Priest's on the move :(

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chelle
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Chelle

Guest
Hi Everyone,
I just heard yesterday in Church that one of our priest’s are on the move to another parish, It made me very upset as a Catholic returning home, THEN today I found out the other priest is leaving us too :crying: ! It seems so unfair just when I have found my way home again and this major change is about to take place next month. I understand these things happen BUT these priest’s have only been in our parish for not quite a year:( , and I was wondering how everybody else deals with this sort of thing, I have become very fond of them as they have both been very instrumental in my home coming.
Love to you all
Chelle
 
Priests are supposed to be moved every couple of years. I know some that stay in a parish 15-20 years and become very complacent. So you just have to see it as a good thing and you will get another priest but I would worry because it could be a sign of trouble if they are leaving after just one or 2 years?
 
This really bothers me. I was very brokenhearted when my favorite local priest was moved from the hospital to a parish way out of town. He was really, really popular, an good ol’ Irishman, a classic, and everyone loved him. He was replaced by a real stiff…I felt sorry for the hospital staff. I didn’t really understand, and then thought it was a Jesuit thing. And now I wonder if there was a personal problem. He died at the new post and I never saw him again.

One very good priest who was moved to our parish 2 years ago from Washington state made it pretty clear in his first homily that he wasn’t happy about it either, and wanted to stay at the school where he had been. Some of the other priests in town have been at their parishes for decades.

Why are some moved and some not?
 
Our parish is growing, many new building projects completed and some in the works. Our priest has been with us for 7 years. 👍

As a new convert, I have been told that priests only stay at a parish for about 5 years before being transfered. As ours has been with us for 7, is his time up?..I pray to God NOT!!!

Before he came to our parish, I was told that the parish was stagnet, very little growth. Since he has gotten here, we outgrew our old church and are now in the process of coming up with the funds to build another. 👍 Would a Bishop really relocate a priest with a growing parish???

My way of thinking,IF IT AINT BROKE-DON’T FIX IT
in otherwords, leave a priest who is well loved and respected at the parish inwhich he is instramental (through the workings of the Holy Spirit) in its growth.
 
Actually they are supposed to be moved about every 7 years. If they are problems they move them sooner and sometimes with the priest shortage they can stay much longer. I would think it would be hard for the older ones to move. Since Old people resist change.
 
40.png
Bill_A:
Actually they are supposed to be moved about every 7 years. If they are problems they move them sooner and sometimes with the priest shortage they can stay much longer. I would think it would be hard for the older ones to move. Since Old people resist change.
Click to expand...
Well, pastors every 7 years, generally associate pastors get moved every 3 years.

It does seem strange that they are moving both around the same time. Generally, a diocese likes to keep some level of consistancy in a parish.
 
In our diocese, Camden, NJ, priests are assigned for a 6 year term. At the end of the 6 years, they can be moved or reassigned for another 6 years. Of course, priests can request a transfer, if they wish.

Peace,
Linda
 
40.png
Chelle:
Hi Everyone,
I just heard yesterday in Church that one of our priest’s are on the move to another parish, It made me very upset as a Catholic returning home, THEN today I found out the other priest is leaving us too :crying: ! It seems so unfair just when I have found my way home again and this major change is about to take place next month. I understand these things happen BUT these priest’s have only been in our parish for not quite a year:( , and I was wondering how everybody else deals with this sort of thing, I have become very fond of them as they have both been very instrumental in my home coming.
Love to you all
Chelle
Click to expand...
Don’t give up. Sometimes God allows us to be tested when we least expect it. I have every confidence that the new priest that is sent to your parish will be a blessing to your faith community.
 
40.png
Brendan:
Well, pastors every 7 years, generally associate pastors get moved every 3 years.

It does seem strange that they are moving both around the same time. Generally, a diocese likes to keep some level of consistancy in a parish.
Click to expand...
Work and Pray.

With one Priest at Every parish spread thin. They are all pastors.
 
Thanks…yes I hope so, as Im 41 and I have come back to the church I like the old tradition so I hope our ‘new’ priests will understand that. Apparantly they are a religous order priest …which is new to me anyway:ehh: , Im only use to the Diocese ones, still it’s sad:(
 
Chelle,

Let not your heart be troubled. Over the last month I have been dealing with the fact that my best friend in the seminary is leaving the seminary. It was a crushing blow, one that still causes my eyes to well with tears even as I write this.
In spiritual direction I was told this. People come into our lives for a reason. When they have achieved God’s work in us they then leave, but do they ever really leave? No. Our memories, our experiences and the effect that that person has on our life will never leave us. Also I am sure that these priests would be more than willing to keep in touch through e-mail etc. I know its not the same but they will not just abandon you.
Finally one last thought.
Karl Rahner, a great German Theologian, said this. Relationships never cease, they may get greater or lesser but the never cease.
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Benjamen J Wren
 
40.png
Bill_A:
Work and Pray.

With one Priest at Every parish spread thin. They are all pastors.
Click to expand...
The newly ordained still go through an associate pastorial assignment. Traditionally it was 3 assignments ( 9 years), now it is usually 2 assignments, sometimes just 1.

But there are still associate pastors out there (my parish has one, ordained last year).
 
A Catholic priest is a Catholic priest. If a Catholic priest is transferred to another parish, and is replaced by another Catholic priest, I don’t see a problem. This is exactly what we should expect will happen.
 
