How does a diocese decide what the best parish for a priest is?

[WildCatholic]

I’ve always wondered why a certain priest gets put in one parish over another. Does it have to do with their skillset. Sometimes it seems like that. For example in my parish, my priest, while reverent and orthodox, is a little clicky, not very good at grammar and speaking (he does his best though, but i assume he had a learning disability, which makes me admire him more), and I wonder if they sent him to my parish because it is smaller, older, and the people are relatively devout and their isn’t a lot of work to do compared to a larger parish. I’m not saying this makes my priest worse than any others, but when assigning a parish to a priest do they look at their strengths and weaknesses and put them in a parish suited to their needs?

 

[InThePew]

when assigning a parish to a priest do they look at their strengths and weaknesses and put them in a parish suited to their needs

Practices differ between dioceses but, to some extent, the answer is yes. For example, an older priest who has difficulty driving at night will not be assigned to a country parish which involves driving on rural roads at night. Similarly, a newly-ordained priests first assignment will usually be with an experienced “older had” who he can learn from, rather than with a priest who is relatively new to ministry himself. Likewise, problems in a parish may call for a priest who will bring healing to divisions rather than making them worse.

More generally however, IMHO assignment allocation starts with two questions: what’s available and who’s available!

 

[L_Marshall]

The bishop ultimately makes the decision, but is usually advised by a very small group of people (most often priest) who know the Diocese, and the pastoral ministry of each area very well.

If a priest is known to do very well with schools, they may assign him to a parish with a school. If he knows a particular language or cultural well, they may assign him to a parish that hosts a group of people of that culture.