Is it none of my business what happened to one of our parish priests?

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whatevergirl

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So, I sent an email today to the priest who leads our parish. There used to be a younger priest…in his 30’s I’d say, early 30’s…who really was special, really engaged the youth of the parish in his homilies, and just had fun style. Well, I have noticed that he has been “missing” with no explanation given in the bulletins or announcements…just he was here one mass, and never seen again. Sometimes, I have been at parishes that have goodbye parties for departing priests, not here though.

So, I sent an email to Father today, asking where he was. He said that he transferred to another local parish. I didn’t reply, but would it be inappropriate for me to ask why? Is it none of my business? 😊 I was just curious, because it doesn’t make sense. The reason it doesn’t make sense, is a new priest took his place.

What do you think? Just not reply? Or should I ask why?
 
whatevergirl said:
So, I sent an email today to the priest who leads our parish. There used to be a younger priest…in his 30’s I’d say, early 30’s…who really was special, really engaged the youth of the parish in his homilies, and just had fun style. Well, I have noticed that he has been “missing” with no explanation given in the bulletins or announcements…just he was here one mass, and never seen again. Sometimes, I have been at parishes that have goodbye parties for departing priests, not here though.

So, I sent an email to Father today, asking where he was. He said that he transferred to another local parish. I didn’t reply, but would it be inappropriate for me to ask why? Is it none of my business? 😊 I was just curious, because it doesn’t make sense. The reason it doesn’t make sense, is a new priest took his place.

What do you think? Just not reply? Or should I ask why?
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As sad as it is, there are politics in the Catholic Church too.
 
mark_a said:
As sad as it is, there are politics in the Catholic Church too.
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Oh. I hadn’t thought of that, really. Hmmm. I guess I can read between your line there not to write back…‘why?’ 😃
 
For some reason this reminds me of a strange, priest-gossip type of incident.

At a parish festival at a church which I had recently joined, I was going around dressed rather like an American flag and collecting signatures for a petition to have the Latin Mass at the parish. As a result of my spontaneous one-day attempt at activism of this kind, people that day for some reason assumed that I knew all the ins-and-outs of all the church politics for parishes miles around, (including an SSPX parish not recognized by my diocese, but that’s another story).

So one of the people I met happened to name-drop a priest whom I really liked, and in what sounded to me like a dark, spooky, melodramatic tone, intoned: “So, did you hear that Father X had to leave his old parish?” :eek: Eyes got round, voices got hushed as surrounding people murmured and looked at me. Perhaps they were testing me, I have no clue, or maybe I just misread the social situation and no harm was meant. In any case, I had no idea what sort of fate had befallen the poor priest, so I tried to answer with both sincerity of feeling and a proper diplomatic courtesy: “No, but I’m sorry to hear he left.”

Overcome by curiosity after the fact, I rushed to my computer after the day had ended, and typed in the name of Father X into Google.

And then burst into a relieved smile … It turned out that Father X had been promoted and appointed Pastor of his own parish !!! 🙂 :o :dancing:

So hopefully at some point in the future, you’ll hear some happy news too about this priest you were enquiring about. 🙂

~~ the phoenix
 
hey, that’s a happy ending. You tell a story well, with such vivid expression, for a moment, I could place myself exactly where you were when this event happened! 🙂 I hadn’t thought of googling him. My kids really enjoyed him. We have a new priest, and he is great too…just think that maybe something could have been mentioned about his sudden departure.🤷
 
Better to ask than to allow wrongful assumptions to stew. God bless our priests.
 
zab said:
Better to ask than to allow wrongful assumptions to stew. God bless our priests.
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I would ask as well, but not through email. When things are in writing people get nervous - Father may choose not to answer you this way for that reason.

Just ask him after Mass one weekend - “Oh Father, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what parish did Father X go to? The kids really loved him and I thought we would surprise him in his new parish and go to one of his Masses one weekend.” 🙂 (Not in front of a zillion other parishoners though)

Then - take it from there and see where the conversation goes… 😉

~Liza
 
priests who are not pastors, particularly young ones, may be moved around frequently, and may also these days have more than one assignment at a time, for instance helping at one or more parishes, teaching at the seminary, and assisting campus ministry. He was probably in your parish only for a short time during a period of particular need, and and now has been moved to fill another need. If you need to know you will be told. Priest assignments are generally announced in the diocesan newspaper or on the website.
 
Ask. If you get told it’s none of your business, let the matter drop.
 
lizaanne said:
I would ask as well, but not through email. When things are in writing people get nervous - Father may choose not to answer you this way for that reason.

Just ask him after Mass one weekend - “Oh Father, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what parish did Father X go to? The kids really loved him and I thought we would surprise him in his new parish and go to one of his Masses one weekend.” 🙂 (Not in front of a zillion other parishioners though)

Then - take it from there and see where the conversation goes… 😉

~Liza
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I thought I’d quote this… well because it’s a really good idea. Subtle, to the point, private, and noninvasive.
 