40.png
Chelle:
Thanks…yes I hope so, as Im 41 and I have come back to the church I like the old tradition so I hope our ‘new’ priests will understand that. Apparantly they are a religous order priest …which is new to me anyway:ehh: , Im only use to the Diocese ones, still it’s sad:(
Click to expand...
Hi Chelle,
Look on the bright side - now yet another priest will be privileged to know you and your enthusiasm for the faith! Priests need a change and a fresh environment now and then. It helps them not to burn out. It’s a tough life, and a lonely one.
God bless you,
Paul
 
Upon being presented a jeweled pectoral cross as a gift from his people by St Tikhon (Bellavin) in 1902 in recognition of his many sacrifices for his flock, the newly-glorified St Raphael (Hawaweeny) responded, “‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name be the glory’ (Ps 115:1) … ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth’ (I Cor 3: 6 & 7). It is true that I worked a lot and endured even more grief, but no matter how much I worked and how much grief I endured, I consider myself only to have done my duty as a priest and servant of God. Can we servants of God and spiritual pastors expect anything in this life except labor and grief? Is this not to what we have dedicated our life: to work without recompense, for the good and the salvation of our neighbors? ‘So you also, when you have done all that is commanded of you, say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’ (Lk 17:10)”

St Raphael of Brooklyn, the Good Shepherd of the Lost Sheep in America (+1915)
 
Shortly before his repose Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov (1896-1993), the founder of the Holy Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights-by-Malden in Essex, England, and spiritual son and disciple of St. Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938), shared an insight into the awesomeness of the sacred priesthood which was granted him. “When I was invoking the Name of Jesus Christ (while practicing the Jesus Prayer), I was once obliged to stop pronouncing His Name: the effect was too much for me - my soul, wordlessly, without thought, trembled at the nearness of God. Then it was that the mystery of the priestly office was revealed to me.

The following day I celebrated the Liturgy, and Christ God was in me, and with me, and outside me, and in the holy sacraments of His Body and Blood. And the Divine Name and the words of the liturgical texts issued from my mouth like a flame. I continued in this state for three days, after which the intensity of the experience diminished. But the Lord etched the memory of it on my mind and heart with a sharp tool. And I pray Him, ‘Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.’”

(On Prayer by Elder Sophrony, p. 47)
 
The Lord impressed upon me to go to this site. I think the Lord is explaining the priest’s role in his life and ours. I hope the previous two posts and this one were of some consolation…

I know a priest who loves God with great intensity, and yet grieves because he does not love Him as much as he would wish. His soul is ceaselessly filled with burning desire that God should be glorified in him and that he himself should be as nothing. This man does not think of what he is, even when others praise him. In his great desire for humility, he does not think of his priestly rank, but performs his ministry as the rule enjoins. In his extreme love for God, he strips himself of any thought of his own dignity; and with a spirit of humility he buries in the depths of divine love any pride to which his high position as a Priest of the Most High might give rise. Thus, out of desire to humble himself, he always sees himself in his own mind as a useless servant, extraneous to the priestly rank he holds. We too should do the same, fleeing all honor and glory in the overflowing richness of our love for the Lord who loves us so greatly.

St Diadochos of Photiki (c. 400-486)
 
in our dioscese a new bishop came in looked at the size of parishes and age/health of the priests and deacons, the younger clergy got moved to the bigger parishes the older ones to the littler parishes, and started making sure the clergy were rested properly and spiritually fulfilled, think it must be a through back to the priest that commited suicide a few years back
 
when we first moved to our former parish in Ohio, the priest was preaching his farewell sermon, full of bitterness and recriminations. It was clear that he was glad to leave and they had forced him out after only a year. It seems their beloved priest of many years had been transferred the year before, and after talking to many people it became clear they would not have accepted St. Peter as a replacement. This poor man–I have no idea how good a priest he was, but he is still in the “new” assignment and they love him there–had to serve as a bridge between the old and new pastor. His replacement has been there 12 years, and bishop has told him he will be there indefinitely. bottom line-it is the job of the bishop to know his priests and his parishes and he alone sees the big picture of all the needs of the dioceses. He alone can judge where the priests can best fill those needs. Not for us to question.
 
Different people have different gifts (talents). Priests are no exception. We had a priest who was very popular with about 1/2 of the congregation. He was full of enthusiasm and spoke eloquently in his homilies. But most of all he brought to our parish the gift of music. We had an organist who played with a polka beat and no cantors or choir. This priest changed all that around the time the woman retired and built up the music ministry which is thriving today. He lacked in some areas, however. He didn’t use the confessionals and would only offer confession by appointment and do his obligation to the first reconcilliation students. Consequently, there was no confession in our parish and it wasn’t encouraged.

When it was time for him to move on, half the congregation was sad to see him go but the other half was glad. They didn’t like his flamboyance and, quite frankly, his worldy attitude.

However, many were worried when we heard of the new pastor coming - he was very orthodox. Well, it turns out that he may not be very enthusiastic when giving the homily and has always been more of a teacher. But his “gift” was to bring our parish back to the focus - Jesus Christ. He visits the sick every day and more people appreciate him than anyone would have ever expected. People are even going to confession again.

So, even though you like your current priests, look for good in the new one. He is sure to bring his own gifts to your parish so that everyone will benefit. God bless.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top