Wednesday 18 March 2015

Forward Together In Hope: A Dream or a Nightmare?

In a previous post I noted that our Diocese is currently looking at ways to ensure we remain a vibrant, flourishing Church with fewer priests and fewer priestly vocations. We were invited to share our thoughts on the project (called ‘Forward Together In Hope’) which aims at achieving this flourishing state.

Now it is possible that at the end of the day we will rediscover how vital the presence of an ordained priest is in a community, since parishes deprived of the fullness of the sacramental life will surely hunger for them and encourage vocations. It is also possible that ownership of The Faith will swell in those who are only likely to live it out if they have practical responsibilities. These would constitute the ‘Dream’ outcome. But there is also the possibility of creating a ‘Nightmare’; an outcome wherein folk think a priest is not necessary but simply there to ‘deliver the bread’, like the old bread vans that toured the Newcastle streets when I was a kid back in the sixties. We could well be creating ‘Congregationalist communities’ rather than Catholic communities; congregations where priests are seen as servants who deliver goods to keep the parish family alive, rather than as Father and Head of the family who serves by teaching, sanctifying and governing (as the Catholic Faith proclaims they are called to do by the Lord). We must then, I think, proceed with caution. Here is the substance of the email I recently sent to the Project Director outlining my questions. I can’t imagine that these sincere Catholic men will have overlooked the concerns I raised in the email, but I believe it was important for me to voice them.

Dear N,

I wonder if you can clarify some things for me concerning Forward Together In Hope?

Firstly, while we know we must engage the laity in the running of the parishes (not simply to make up for the lack of priests but to enable them to gain a sense of ownership of the Faith), in what way is lay involvement going to differ in F.T.I.H? As it stands, all our parishes already have a Finance Committee and a Pastoral Council of some description (ours is called the Pastoral Action & Care Team to highlight the fact that it is not a governing body but one which is geared toward discerning pastoral needs, planning responses to those needs and implementing the responses which are approved by the priest). Similarly, all the parishes have Bookkeepers, Collection Counters, people who do the banking, Catechists, Extraordinary Ministers for the sick and housebound, Readers, etc.. I ask because I believe we must avoid promoting lay-led parishes as the answer, bearing in mind the teaching of the Church that “There can be no substitute whatsoever for the ministerial Priesthood. For if a Priest is lacking in the community, then the community lacks the exercise and sacramental function of Christ the Head and Shepherd, which belongs to the essence of its very life.” (Redemptionis Sacramentum, #146  2004, CDF/CDWDS). While we cannot function well without support from the folk, I am concerned that F.T.I.H proceed authentically.

Secondly, in that the ordained priest is essential to the authentic Catholic community, what is being done in F.T.I.H to promote vocations to the priesthood in F.T.I.H? Whatever roles are handed to the laity must not diminish the unique and essential role of the ordained priestly ministry. Vocations have tumbled since we opened up ministry to the laity, and we need again for the folk to recapture the reality that the ordained priesthood is vital to the Church; not just as ‘magic men’ who administer sacraments but as making present Christ the Head and shepherd of the flock; to remember that they are men who, in union with the bishops, exercise the service of teaching, sanctifying and governing communities of the lay faithful.

F.T.I.H must avoid presenting to the folk a picture of the Church as healthy when a community has no priest, that being the very state of affairs (sheep without shepherds) that Our Lord grieved over: “Seeing the people He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to His harvest." (Mark 9v36-37). This is what the Church is pointing out when she says “The activity of a pastoral assistant should be directed to facilitating the ministry of Priests and Deacons, to ensuring that vocations to the Priesthood and Diaconate are awakened ... It must [] never be the case that in parishes Priests alternate indiscriminately in shifts of pastoral service with Deacons or laypersons, thus confusing what is specific to each. ((Redemptionis Sacramentum, #150-152. 2004, CDF/CDWDS).

