What does your diocese do with priests?

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Hoosier_Daddy

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I have lived in several diocese and most of them use the 2 year/5 year “rotation” for parishes. Including my current and soon to be new diocese. But in the parish we currently attend the priest has struck a deal with about 3 bishops and has managed to stay at the parish for 25 years, which means he is baptizing babies of people he baptized, heard first confessions, gave first communion, confirmed and married. It has created a parish that is completely close and family like. He is a true “Father”.

But most parishes I have seen have had one or two priests that rotate. For the pastor it is about a 5 year rotation and for the second priest it is about a 2 year post. So in our old parish we have had 5 different priests baptize all 5 of our kids.

Just curious on how others experience the placement of priests.
 
Here in L.A., the official term for pastors is a six year term, renewable once, which could mean 12 years. However, if all parties are agreeable (priest, parish and bishop), this rule is not necessarily enforced, and we have a few beloved pastors at parishes near me who have been at the helm for 20 years or more. Also, when an older pastor “retires” they often stay on as pastor emeritus, so we still have cases of priests being at one parish for 30 years or more. In the old days here (and I’ve been in the L.A. Archdiocese for over 50 years now), it was not uncommon for pastors to stay at one parish for over 40 years, but not so much now.
 
christofirst said:
Here in L.A., the official term for pastors is a six year term, renewable once, which could mean 12 years. However, if all parties are agreeable (priest, parish and bishop), this rule is not necessarily enforced, and we have a few beloved pastors at parishes near me who have been at the helm for 20 years or more. Also, when an older pastor “retires” they often stay on as pastor emeritus, so we still have cases of priests being at one parish for 30 years or more. In the old days here (and I’ve been in the L.A. Archdiocese for over 50 years now), it was not uncommon for pastors to stay at one parish for over 40 years, but not so much now.
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This is essentially how it is done in my diocese. It is not unusual to have some of the older priests who are appointed pastors stay as Pastor until they die or retire. The Pastor of a parish I used to belong to was there so long you couldn’t remember when he was NOT the Pastor. He finally retired, but was at the parish all the time helping out, doing sick calls, etc. May he rest in peace.
 
Our diocese does nothing. Rotation is up to the Provincial General, and not our Bishop. Sometimes the Province will leave a priest for years, sometimes he will be called in short order. It depends on the needs of the Order.
 
Our current priest was on loan to us from another diocese and has been with us for 5 years (I believe) but he has been recalled and this is his last week with us.

Temporarily, the Archbishop our our diocese will be taking pastoral care of our parish, but we have a new priest that is being ordained later this month who will ultimately become our priest.

I’m a brand new Catholic, so the priest that is leaving is the only priest I have ever know really and I’m grieving that he is leaving.
 
AKDee said:
Our current priest was on loan to us from another diocese and has been with us for 5 years (I believe) but he has been recalled and this is his last week with us.

Temporarily, the Archbishop our our diocese will be taking pastoral care of our parish, but we have a new priest that is being ordained later this month who will ultimately become our priest.

I’m a brand new Catholic, so the priest that is leaving is the only priest I have ever know really and I’m grieving that he is leaving.
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I’m sorry…Thwy are a spiritual leader for us and, as such, difficult to see move on.
 
christofirst said:
Here in L.A., the official term for pastors is a six year term, renewable once, which could mean 12 years. However, if all parties are agreeable (priest, parish and bishop), this rule is not necessarily enforced, and we have a few beloved pastors at parishes near me who have been at the helm for 20 years or more. Also, when an older pastor “retires” they often stay on as pastor emeritus, so we still have cases of priests being at one parish for 30 years or more. In the old days here (and I’ve been in the L.A. Archdiocese for over 50 years now), it was not uncommon for pastors to stay at one parish for over 40 years, but not so much now.
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This is the same here in Washington DC. We had a pastor who after 25 yrs, was going to become emeritus and stay on. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s set in and without much fanfare, he was gone.
 
We don’t seem to have a specific, regimented rotation. Which could be due to a lack of new Priests. 🤷 In any case, the Priest at my parish and the Priests in my diocese are wonderful and I’m happy to have them.
 
In the local RC diocese, I have heard it called the shuffle, every two years. I can personally say it has created nothing but chaos.
 
For a newly ordained priest in our diocese, there will be 2-3 rotations of 2-3 years, totaling 6 or years, and then he is made a pastor.

After that, there is no particular policy, the Archbishop, upon recommendation of the Vicar of Clergy, will assign pastors as needed to where they are needed.

That means that a pastor might move after a few years, or might stay for decades.

Adding to that are several ethnic parishes that are staffed by priests from outside the US, those serve at the pleasure of their bishops or heads of their orders. Some might come in for a few years to serve the needs of the local ethnic communities, and to ‘brush up’ on their English. Others might, again, stay for decades if the ethnic community that they serve had a strong, stable presence.
 
Casilda said:
In the local RC diocese, I have heard it called the shuffle, every two years. I can personally say it has created nothing but chaos.
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Wow - 2 years? That must make everyone - priest and congregation - just crazy.
 
In the local Roman Catholic diocese, I’ve noticed that there doesn’t seem to be any
pattern followed for shuffle/rotation.
There are two parishes that I know for certain that the priests have been there for more than ten years. One in particular for nearly twenty years.
Then, there is another where it appears to be rotated every two or three years.
For some reason it always seem like they’re stationing young priests there.
 
I have lived in the Archdiocese of Lille for eleven years, having moved here while it was still a diocese (elevated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008).

