The responsibility of the Church to provide shepherding for the believing community has challenged the Church over the centuries to develop many new models for ministry as it met the demands of the ever changing situations of history.

The theology of the Ascension to accept responsibility for building the Church and to be witnesses for the Lord to the entire world could easily become a frightening factor in the lives of believers were it not for the theology of Pentecost that tells us we are not alone. The promise of the Lord gives us the firm hope that we can expect the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to be with us.

The theologies of Baptism and Confirmation have an intrinsic message for the Church for all ages. However, in some periods of history, the data of the pastoral situation make the intrinsic challenges of Baptism and Confirmation more evident for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear. 

The facts 

Over the last nine months, the archdiocese has had to adjust to the death of five priests, serious surgery for three more priests, the completion of a contract of one priest and the loss of three additional priests by January because of the three-year rule for foreign clergy. 

That is a loss of twelve priests in just about one year. All but two of those priests were active in pastoral service. It is important to note that neither the archdiocese nor the Religious Communities that are clerical institutes in the Church have any ordinations scheduled for this year.
Obviously, it is not possible to adjust to the unexpected loss of 12 priests in one year.

Each Regional Episcopal Vicar has met with the priests of his vicariate to discuss the shepherding of the vicariate. They have made some short-term adjustments to care for the people. I am grateful to the priests for their zeal and selfless generosity.

On behalf of the Personnel Board, I met with the Provincials of Religious Communities and the leaders of the Public Associations of Christ’s Faithful to inquire if there were any additional religious (parishes are staffed by female religious) or additional members of Public Associations of Christ’s Faithful (one parish is staffed by members of a Public Association) available for parish based ministry.

Since both Religious Communities and Public Associations have their own important ministries that benefit the archdiocese and since their personnel are already being stretched to the limit, they were unable to offer additional personnel for parish ministry in the archdiocese. 

As noted in last week’s column, parish ministry in the archdiocese is extensive: 61 parishes and 197 Centres for Worship i.e. parish churches and the chapel communities of the parishes.

It should be noted that a number of the chapel communities are large enough and have the resources to be independent parishes if the personnel were available.

While more could be said about the personnel situation e.g. the age and health of priests, religious and laypersons presently in ministry, I think the picture is sufficiently clear.    

Pastoral analysis

Last week, I called a meeting with the Vicar General, the Regional Episcopal Vicars, the Vicar for Priests and the Personnel Board to discuss the rapidly developing personnel situation. Whenever it was judged necessary, telephone calls were made to priests to verify fact situations. Some personnel decisions will be made in July.

The Vicars and Personnel Board made two basic decisions by unanimous vote:
1) It is not possible to continue staffing the administrative and pastoral responsibilities of the archdiocese according to the traditional method i.e. a resident priest or resident members of religious communities or public associations of Christ’s Faithful for every parish. The same is true for the various departments of the archdiocese.
2) A new paradigm must be developed for staffing in the archdiocese for both administrative positions and pastoral ministry.   

The process

Each Regional Episcopal Vicar has been asked to draft a plan for clustering in the Vicariate he serves. There are two conditions that must be met:
1) The draft of the cluster must respect the holistic health of the priests, religious and laypersons presently in ministry;
2) The draft of the cluster must present the Vicariate with a clear and prudent gain i.e. the proposed adjustments for the Vicariate must serve the needs of the people in a more flexible way than at present.

Based on the ecclesiological model of the Synod, namely, that the People of God have by reason of Baptism and Confirmation responsibility for the Church and that they have explicitly accepted this responsibility at Synod, the draft of the plan will be presented to the Council of Priests, the presbyterate, the five Vicariate Councils, the Parish Councils, the Religious Communities, the Public Associations of Christ’s Faithful, for consultation. A number of drafts may be necessary.  

Conclusion

The goal of the process is that all categories of the People of God in the Archdiocese will understand the challenge, be part of planning the response and will implement zealously whatever the final decisions may be. Everyone will have to be willing to make adjustments. It is anticipated that the present staffing challenge to the Archdiocese will last from seven to ten years.      

I want everyone to remember that every challenge contains opportunities. Let us face the challenges together and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, let us welcome the opportunities. One opportunity may be a deeper appreciation of the theology of communion in the archdiocese, which was one of themes of the Eucharistic Year.

Let us not be afraid to face the facts together!