What to do when the Bishop is unresponsive?

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maryalene

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I wasn’t sure where to put this so I hope I have the right forum.

Without going into any detail, our parish has had an ongoing problem involving our priest. A number of parishioners have contacted the Bishop whose answer has been that he contacted the priest to let him know people were complaining. He has declined to give us further assistance. Short of going to the Pope (which I doubt would be very effective), is there someone else we can appeal to?

TIA!
 
We had a somewhat similar situation, and it became apparent that the Bishop was not going to act. In the end my family chose to change parishes, with great sadness in leaving our parish family.

I know there are other remedies, such as the Papal Nuncio or the CDW (if it is liturgy-related), but we chose not to go to that effort since the time involved could well exceed the priest’s tenure.
 
Well, how significant is the problem?

If it’s a really big deal you could try to get some people together to talk to the bishop, petition the archbishop to intervene, or even appeal to the nuncio or an appropriate Vatican office. If it’s a canonical issue, you could always go a juridical route with formal process. But, unless it is a major issue, you probably aren’t going to get much of a response from all this, ultimately. Perhaps all you can reasonably hope for is that, in time, the pastor will be reassigned and the bishop will then be aware of your concerns in appointing a new priest. If, OTOH, it is a matter which is important to you but ultimately of lesser importance then accepting the fact that the bishop has tried to do something about it and the priest is unresponsive might just be a cross you have no other choice but to carry.
 
chicago said:
Well, how significant is the problem?
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It is significant to the point where our school is now on the verge of closing and our main Sunday Mass which used to be packed with people standing in the back is now only half full. People are leaving the parish in droves. I probably would have left by now too except that my kids are in the school (which is fantastic) and there is no other Catholic school nearby.

I think the Bishop sees it as a personality conflict between some parishioners and the priest, but it really goes much deeper than that. I don’t know how prudent it is to go into details online though. I am very frustrated that we seem to be left to fend for ourselves when it is apparent that after three years of this, we cannot resolve the problem on our own. But I pray and pray and will pray some more. 😦
 
Oh, and I should probably add that this isn’t a liturgical problem but more an administrative one. Liturgically, our priest is great and does everything “by the book.”
 
Well, it is always possible that the bishop in some ways wants the parish to fail for whatever reason. Though I wouldn’t necessarily suggest that to be the case here.

I would recommend that a group of the more prominent parishioners request a personal meeting with the bishop to lay things out and express the concerns in a manner where this can all be fleshed out frankly. That’s probably about all you’re going to be able to do under the circumstances.
 
I appreciate your reply chicago. Unfortunately, a number of parishioners have approached the Bishop individually and in groups about this. We’ve sent letters and made phone calls, but no one has been granted a meeting. The most one group got was a meeting with a priest who is part of the bishop’s cabinet. Several other people were told point blank that the Bishop would not be meeting or talking with anyone personally to discuss this matter. I received a response letter from him yesterday that basically said ‘so sorry to hear that you are experiencing problems at the parish.’
 
If the bishop in question is not also the Metropolitan Archbishop, you can contact the Metropolitan Archbishop. (Most Romans don’t use the Metropolitan part of the title, but it’s the proper term for the reigning Archbishop of the Province.)
 
Aramis said:
If the bishop in question is not also the Metropolitan Archbishop, you can contact the Metropolitan Archbishop. (Most Romans don’t use the Metropolitan part of the title, but it’s the proper term for the reigning Archbishop of the Province.)
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Based off of the OP’s listed location, that would be Cardinal Maida in Detroit.
 
Our parish had a priest who people complained about to the Bishop, starting about 3 years into his first 6-year term. To everyone’s dismay, when his term was up, he was reassigned to stay for another 6-year term. That’s when people started leaving. By the end of the second term, the parish had lost a couple hundred families.

The good news is, when the priest was FINALLY reassigned to another parish after his second term was up, we were blessed – our cup runneth over – with a fantastic priest.

The lesson I learned is, you can complain all you want. But the Bishop is not likely to do anything. But keep praying. Your prayers, like ours, may be answered in abundance eventually.
 
Aramis said:
If the bishop in question is not also the Metropolitan Archbishop, you can contact the Metropolitan Archbishop. (Most Romans don’t use the Metropolitan part of the title, but it’s the proper term for the reigning Archbishop of the Province.)
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Have you tried talking to the Vicar of your county? Maybe things could be resolved on that level.
 
maryalene said:
I wasn’t sure where to put this so I hope I have the right forum.