While I have heard it said that there is a de facto policy of leaving a priest in an assignment for six years, in practice the archbishop does what he thinks is best for the archdiocese. Some priests are left in place for six years and sometimes this is renewed for another six. Others move on after three years, or eight, or nine, or thirteen…the upshot is that after the third year all bets are off and a parish could welcome a new priest at any time.

Parishes with multiple priests will not see more than half of them moved at the same time. There is also no timeline by which a new priest becomes a pastor. One priest I know of became a pastor for the first time after 31 years of priesthood.

I have not seen a priest remain in an assignment for fewer than three years, save for extenuating circumstances such as illness, since the 2010 archdiocesan restructuring. That was a moment of great upheaval that saw a third of the diocesan priests moved around, including the rectors of the cathedral and the seminary, as well as a redefinition of the deanery boundaries. :whacky:
Casilda said:
In the local RC diocese, I have heard it called the shuffle, every two years. I can personally say it has created nothing but chaos.
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My pastor (who is in his fifth year with us) says it takes a year for a parish to get used to a new pastor and another year for him to institute whatever modifications he found necessary in that first year. To move a priest to another assignment after just two years is madness! :hypno:
 
Neofight said:
Our diocese does nothing. Rotation is up to the Provincial General, and not our Bishop. Sometimes the Province will leave a priest for years, sometimes he will be called in short order. It depends on the needs of the Order.
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Generally speaking, this is how it seems to be done in the Archdiocese of Portland: that is, parishes staffed by religious orders are staffed by the religious order according to the inclination of the order, provided the staff are acceptable to the Archbishop, whereas the chancery office handles staffing by diocesan priests.

Another wrinkle is this: when diocesan priests agree to be pastors after the priests pass the age of retirement, they also have health considerations and a disinclination to keep moving around to consider. That situation will mean they may move earlier or later than could be predicted when they took the parish on. Obviously, if one of them cannot continue, there has to be moving around at other parishes to cover.
 
Emphasis mine:
EasterJoy said:
Another wrinkle is this: when diocesan priests agree to be pastors after the priests pass the age of retirement, they also have health considerations and a disinclination to keep moving around to consider. That situation will mean they may move earlier or later than could be predicted when they took the parish on. Obviously, if one of them cannot continue, there has to be moving around at other parishes to cover.
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I wasn’t aware this is even possible. Diocesan priests here are not allowed to be pastors after the age of retirement. If a priest reaches that age while he is the head of a parish, he is obligated to resign and the archbishop replaces him the following spring (when the annual changes are made; they are publicly announced in June and effected in September). Once he retires, no priest in this archdiocese will be assigned to head a parish (or become rector of the cathedral or the seminary, among other non-parochial positions).
 
UpUpAndAway said:
Emphasis mine:

I wasn’t aware this is even possible. Diocesan priests here are not allowed to be pastors after the age of retirement. If a priest reaches that age while he is the head of a parish, he is obligated to resign and the archbishop replaces him the following spring (when the annual changes are made; they are publicly announced in June and effected in September). Once he retires, no priest in this archdiocese will be assigned to head a parish (or become rector of the cathedral or the seminary, among other non-parochial positions).
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We have some parishes that simply would not have a priest if the priests who are old enough to retire did not agree to be their pastors. I think these priests are heroes.

I am sure that priests of the same age who stayed in a parish large enough to have two priests would be pleased to have a requirement that someone younger come in and take over. We also have retired priests who choose to reside in a parish and help the pastor out, although my perception is that they generally give up the committee work on a parish level. (The alternative being committees that serve the seminary, the archdiocese as a whole, etc.)
 
From what I have observed, it seems that the religious order priests are assigned based on what their provincial wants. For the diocesan priests, there is a general 6 year rule for pastors, but there are many exceptions to this. An older priest may stay put. A priest with an elderly parent in the parish may stay put so as to take care of the parent as needed. Some parishes seem to be “training” parishes where priests are stationed for only a few years before moving on to another assignment. Retired priests seem to keep working if they are able, for filling in when a priest goes on vacation or is otherwise absent.
 
Usually in the Diocese where my school is under, a parish priest stays in his parish for 3-5 years, depending on his standing. It is up to the bishop who will either extend his term or transfer him to another parish by an announcement by the Vicar General during the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday. The changes take place usually a month or two after the announcement.
 
I have a “teaching” parish. We get a newly ordained priest every 18 months to two years. The pastor stays longer 6-12 years. Usually we have two priests but sometimes we only have the pastor if the younger priest is needed somewhere earlier than planned. I’ve been in the parish 12 years now and we have had two pastors and 6 associates plus three deacons.
 
EasterJoy said:
We have some parishes that simply would not have a priest if the priests who are old enough to retire did not agree to be their pastors. I think these priests are heroes.

I am sure that priests of the same age who stayed in a parish large enough to have two priests would be pleased to have a requirement that someone younger come in and take over. We also have retired priests who choose to reside in a parish and help the pastor out, although my perception is that they generally give up the committee work on a parish level. (The alternative being committees that serve the seminary, the archdiocese as a whole, etc.)
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I see. Thank you for clarifying. I agree that priests who remain “active” beyond the diocesan retirement age are heroes. I will remember your diocese in my prayers.

Here, The Powers That Be have chosen to deal with the problem differently: as priests younger than the retirement age get thin on the ground (we ordain one for every 11 we lose, on average), we merge parishes. My parish has had three churches for almost 12 years, and our pastor says the hardest part of his job is :juggle: the three. And he has it relatively easy—he knows a priest in the diocese next door who has a 23-church parish :eek:
 
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