Why don't more Catholic pastors solve important issues that are well within their competency and authority to solve?

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LilyM said:
a) waiting to collect communion to take to the homebound,
b) telling the priest or each other that a parishioner has collapsed outside and might need anointing/emergency attention,
c) serving at the next Mass which, if straight after the one you went to, means Father may need to talk to them immediately.
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LOL!! They weren’t. There’s no clergy in the photo anyway.
 
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Out of curiosity, why did you take a photo instead of going up to them and asking them to be more respectful?

You don’t need to be a priest to say something to your fellow parishioners. However, I caution you: you should probably find out exactly what they are doing before assuming, because saying stuff on an assumption makes you look like a fool, and it’s rather disrespectful to them.

But even adults can use gentle reminders about respecting the church more. We’re human. We can get carried away really fast.
 
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Exegete said:
did not “vent.” I am trying to understand why some Catholic pastors do not solve problems they have the authority and resources to solve?

“I don’t have the time” just isn’t believable.
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So when pastors say this do you think they aren’t being truthful?

If you’ve ever been on a parish council you’d get a better idea of just how much is going on at the same time. Even for priests, there are only so many hours in a day.

This past weekend, our pastor’s homily was about gossip and he mentioned that he was the subject of parish gossip last week, and it was very hurtful. He does so much for both of parishes in his care, and he also has other responsibilities within the Archeparchy. To think that there are people talking about him is really quite sad. I guess it’s a common occurrence based on what we see posted on CAF. Next time, try taking to your pastor instead of about him.
 
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I’m typing on my phone, so forgive me for not including each line in quotes. It looked to me like the individual in a black suit was a priest. Regardless, there’s no context for this image. None at all. That point still remains.

If you know a priest who has time to put out every fire, or address every issue that needs addressing, please by all means send him my way, because I’ve got plenty he can do.

I’m glad your priest knows your name. That’s good.

I would disregard it because I don’t have a stomach for complainers. In my experience, they are utter poison in a parish. They are exactly who our Blessed Lord was talking about when He said, “They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and don’t lift a finger to move them.” Now, maybe this isn’t you. I certainly hope not, and I’m not saying you are. Like I said above, simple charity demands that I assume the best in you. But this has universally been my experience with people who complain. The next complainer I meet in a parish who actually steps forward to do the heavy lifting will be the first.

I might ask you…rather than take a picture, if what they were doing was so egregious, why did you not go address it yourself?

I think you are making two faulty assumptions here. First, I absolutely think it’s debatable that what they were doing was wrong. There’s no context, and that’s precisely the point.

Second, the role of a pastor is to be a shepherd. Gently guiding his sheep. Not a slave driver who “lords it over them.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go help with our parish youth group.
 
I get what the OP means. If this photo just fell out of the sky then it would be debatable what’s going on because there’s no context. But if we take the OP at his word that these people have just walked up to the sanctuary after mass to have a chat, then they are obviously doing the wrong thing. The photo is not what the OP wants us to talk about, he just included it in the thread as a way of showing us what’s going on. (It would have helped if the explanation was with the photo in the original post, but he has clarified it since when I asked about it)
 
DeniseNY said:
So when pastors say this do you think they aren’t being truthful?
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In this specific context, if a pastor told me they don’t have the time to deal with such a grave matter, I would know they were not telling me the truth. My question would really be why aren’t they telling me the truth and why aren’t the solving the problem?

Might they not have time today, or this week or even this month to solve the problem? Sure, I accept that. Maybe they want to wait when they are going to combine dealing with the problem with dealing with other issue(s) or combine it with other scheduled training? Sure.

But to simply say they don’t have time? No, I don’t find that believable.
 
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So let’s put the thread in a different way. Let’s imagine that there was no photo and someone asked “people walk up to the sanctuary after mass to chat. Why doesn’t the priest say anything about it?” Now how would you answer that?

Telling him to talk to them himself is not the best answer IMO. He could, but wouldn’t it make more sense for the priest who is presumably respected / has authority in that area to tell them instead?

Telling him the priest would write it off as him complaining is not a good answer either. He’s not bringing this to the priest’s attention because of his own discomfort. He’s doing it for God.
 
Flopfoot said:
So let’s put the thread in a different way. Let’s imagine that there was no photo and someone asked “people walk up to the sanctuary after mass to chat. Why doesn’t the priest say anything about it?” Now how would you answer that?
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I wouldn’t be in the sanctuary after Mass, acting indifferently to the Most Blessed Sacrament. It just wouldn’t happen.
 
Flopfoot said:
But if we take the OP at his word that these people have just walked up to the sanctuary after mass to have a chat, then they are obviously doing the wrong thing.
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Let me be crystal clear about this. First, the sacristan was doing nothing wrong. Second, they either entered the sanctuary to chat OR they were using the sanctuary as a pass through (very wrong) to the sacristy, also just to chat (also wrong.)

None except the sacristan was in the midst of duties.
 
I hope you asked permission of the persons in the above photo before you posted it online.
 
Exegete said:
I would know they were not telling me the truth. My question would really be why aren’t they telling me the truth and why aren’t the solving the problem?
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I think this is pretty clear. Fauken didn’t misrepresent what you wrote.
 
Exegete said:
Please, please, don’t ever try to speak for me. Not ever.
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I’m not speaking for you. The pastor gave you an answer. You called him a liar. Or would you rather I say you accused him of not telling the truth?
Exegete said:
As I explained above, if I asked my pastor to please remedy this long-standing problem (which I did via email) and he said “I don’t have time to put out every single fire” without any sort of conditioner like “today” or even “this week”, then yes, I would feel he was being less than truthful with me.
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On what grounds? Do you have experience as a parish pastor to dispute what he said? Or as a parochial vicar?
 
All this falderal and yet no one has tried to answer my original question: "Why don’t more Catholic pastors solve important issues that are well within their competency and authority to solve?"

Other than what amounts to “I don’t have the time” of course.
 
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