My own suggestion in the present situation would be first, a concerted effort to promote the priesthood by presentations in schools and parishes, so that the folk realise how vital priests are and how holy the work to which they are called. A strategy must be developed to actively promote vocations. Second, where necessary we could unite several communities of lay faithful without a resident Pastor into a ‘pastoral area’, with each pastoral area being served by a Priest as a kind of Head Coach/Manager, with the day to day running of a Parish being undertaken by a Lay Co-ordinator/Captain until such times as vocation drives are successful and the authenticity of the community as both Head and Members is re-established across the board.

I do not think it is for us in 2015 to abandon the model of Church given us in Scripture and Tradition (Revelation) with semantics about lay involvement. Indeed, the teaching of Vatican II is that their authentic call from the Lord is to be the leaven in the world as opposed to substitutes for shepherds: “In the Church there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission. Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power. But the laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole people of God in the Church and in the world. Their activity [is] directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ and promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, #2).

We were invited to share our thoughts; I hope you do not mind (and can appreciate) me doing so.

With prayers

20 comments:

  1. In my humble opinion, and experience I might add, this 'project' signals the death knell of your diocese. No priest, no Mass, no Mass, no parish/church. Your diocese is confusing the proper vocation of the laity and promoting its own ecclesiology. Our pastoral plan Journeying Together, which chiefly promoted lay leadership and ministry and ' faith communities' of equal discipleship, is now, after 12 years of JT, in the extinction phase of its spiritual journey and life. Nightmare is an understatement!!

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    1. Thank you Greg.
      It is not just our Diocese; there is a push towards 'lay empowerment', as though not having an ecclesial ministry is a disempowerment. In fact the graces the people of God receive are not for ecclesial ministry but for being the leaven in the world. This is a misuse of the laity when it is overdone, though some ministries can be undertaken by them (Vatican II does not say which) under the direction of the clergy.
      God Bless

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  2. Indeed. I am going to an Ordination tomorrow in my diocese. The future Priest was not a cradle Catholic but a former Anglican vicar. Parishes seem to produce so few vocations these days - I am surprised this problem was not addressed many years ago.

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    1. Thank you, Pelerin.
      I think the hope is that an empowered laity will produce priestly vocations. We have to look at the evidence of the last fifty years: where lay ministry has been pushed, priestly vocations have fallen.
      God Bless

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  3. Whilst I agree totally with what you write, Father, I have to say that some of our priests go out of the way to ensure that they are unrecognisable as priests. At least one senior cleric in the diocese turned up to officiate at a committal dressed in a checked shirt & jeans. Whilst I really appreciate that 'clothes don't make the man' I equally believe that it is unhelpful for a priest to hide his priesthood thus. Our religious orders fare no better with nuns looking as if they have spent the morning in the hairdressers instead of dressing in a habit which proclaims them as brides of Christ.
    How does the hierarchy expect the laity to react when the clergy can give such bad example?

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    1. Thank you David.
      There are things the laity can and should do, but taking over parishes is not one of them.
      And of course there will be times when we consecrated folk are seen withut our 'garb', but not when undertaking our pastoral ministry.
      God Bless