If your priest wants to tell parishioners what has happened, he will; but if he doesn’t it may well be respectful to refrain from asking. Priests deserve privacy also…
 
At a parish festival at a church which I had recently joined, I was going around dressed rather like an American flag and collecting signatures for a petition to have the Latin Mass at the parish.

Did you know that it is a violation of federal law to wear the American flag as an item of clothing?
 
bpbasilphx said:
**At a parish festival at a church which I had recently joined, I was going around dressed **rather like an American flag and collecting signatures for a petition to have the Latin Mass at the parish.

Did you know that it is a violation of federal law to wear the American flag as an item of clothing?
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Bolding mine, I think the OP meant they were wearing a lot of red, white and blue, a shirt with a flag design printed on it, etc. Not that they were wearing an actual flag. You’re missing the point.
 
Perhaps the priest was transferred by the bishop, and your pastor simply didn’t think of informing the parish?
 
Go to your archdiocese website. They probably have a list of all priests assigned to them and their location. (I know the Baltimore Archdiocese does)
 
On a tangent of this topic, we once had a young pastor, in his 30’s, of a brand new parish, so new we were holding Mass in an elementary school cafeteria (REAL cafeteria Catholics!). These Masses were very sacred, much more so than other established parishes in the area. The pastor was hardcore pro-Vatican, meaning everything we did was in-line with Vatican directives, the rubrics, etc. Women started wearing veils, overall dress of everyone went up a few notches, no talking once you entered the Mass space, etc. The point being most everyone attending were becoming more aware of the sacredness of the Mass an dressing/acting appropriately. Everyone loved the pastor very much. You could call on him any time day or night for confession or counseling. He is truly an amazing priest.

Well, after several years, when it came time to transfer him people were shocked and angry! They even told him they would petition the Bishop to have him remain there or they would follow him to whatever parish he went to next. So on one Sunday during the largest of the Masses he flat out told everyone not to petition the Bishop nor to follow him. We should be in love with Christ in the Mass, not with any priest. The parish was ours, not his, and he did not belong to us. He then went into a homily about obedience and community which dovetailed nicely with the Gospel that Sunday and reminded us all of what our roles were in the Church Militant.

He was transferred, a new priest came in with a much different style but everyone went forward with the same sacred spirit they had with the beloved priest and with a renewed love of our parish community. As far as I know, nobody left.

Sorry to be so off-topic but seemed a neat place to tell this story.

simon
 
Priests do get reassigned often on very short notice. When I was preparing for marriage, we asked the priest who was helping us in marriage prep (who we loved) to preside over our mass. He told us he would be unable to because he was being reassigned and wouldn’t be able to. He said jokingly that it was like being in the military- priests are typically only given a week’s notice before they are shipped out. I don’t remember if there was much fanfare when he left. I wouldn’t assume anything untoward about your missing priest- as others have suggested, you can ask your current priest privately, and in person what became of him, and be content with whatever response you are given. 👍
 
In this day and age, i.e., after the sex scandal, I believe the Pastor owes a note of thanks - in the Bulletin - to this young priest so that there is no gossip that maybe he was removed for a “reason.”

If he was removed for a “reason” the last thing the Pastor should do is tell folks the priest was “transferred to another local parish.” That dog won’t hunt any more - to be trite in a rural sort of way. I agree that silence is best - and if asked the Pastor should say “he was reassigned in accordance with Diocesan policy.” Yes that’s vague. But it is also the truth. Anyone who persists he should be referred to the Chancery in case they have a “reason” to follow up. I note this could apply to reasons such as sexual impropriety, psychological issues, private personal or family issues, etc.
 
lizaanne said:
I would ask as well, but not through email. When things are in writing people get nervous - Father may choose not to answer you this way for that reason.

Just ask him after Mass one weekend - “Oh Father, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what parish did Father X go to? The kids really loved him and I thought we would surprise him in his new parish and go to one of his Masses one weekend.” 🙂 (Not in front of a zillion other parishoners though)

Then - take it from there and see where the conversation goes… 😉

~Liza
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I agree with Liza. This would be the best way to ask him. We’ve had this happen to our younger priests at a few of the parishes I was located. For one, whom we all liked very much, he was actually having a crisis in his vocation and had asked everyone to pray for him. I do not know whatever happened to him. For others, they just were transferred and basically on short notice. We recently had one young priest, newly ordained, very orthodox, wonderful homilist, who was assigned to our parish and was there for maybe a year and then just dropped out of sight. It was odd, but at the same time, it could have been that they needed him at another parish. We had about 6 priests there, so they would have definitely needed him in another parish.

One really extreme experience was at my cousin’s parish. During her engagement, she and her husband went through three priests - the first two had to be transferred to shepherd other parishes. So each time they had to start over again with the new priest and they sometimes wouldn’t find out until they would make their next appointment with the priest. There was nothing fishy about it. It was just because there is a shortage of priests and they were needed elsewhere.
 
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