Priest morale in St. Cloud, MN

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Jennifer_J

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This article appearred in our local Catholic newspaper. stcdio.org/visitor/********Sept_04/9_23/new_page_2.htm
Here’s a quote I’d like to point out that bothers me:

“Morale itself is not a problem,” said Father Thomas Olson, reporting sentiments from Foley Deanery priests, “as much as the number of parishes loaded onto priests, low Mass attendance, cohabiting engaged couples, too many young priests who lean to the right,” and bishops, many of whom mishandled the clergy sexual abuse issue or are unwilling to forgive one-time offenders.

Too many young priests who lean to the right?? This is bad??? Am I missing something? sigh

Jennifer
 
We must continue to pray for these “young priests who lean to the right.” They are under terrible attack from within their own ranks. Be hopeful - the liberals are starting to die off. 🙂
 
Jennifer J:
T
Too many young priests who lean to the right?? This is bad??? Am I missing something? sigh
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McBrien was sniveling and gnashing his teeth in print over the same thing some time back, only he referred to them as “more conservatitive” - he was moaning about who was going to carry on the “good work” when he and his friends were gone - I thought to myself at the time, I don’t know who, but it can’t happen to soon.

Brings to mind a Chesterton story:

Years ago in the London Times there were a series of articles about the same social problems we face now.* At the end of each article was the question, “What’s wrong with the world?”* This reply was given, “Dear Editor: What’s wrong with the world? I am.* Faithfully yours, G.K. Chesterton.”
 
i see no problem with conservitave preists, but I’d say a preist should be somthing altogether different than right or left, they should be a symbol of unwavering morality and unending compassion. do not let the political situations of the world define the clergy.
 
Jennifer J:
This article appearred in our local Catholic newspaper. stcdio.org/visitor/********Sept_04/9_23/new_page_2.htm
Here’s a quote I’d like to point out that bothers me:

“Morale itself is not a problem,” said Father Thomas Olson, reporting sentiments from Foley Deanery priests, “as much as the number of parishes loaded onto priests, low Mass attendance, cohabiting engaged couples, too many young priests who lean to the right,” and bishops, many of whom mishandled the clergy sexual abuse issue or are unwilling to forgive one-time offenders.

Too many young priests who lean to the right?? This is bad??? Am I missing something? sigh

Jennifer
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Re.the number of parishes loaded on to priests,in these days
when so many drive why can’t some of the churches be closed?
Some of the older buildings must be in a state of disrepair.I know
in our parish the presbytery houses two priests when it housed four in 1986.Living in a big city,there are several parishes i can attend,so i can appreciate the difficulties of people in outlying areas.At the same time,i do not drive myself because i was disabled in a car crash many years ago when a passenger in someone else’s car.Therefore,if my parish closed,i would have to rely on Public Transport or get a lift on the Parish Minibus which
is already used for people older or more disabled than me.In addition,there is a lot of work priests do that could be done by
laypeople.What about more Deacons?In my part of the world
there was a time when Mass was said in a hotel or a warehouse
for the few catholics that were around.It was only when many Irish immigrants arrived after the famine that we started to get churches built.I do realize that when you close a church and then the catholic population and/or the number of priests increases then a new church will cost a lot more than the original.Of course,even with more Deacons and laypeople helping out there is still a problem with weddings and funerals.Everything is delayed till there is a priest available.

While i really wouldn’t want to go back to the 1950’s when priests
shouted a lot more from the pulpit,it would do no harm to loudly challenge why there is this low Mass attendance and couples cohabiting before getting married in Church.Originally,cohabiting was supposed to be about checking out if the couple could cope with each other 24/7 but it seems to be an experiment which has failed.In addition,i have actually heard a young woman admit she stopped going to Mass simply because she preferred to stay in bed on Sunday morning.Possibly that was with a hangover.It certainly was not based on any careful study that the Catholic
Faith might just be wrong.

With regard to Father Olson’s remarks about young right-wing priests and the Bishops’ mishandling of sexual abuse cases and
being reluctant to forgive one-time offenders;i am baffled.I thought the fault of the Bishops lay in the fact that they had been transferring these scandal priests as if they WERE one-time offenders and ended getting themselves accused of a cover-up.
Secondly,i don’t mind priests giving advice about voting as there are people who are not politically aware.Their politics is very much like their religion.They were brought up to believe a certain way and they think they are guilty of betrayal if they think anything different.Smart-Alec politicians take advantage of this and push all the right buttons.I have always been a floating voter
and,while i will listen to political advice,i won’t be told which Party to vote for.If my preferred candidate is a right-winger,then it is just tough for people like Father Olson.
 
The western side of Minnesota, is especially sparse of population. Each little town has it’s own church. Many of these churches are in fine repair and have decent size communities, but if each church had a priest, it means they need many priests. So they have kind of consolidated the parishes and one priest has several communities he shepherds. It’s not ideal, but that’s the solution they’ve come up with. Now, why they aren’t pushing and praying for more vocations, I have no idea. Why they feel the need to put down right leaning priests (that means they follow church teaching, by the way, has not much to do with politics) I also have no idea. It makes me angry.
Jennifer
 
Close the older buildings? Let’s revisit that thought.

Often older buildings are more substantial and yield far more satisfactory results, both structurally and aesthetically, when restored than the churches built according to the drive-in bank school of architecture so influential from the 1960s through the mid-1980s.

Often older buildings are in neighborhoods that could use the infusion of traffic on Sundays.

