you stay right there with those people!”)

hawk
 
I recently had the privilege of attending the funeral of the man who is believed to have been the longest-serving pastor at a parish in the US. He served at the same parish for nearly 60 years (45 as pastor).
 
AFAIK, in the Melbourne Archdiocese if the priest was appointed prior to 1983 or 1986 (or similar) they had an indefinite tenure at their parish—the majority of those priests have however moved to other parishes now upon request or are retiring. This was changed (around those timeframes , I think), and now priests have a normal parish stay of six years, with a one renewal possible. The Archbishop can decide to renew a third time but that is quite uncommon these days.
 
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dochawk said:
Thanks.

There was a Ukrainian Catholic pastor that had to finally step down (to everyone’s dismay) a year or two ago.

He was in in his mid 90’s, and I believe had been pastor there for 49 years.

He found himself baptizing not just children but grandchildren those he’d baptized . . .

hawk
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The first priest I knew was the one who’d been Pastor when Dad became an altar server at the age of 12. He celebrated Mom & Dad’s wedding 27 years later (Dad was still lead altar server) and over the course of the next 6 years he baptized me and my two brothers, the youngest being the last he baptized before the new Pastor took over the parish after 35 years. He remains the priest who served our parish the longest in its 137 years and he and the woman who was his housekeeper were cherished family friends. I remember Christmas morning visits to the rectory after Mass and Sunday afternoon trips to visit other churches in the area.

The longest serving after him was there 13 years and celebrated my wedding and baptized our first two kids. He might have served longer but he became ill and had to retire.
 
I once had a colleague who was a huge proponent of shuffling priests around. Her philosophy was: If you’re a good priest, everyone should get to experience you. If you’re a bad priest, no one should have to endure you forever. And if all the priests are being moved, no one has to tell you to your face which category you fall under. 😝

I think there are pros and cons to each approach. It is nice to have that stability rather than having things feel like they are in a constant state of flux. It is good to be able to be comfortable and really see our priests as spiritual fathers. At the same time, sometimes that constancy leads to a bit of stagnation. And I have seen situations where the departure of a long-serving pastor (sometimes simply due to retirement) is such a huge blow that a significant portion of the parish ends up leaving the Church altogether.
 
This information clears up a lot of questions. I was an army brat and we changed homes frequently during my formative years – in different countries. I guess I really need stability in my parish home. I’m able to travel around town to different parishes; but not so much during my choir season which demands more frequent attendance at the church for double the rehearsals. I’m praying; but must admit I’m apprehensive of what changes are in store for my parish.
This past year the pews were sparsely populated even during the Christmas and Easter seasons.
 
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When our last Pastor was appointed in 2012 he told the Bishop, “OK, I’ll go there but let me be clear that this is the last time I move. I’m 69 and I will be Pastor until I die or get too sick to keep going. I’ll leave in a box.”

He became friend to many and it wasn’t unusual to hear a knock at the door and find him standing there expecting a cup of tea and a cookie. He was at many of our family celebrations in the subsequent years.

Little did he know that leaving in a box would happen less than 4 years later, when a post-fall, undiagnosed blood clot resulted in a pulmonary embolism which robbed us of him in a couple of days. I still miss him. Unless we suddenly have an influx of regional priests I fear that we’ve seen our last pastor. From now on the bishop will be appointing foreign missionaries as Administrators.

Is it ironic or simply sad that in my lifetime we’ve gone from sending priests to India as missionaries to having priests from India come to Canada as missionaries because we don’t ordain enough of our own to meet our needs?
 
Phemie said:
Is it ironic or simply sad that in my lifetime we’ve gone from sending priests to India as missionaries to having priests from India come to Canada as missionaries because we don’t ordain enough of our own to meet our needs?
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Most priests that I’ve been in contact with (but not all) have come from large families, families with five or more siblings. How many families in the United States and Canada have that many children anymore? How many even have four children? That’s is the biggest reason I feel that there is a priest shortage in the U.S. and Canada (and also Western Europe). Even our priests from Third World countries usually come from large families.

I think the widespread use of birth-control among Catholic families (especially in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe) has had a very noticeable affect on the number of young men entering the priesthood.
 
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