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  4. Whether Forward Together In Hope is a Dream or a Nightmare, is beside the point because neither scenario has any substance and at some point in time the sleeper awakes to discover reality.
    About 20 years ago a young curate in this diocese began his sermon by asking which single word described a priest, and he waited for a few seconds to let the congregation think quietly about their answers. A simple question, perhaps, but one with so many options for a one-word answer. After a brief pause he said, the single word is ‘necessary’. A priest is ‘necessary’, he said, because without a priest there is no Mass, and without the Mass………….. He had no need to continue: the answer was obvious.
    There will be no resurgence in this diocese, or any diocese, unless there is a resurgence in vocations. And it is the pursuit of vocations that must be the priority; everything else is simply wallowing around in desperation and will not solve anything. And what will bring about vocations? Prayer is obvious but there are practical measures that can, and must be taken. The root cause of the decline in this diocese and elsewhere in the Church has been the abandonment of true and solid catechesis in favour of touchy-feely, wishy-washy RE programmes in schools that has reduced the vibrancy and truth of the Catholic faith to a bland and unpalatable religion that seems to have no particular beliefs and no substance other than to be nice to one another. It is no surprise that our young people are not impressed and abandon whatever grasp of faith they have long before they leave school. The restoration of catechetical programmes based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church would be a start in our schools, and backed up with a programme for sermons based on specific subjects such as the commandments, the sacraments, and the creed, in our parishes.
    In these difficult times Pope St Pius X could be a role model to follow. When he was Bishop of Mantua his primary concern was the formation of the clergy in the seminary where he himself taught dogmatic theology and moral theology. He insisted upon the doctrines and methods of St. Thomas Aquinas being followed, and cultivated Gregorian chant with the students. After being created a cardinal and appointed Patriarch of Venice he, once again, paid great attention to the seminary and established a faculty of canon law; promoted the use of Gregorian chant, and energetically opposed the dangers of certain doctrines; something which is prevalent today. After being elected Pope in 1903 he once again followed up his desire for the proper formation of the clergy and he ordered that the Italian bishops visit their seminaries and instituted a new order of studies.
    In times of difficulty it is advisable to look for sound examples to follow and adopt practices which have proved to work. It is not difficult: teach the faith in its fullness in our schools and in our seminaries, and reinforce this by dignified liturgy in our parishes according to the mind of the Church and not the mind of the celebrating priest. In the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, a diocese of about 90,000 Catholics they have on average over the past 10 years nearly 60% Mass attendance; more than one priest per parish (and 50 of these priests teach in their schools), and about 50 seminarians in their diocesan seminary. If our diocese were to have the Mass attendance of Lincoln diocese then there would be over 108,000 people in church every Sunday. Notwithstanding the spiritual benefits of such a Mass attendance just think how much more money would be going into the coffers of the parishes and diocese and the difference it would make in our schools. The last time we had more than 108,000 at Mass was 40 years ago in 1975. This was around the time when the children in schools were just being introduced to such damaging programmes as 'Here I Am' and 'Children of the Promise'. It was all downhill after this.

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    1. Thank you, Leo.
      Indeed, ‘necessary’ is the world. We forget that the model of ‘Catholic communities’ as priest and people is not an invention of the middle ages or of thee 20th Century but is of Apostolic foundation cf. Acts 14v23; Titus 1v5; Pil.1v1; 1Thes.5v12,13; We cannot simply ditch the model as though any model will do; what Revelation has given us is what we are to preserve. I agree wholeheartedly that what is needed is good catechesis, good seminary formation and sound liturgy that is God-focused rather than community-affirming. The faith affirms us; worship is for the adoration of God.
      God Bless

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  5. Thank you, Father! I am a few thousand miles away in distance, but, I believe, close in spirit. You have a true understanding of the priesthood and I pray that you hold it through these very trying days. I thank you for your great service.

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    1. Thank you, Mary Kay.
      None of us stands alone; we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in this world and the next.
      God Bless.

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  6. Lay leadership and ministry is an assault on the priesthood of Christ as it was willed by the Father. and handed down to the Church by the Apostles. On your priesthood too Fr Gary. This project reeks of Protestantism, which is in the throws of death. Your diocese hasn't learnt anything! Many country dioceses in Australia have been Journeying Forward Together into an abyss for the last 10 years with no effect whatsoever. We are now importing African and Indian priests to serve as undertakers in dying parishes as a consequence of a Protestant pastoral plan. Every priestly vocation in the Church comes from a family. The key project and plan should be the evangelization of families and catechesis on marriage. Herein lies the future of the Church. This is what the Synod on the family coming up this year should be all about. Not communion for the divorced and remarried. The focus should be the domestic church.

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    1. Thank you, Greg.
      I think that lay collaboration has a place (as opposed to lay ministry): my pariosh bookkeeping is done by someone trained in bookkeeping; for example. Children's Catechises done by teachers is a good thing; bereavement support by those who have been through a bereavement etc. But placing laity as stand-in shepherds is a nonsense: when sheep are led by sheep the whole flock is liable to wander off. As for Journeying Forward, let us remember the advice of Gamaliel in Acts 5v29.
      God Bless.

