Whose parish is it?

[Bonnie]

Not appropriate for a letter to the Bishop: whether or not there should be a particular picture in a particular place

That was at a different parish - it was just one of the things that, over the years in different parishes, has bothered me.

It’s unfortunate that if a priest has it in him to make of himself a little tin god, he is allowed to do it. I thought priests were to help the people to become closer to God. I thank God that I have known some excellent, holy priests.

 

[quiet52]

Yes, it can be disheartening and disempowering when a pastor acts like royalty toward the parishioners who only want to help him make it a good parish.​

Pope calls laity to responsibility in the Church

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 24, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says the laity should be seen as truly “co-responsible” for the Church, and not just “collaborators” with the clergy…“Co-responsibility requires a change in mentality, particularly with regard to the role of the laity in the Church,” the Holy Father said. Laity should be considered “persons truly ‘co-responsible’ for the being and activity of the Church,” he stated.

zenit.org/en/articles/pope-calls-laity-to-responsibility-in-the-church

 

[hannajomar]

I agree with Corki, post #17.
While many things are up to the pastor’s discretion, he does have many responsibilities as well. It is wise for us parishioners to learn these differences. We gain much grace in practicing obedience to his legitimate authority. Even things that don’t make much sense or are inconvenient.

 

[Joy2day]

In my experience, the priest just says the mass & confession, & thats about it. When we had nuns, there would be the nun (often thr school principal) who would otherwise run the show -.eg. read the announcrments, organise parish ‘do’s’, be in charge of the singing/music -.it was really her & her associates who organised everything. Used to ruffle some feathers, but i think in general the priest towed the line.

 

[FrStevenJones]

(Hope this is the right forum!)

Over the years I have noticed that some priests think the parish belongs to them. We had a priest who didn’t like the Knights of Columbus and tried to get rid of them. Other priests supported or just ignored them. Three priests have not liked the Divine Mercy and two of those tried to squash the devotion in the parish. Other priests have been supportive. One church building was designed by a former parish priest, who also spearheaded the fund raising; it has been known ever since as “Fr. X’s church.”

In the latest incident, the priest (who was the subject of a petition asking him to leave) interrupted Benediction (being led by a retired bishop) and stated, “This is MY parish and I’m not going to leave.”

I feel like I’m getting spiritual whiplash. Whose parish is it? Do we really have no say about what a priest does?

A pastor’s job is not to do what he likes, or to follow his personal whims. It’s all about leading his parish to Christ. So although priests have their own tastes and desires, those should not be the drivinging force, in some selfish way, behind his decisions.

 

[FrStevenJones]

A pastor’s job is not to do what he likes, or to follow his personal whims. It’s all about leading his parish to Christ. So although priests have their own tastes and desires, those should not be the drivinging force, in some selfish way, behind his decisions.

I suspect that lots of times people don’t understand this and think the priest is just following his own whims. Sadly, ome priests do that, but usually the priest is trying to do the right thing for his parish, based upon his judgement of the situation.

 

[ellzeena]

The people in this parish want a say in how things are done because the priest is very disorganized. There is no way to set up classes for the children or people being confirmed. They want to be aple to pass the word (via bulletins) about upcoming events. When the retired bishop came to confirm 3 people, none of them showed up. Instead, 2 girls were there for their 1st Communion.

He has not kept records for 1st Communion, Confirmation, or deaths for several years.

We sometimes don’t know until the last minute if we will have a Mass or a Communion service. When he does say Mass, he changes the words & leaves parts out. I don’t know if it’s a memory problem or for some other reason.

This priest has alienated quite a few people. After he announced that he was going to take a break for possibly the rest of the year, the church was almost full. Then he came back. Then he was going to take a break. Now he’s back. We think. A visiting priest is coming for July - don’t know if the regular priest will show up or not.

I like the people here. I don’t want to change parishes again.

If I had known back in '76 that it was accepted practice for priests to do this sort of thing to the people, I wonder if I would have joined the Church. It’s becoming a very unhappy experience for me.

No no!! Please don’t blame the Church or question the fact that you belong in it. There’s something “wrong” with this man, it’s clear from what you wrote. Perhaps he is having a breakdown, suffering dementia, oncoming Alzheimer’s, alcoholism…we just don’t know. But there’s something going on here and I think the diocese is well aware of it. Recently in my area, a very well loved Pastor was found passed out on the floor in the rectory, totally drunk. Apparently, the diocese had been gently monitoring him but, at this, he was immediately removed. He went for special care and was then re-assigned to a smaller church with a Pastor and a couple of other priests where he appears quite happy. So pray for this man. And if this mess continues in the parish (it sounds to me like the diocese is now stepping in), find another congregation. I know how hard that is when you have friends and a routine, etc., but don’t allow your commitment to Christ to waver here. You see, this is what is meant by “bad” priests, etc., taking souls with them to “hell”. And he isn’t “bad”, he’s sick.

 

[Catholic_Wife]

Whose parish is it? The bishop’s.

Who makes the decisions in a parish? The pastor.

**Do parishioners have a say? No. **

The pastoral council is a consultive body and the pastor should take their opinions and wishes into consideration, but he is not obligated to do so. He may do what he believes best.
Yes, it is the bishop’s parish and the pastor makes the decisions, but the parishioners DO have a say – with their feet and pocketbooks! In areas where there is more than one parish, the people are free to move to another parish. In area where that is the only parish, they can decide how much they will give each week (monetarily) and how much they will participate and help grow the parish. It’s amazing how filled our calendars becomes when we don’t really want to do something, but how we can manage to free up some time when it’s comes to something that’s really important to us.

When a new pastor is assigned to the parish, people think (rightly or wrongly), “We were here before this priest came, and we’ll be here long after he’s gone.” And that’s true. When our last priest was reassigned (after almost 20 years at the parish), many parishioners were upset and threatened to leave the parish and follow him to his new assignment. He reminded us that his being at the parish for so long was an anomaly and that priests are usually reassigned after 5-8 years to avoid parishioners getting too attached to the “man” instead of seeing priests as pretty much interchangeable. I told people to give our new pastor a chance, and that if they didn’t like him not to worry because he would be gone in a few years anyway.


(from another thread)

I think too many people think of it as “their parish” and that the pastor is something like an employee meant to serve the way they want. I remember my pastor once saying that he is glad if people like him, but come judgement God won’t look at how many friends he has. Rather He will judge him on how many souls he lead to heaven.

I think people think of it as “their parish” because they are the hands and feet of the parish. It is the parishioners who make the parish what it is. Without parishioners, the priest would have no flock to shepherd. I think a wise priest, when assigned as the new pastor at a parish, will make the effort to understand what’s important to the parish as a whole before making sweeping changes. How will the priest be judged if he causes parishioners to fall away from the Church - pushes souls away from heaven - by trying to lead his flock in a manner they are not comfortable with or takes things away from the parish that they consider very important (like the Divine Mercy picture) but he deems trivial or unneeded?