Often older buildings are more representative of the character and history of the cities where they stand. I say, bulldoze the suburban mediocrities (where the more affluent car-owners live) and invest in something that has already stood the test of time.
 
The western side of Minnesota, is especially sparse of population. Each little town has it’s own church. Many of these churches are in fine repair and have decent size communities, but if each church had a priest, it means they need many priests. So they have kind of consolidated the parishes and one priest has several communities he shepherds. It’s not ideal, but that’s the solution they’ve come up with. Now, why they aren’t pushing and praying for more vocations, I have no idea. Why they feel the need to put down right leaning priests (that means they follow church teaching, by the way, has not much to do with politics) I also have no idea. It makes me angry.
Jennifer
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Jennifer J,

If the morale of Priests in the St. Cloud diocese is low now, which it is, then the sudden death of Father Nathan Packard stcdio.org/Fr_Packard.htm will only exacerbate the situation.
I am in the southwestern corner of the Duluth diocese and we have had a little better luck with vocations than St. Cloud, but we still expect a decrease in the number of Priests over the next several years. We have been praying for more vocations at every Mass in every parish, and maybe that is because we have a few more vocations than your diocese. Though we still don’t expect to have any more Priests to spare, nor do we now.

Unless the Bishops decide to allow more Priests to come in from other states or countries. Then sadly I think there is little hope for the future of these small parishes in these smaller towns, even though the buildings may be in good shape and their Masses well attended.

The situation stems from the mentality that when you graduate from high school, the common expectation is you go off to college(usually secular, or secularized Catholic), get your major or degree, find a career and get married(usually later, if at all). Ministerial options often are never considered these days, unfortunately.

Further compounding the problem is next to nobody encourages vocations, and sadly many Priests don’t either, because they don’t want anyone else to experience the low morale they have had. All that shows really is a lack of faith. And if they invited more men to join them in the priesthood, things wouldn’t be quite so hard on them. Unless of course they don’t like their vow of celibacy.:rolleyes:
 
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burnside:
Secondly,i don’t mind priests giving advice about voting as there are people who are not politically aware.Their politics is very much like their religion.They were brought up to believe a certain way and they think they are guilty of betrayal if they think anything different.Smart-Alec politicians take advantage of this and push all the right buttons.I have always been a floating voter
and,while i will listen to political advice,i won’t be told which Party to vote for.If my preferred candidate is a right-winger,then it is just tough for people like Father Olson.
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I’m not sure where you got this idea but it is specifically illegal for the church or any church official to endorse a candidate or a party. A Church would lose their tax-exempt status for this.

The Catholic Voter’s guide outlines the issues without mentioning which party is represented where. It allows the Catholic voter to be educated and able to make their own decision in line with the morality of church teaching.

It is the job of our religious leaders to teach us about morality and how to apply it in real life…and an election is a great place to put that into practice.
 
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JCPhoenix:
I’m not sure where you got this idea but it is specifically illegal for the church or any church official to endorse a candidate or a party. A Church would lose their tax-exempt status for this.

The Catholic Voter’s guide outlines the issues without mentioning which party is represented where. It allows the Catholic voter to be educated and able to make their own decision in line with the morality of church teaching.

It is the job of our religious leaders to teach us about morality and how to apply it in real life…and an election is a great place to put that into practice.
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Firstly,a priest can give this advice privately,rather than from the pulpit.Some have already done so.In any case,i’m talking from a Scottish perspective and don’t have this voter’s guide like you have.At the end of my post,i
made the point that i wouldn’t let people like Father Olson tell me which Party to vote for.I know it is the job of the clergy to teach us about morality,but my argument was about the fact that
too many people are not very aware politically and think if they
vote for a Party other than the one their parents voted for they are betraying their birthright.Even more politically aware people
get confused at times because they cannot verify what they are being told by the political candidates.
I used to assist political candidates and,in an attempt to save on their costs,they would deliver their campaign literature in the places they were more likely to be read.Have you ever experienced putting a leaflet in a letterbox and,in the time it took to deliver one to a flat immediately above,the original recipient had tossed your crumpled leaflet back outside?Reading a Voter’s
Guide is great if you manage to get responses from the would-be
politicians.In my experience,most of them get a bad attack of writer’s cramp when you are asking awkward questions.The last one i had dealings with mentioned having attended a catholic school,though she was standing for the Liberal Party.When she failed to answer my enquiry on abortion,i assumed she held the opposite view from me and made sure others knew.She got 900+
votes.That was a disastrous vote for a Major Party Candidate.
 
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mercygate:
Close the older buildings? Let’s revisit that thought.

Often older buildings are more substantial and yield far more satisfactory results, both structurally and aesthetically, when restored than the churches built according to the drive-in bank school of architecture so influential from the 1960s through the mid-1980s.

Often older buildings are in neighborhoods that could use the infusion of traffic on Sundays.

Often older buildings are more representative of the character and history of the cities where they stand. I say, bulldoze the suburban mediocrities (where the more affluent car-owners live) and invest in something that has already stood the test of time.
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I wasn’t really discriminating against those churches which just happened to be old.I know some of the older churches can be
rather more solid.I was referring to the ones which were beginning to show signs of falling down.By all means,if a relatively new church is starting to crumble,pull it down.
My present parish,Our Lady of Lourdes,is not new and just a few years ago had to stump up a few thousand pounds for re-wiring
in the presbytery.I think this was because it did not meet modern
safety standards.If this had happened in one of the poorer parishes,they would have had a problem,though in our diocese
the richer parishes have to pay a certain amount of money to help
the poorer ones.
 
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