Layperson Being Removed from All Ministries?

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I do not have any similar experiences with people being removed from all ministries.

One point to keep in mind is that there is never a fight but that there are two parties. It is entirely possible that the woman in the OP’s post was straigh arrow orthodox and the priest was a renegade who din’t want orthodoxy in his parish. That is one scenario; but as other posters have pointed out, there are alos other scenarios, and any pastor worth his salt would not reveal his reasons for doing so. And if he is any good, he would do it in a way that brought little or no attention to the matter.

I’m perplexed by this line “…any pastor worth his salt would not reveal his reasons for doing so.” I feel any person who is removed in a sudden and complete manner deserves and explanation. Especially if it’s done in a manner where suspicion and roomers could develop.

 

[cathyf]

It may be that the person has been told exactly what the issues are and is not being honest about that. (And one of the issues may in fact be a history of being confronted about unacceptable behavior and then denying that the confrontation ever happened or that the person had ever been given any clues.) If this is the case, then the pastor has few options, and the facts in the story would be consistent with the pastor exercising discretion quite admirably.

EDIT

So, anyway, what I see is that you really have very little information. If there is something improper going on, you don’t know enough to know who is doing it. The challenge is to be prudently watchful without becoming suspicious – if you find something out, then you are morally obligated to act, and you have a moral obligation not to stick your head in the sand in denial. If, on the other hand, you have nothing but a few vague suspicions and all the facts you have are very ambiguous, then you have an obligation to treat everyone with the assumption of innocence and good will.

It’s tough to be prudent without being paranoid.

 

[otjm]

I’m perplexed by this line “…any pastor worth his salt would not reveal his reasons for doing so.” I feel any person who is removed in a sudden and complete manner deserves and explanation. Especially if it’s done in a manner where suspicion and roomers could develop.

It goes back to the old “need to know” issue. There may not be more than one parishoner, if that, who “needs to know” why the priest has taken the action he did.

In civil law, saying why you fired someone is an excellent route, and a short one, to a very juicy lawsuit.

The pastor, even if he were not subject to a lawsuit over the issue, has the responsiblility to not damage someone’s reputation. And the issue is not necessarily whether or not he tells the truth (she was fired because she was xxxxxx) but whether or not that issue, like the old grade school example, is going to go out and get itself twisted around to the point that it sounds like a different parish and different players.

The parish or individuals within it may feel that they have an absolute God-given right to know why the pastor made the decision he did. The fact that they feel that way does not confer on them the right to oversee the pastor’s decisions (that belongs to the bishop) or to micro manage personnel.

They may be told by the individual banned what happened (and in most stories, there are two sides), and she may well be telling the truth; or perhaps the truth but not the whole truth; or perhaps her “take” on the issue which has nothing to do with the real reason she was banned and has nothing to do with the truth. And her telling the story (which, again, is nobody’s business) may serve to royally stir the pot. It may paint the pastor in a horrible light; but that is part of his “job description” if you will.

If he is wrong, she may have recourse to the bishop or someone under the bishop, or she may not. He has a duty to protect her good name, even if it comes at the loss of his. He has no right to wade in with his side of the story unless and until she gives him permission.

And it is generally not likely she will give permission.