Without going into any detail, our parish has had an ongoing problem involving our priest. A number of parishioners have contacted the Bishop whose answer has been that he contacted the priest to let him know people were complaining. He has declined to give us further assistance. Short of going to the Pope (which I doubt would be very effective), is there someone else we can appeal to?

TIA!
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And you know this how? Is it because he has not done what you requested? I’m sorry but your Bishop doesn’t report to a group of parishioners.
  1. You have no idea what he is doing behind the scenes to improve the situation for your parish.
  2. You have no idea if other matters related to the Priest shortage preclude him from taking immediate action.
  3. You have no idea if he is trying to “correct” the problem via trying to improve the Pastor’s performance in this area via training or spiritual direction (I don’t know what the problem is, its “correctability”, its seriousness (financial impropriety or significant liturgical abuse vs. uninspiring sermons), etc.).
Too often we think that our parish is the center of the earth. In my opinion one of the hardest jobs in America has to be being a Bishop.
  • First, they have grave and huge responsibilities.
  • Second, they must always remember they are a Priest.
  • Third, they have to first care for their spiritual well-being (otherwise, it is impossible for them to take care of ours).
  • Fourth, they have significant inexperience and training in running a business as big as a diocese. While I don’t want a MBA type as a Bishop, in many ways, it would help him have the skills needed to run a diocese.
 
Here’s hoping your parish community can hang on long enough to not get shuttered. Sometimes we just have to suffer the bad consequences of ineffective management or ecclesiastical politics.

It’s probably of little consolation, but know that you’re certainly in good company and by no means the first or only community going through similar tough times.
 
Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions.

Orionthehunter, you are right. It is very possible that the Bishop is doing something behind the scenes. I pray that is what is occuring. However, I don’t have much hope when he refuses to even hear us out. I do know from the letter he sent me that he called our priest to let him know what people are saying. It also appears that he is telling the priest who from the parish is complaining (which will certainly only increase tensions here). But from the letter he sent me, that’s the end of it. He’s called the priest and case closed.

I don’t think the Bishop has an easy job, and I know we are not the center of the universe here. It would just be nice if the Bishop could at least give the impression that he cares that a fairly large parish in his diocese is dying.
 
I got ripped royally on another thread recently for drawing upon my own experience to suggest that isolated complaints from assorted parishioners assailing the bishop with a stream of letters will be counter-productive, but I repeat my advice that “write a letter to the bishop” is not always the best way to go.

OP thankfully does not go into the issues in this parish situation, nor would it be productive to do so here, but I suggest the concerned parishioners discern if the problems constitute real abuses, gather dates, facts, witnesses and details it they do, an document whatever problems they diagnose. It is usually more effective if a responsible, representative group of parishioners, incuding some in leadership or ministerial roles, ask for an appointment with the bishop, vicar general, or vicar of priests to present their case. There are ways and means, I suggest using the guidelines on the CUF website, and letting go of issues that do not impinge on the validity and licitness of liturgy and sacraments, transmisison of sound doctrine, or real financial or personal abuse.

a complaint involving real abuse in financial or pastoral situations, or sexual or physical abuse should receive a response from the appointed official, usually the vicar general, within hours or days by the way.
 
Puzzleannie, what’s the CUF website? I tend to think that the stream of letters to the Bishop might have been counter-productive in this case too. After the fact, several people were told by friends of the Bishop that he doesn’t like to be pressured so maybe that caused everything to shut down. I’m a bit concerned that some people are talking about going to the media which might generate some action but that would certainly come at a high cost.
 
Might this group be able to assist?

st-joseph-foundation.org/:

Catholics have rights in their Church just as they have rights under the federal and state constitutions here in the United States. Some of their rights in the Church, including the right of assembly, the right of petition, the right of free association, the right to privacy and reputation and the right to due process correspond to their civil rights. Other rights, especially the right to know the truth about God and His Church, the right to the spiritual goods of the Church and the right to worship according to the norms established by lawful authority have no counterparts in civil law.

The Saint Joseph Foundation serves Catholics who seek to know and vindicate their rights within the Church - rights that the Church herself recognizes and protects. Whenever individuals or groups believe their rights are threatened or have been violated, the Foundation assists them in using the means established by the Church to obtain remedies.
 
this link has been referenced many times here on similar threads
cuf.org, there is a link to how to complain or some such thing. a search of similar threads will also yield helpful advise.
 
Sorry, I haven’t been on the forums in a while. I tried searching before posting this to see if anyone else had similar problems but maybe I was using the wrong search terms. Thanks for the link.
 
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