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    2. Greg You are right about the family. It is from good Catholic families that vocations come. Cardinal Raymond Burke gave a great talk on this subject in Chester on 6th March. Everyone should read this important talk. It was sponsored by SPUC and can be found on the Web

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    3. Thank you Paul.
      Cardinal Burke is always worth reading!
      God Bless.

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  7. I'd be interested to see what reply you get from 'N'. The feedback from the FTIH meetings held this week indicates that the thinking is that we already have more than enough priests, and that vocations are not thought important. (That seems at variance with the project claim that fewer priests is part of the problem). It was apparently said that some parishes in the Philippines get by with one priest per 50,000 people. This statement did not seem to be followed through to it's logical conclusion - that one priest would be sufficient for the whole of H&N! Interesting times.

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    1. Thank you, seeker.
      I'm not expecting a reply as they are here in the parish on Sunday to talk to the people and will respond to my email at the same time, I suppose. You are right that the situation which is bringing this project about (fewer priests) is being touted as the remedy...how very odd. I often hear it sai that god is calling fewer priests so as to bring the vocation of the laity into focus. That is nonsense if Vatican II was right and the vocation of the laity was to permeate the social order (and not the sanctuary and presbytery).
      God Bless.

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  8. Father, do they realise that having Mrs Jones or Mr Smith at the helm may just set entire families against one another? People can fall out over the smallest things: dates for First Holy Communion; whose child is going to be Offertory Bearer, etc. This could turn out to be a recipe for disaster.
    David.

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    1. Thank you, David.
      Yes, there is the possibility of setting up division. We see it over the running of our social Clubs and parish groups (our Women's League disbanded because of a raffle held while the President was away on holiday!). I don't think this has been considered at all. Our Social Committee two split into two groups to look after different projects after internal dissonance.
      God Bless.

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  9. How on earth can anyone think that we have 'more than enough Priests'? Fifty years ago my parish at the time had three Priests - two young curates and one older Parish Priest. The younger ones visited parishioners from time to time in their homes and it was a way of getting to know the Priests and for them to get to know their parishioners. And if parishioners needed help or advice but did not want to bother the Priest then it was a welcome opportunity to talk to him.

    The norm today is for parishes in Britain to be run by one lone usually very overworked Priest. Some years ago long after visiting stopped I received a note once at Christmas saying that if I wanted a visit to let them know. This is so different from a Priest just turning up unannounced which he would be able to do if there were more than one in the parish. However I have heard that Priests are reluctant to visit today unannounced as they think they may be interupting a family's television viewing.

    In France the situation is probably worse than in Britain as country Priests often have many churches to look after and some only have two or three Masses a year so I imagine that visiting is non existant there. I have been surprised when I see the list of Priests present in some of the Paris churches - there were seven in one church I visited (which was only a short distance from another) whereas the countryside is starved of Priests.

    There is a fascinating book written by a French Priest about his life in Normandy. (Le Horsain - Pere Bernard Alexandre) He ended up caring for five parishes at once but still tried to visit his parishioners at least once a year. During his service as a Priest from 1945 until his death in 1990 he saw many changes which he chronicles in his book. The reader gets the impression that although he wanted to move with the times he deeply regretted the passing of the old days when he knew all his parisihoners.

    Yes we definitely need more Priests and no amount of special ministers of this that and the other can replace them.



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    1. Thank you, Pelerin.
      I think priests don't visit as much because it is no longer expected; also because there are so many more meetings now and so much more management than before; and because the curates often had areas assigned to them to make their visits, which were more easily attended.
      It's really sad that we don't know our parishioners as well as they did in years gone by, but to be honest the curates tended to know their own area and not much more. I have twice put a slip in the Bulletin asking when were the best days and ties i could visit and only three were returned the first times; none the second time. Not many want the priest coming round, though I have never been refused entry doing ad-hoc visits.
      God Bless

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