In the June 4 edition of the Catholic News, I devoted my column to the theme of “Facing the Facts i.e. the pastoral challenges in the Archdiocese”.

In that column, I listed the following points:
1) I explained that a new paradigm had to be developed for pastoral care due to the rapidly changing personnel situation in the archdiocese;
2) I stressed the theological context for “Facing the Facts”, namely, the theology the archdiocese chose to live as a result of two sessions of the Archdiocesan Synod, namely, “We are the People of God of Trinidad and Tobago and we share together the responsibility for the life of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain”;
3) I informed the archdiocese that everyone will have to be willing to make adjustments for a period of at least five to seven years;
4) I reminded the archdiocese that there was no need to be afraid: the Holy Spirit is present, the talent level in the archdiocese is significant and the number of people who have already committed themselves to ministry and served zealously since the Synod is encouraging; 
5) I concluded by stressing that every challenge also contains an opportunity. The opportunity in this particular challenge is that in five to seven years we should be experiencing a much deeper level of solidarity as a believing community than we are now.

Recent developments

July 1, 2006

The Archdiocesan Pastoral Council met and discussed the challenging agenda for the archdiocese. The Council made the following observations/recommendations:
1) It recognised the need for a new paradigm for pastoral care in the archdiocese.
2) It recommended that the response to the challenge the archdiocese is facing must include a strengthening of both Vicariate and Parish Councils.
3) It stressed that the people of the archdiocese must be kept current about the details of the developing plan for pastoral care and about the adjustments they will be expected to make;
4) It highlighted the importance of communication and collaboration in this process;
5) It noted that the annual parish assemblies called for by the Synod in 2005 have now taken on a new importance;
6) It suggested that initial and ongoing training for ministry and parish administration will have to be strengthened;
7) It recommended additional support for the already expanded Archdiocesan Vocation Team and the newly formed Religious Vocations Committee;
8) It suggested that the Permanent Diaconate should be pursued immediately.

July 4, 2006

The Archdiocesan Personnel Board met to make some initial personnel adjustments in the context of the same agenda discussed by the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council.

Pre-notes:
1) The archdiocese is now on the Geographical Information System (GIS). This allows the administration of the archdiocese to see where our churches, schools and resources are in relation to the general population and also the Catholic population based on data provided by the Central Statistical Office (CSO). It allows the archdiocese to evaluate rather easily the short-term personnel adjustments and to consider the long-term impact of proposed clustering plans.
2) Information booklets based on the GIS system and the CSO data are being prepared for meetings in September with the following groups: the Presbyterate, the leadership of Religious Communities/Public Associations of Christ’s Faithful, the five Vicariate Councils and the Parish Councils of the archdiocese.
3) The Personnel Board accepted the term “Clustering” as the operative concept for the archdiocese rather than the term “Twinning”. Clustering can be understood in two ways:
a) In a total sense i.e. that the various units are formed into one unit with one set of sacramental and financial records;
b) In a modified sense i.e. that each unit remains independent and the priests move to the various units to provide sacramental care and administrative guidance.

Clustering is not simply a pragmatic adjustment to personnel shortages and pastoral need. It is an example of the spirituality of communion that is the basis of solidarity and collaboration in the archdiocese. 

The Personnel Board made these recommendations:
1) That priests be asked to accept responsibility on weekends for sacramental service and administrative guidance for parishes in addition to where they are presently assigned. This recommendation must be implemented prudently in the context of the holistic health of the priests;
2) Local laypersons (called pastoral collaborators) must be assigned to vacant parishes to serve the parishes during the week and to schedule services when a priest is absent;
3) All parishes will be asked to adjust their weekend schedules to facilitate the necessary adjustments in each Vicariate so that no parish will ever feel alone.
4) Personnel assignments have been made in relation to the recommendations listed in numbers 1-3. They are listed in this edition of the Catholic News (see pg 13).
5) After the meetings scheduled for September mentioned above (confer N. 2 under Pre-notes) are completed, a draft of a clustering plan will be developed for the archdiocese.

Conclusion
I request that all members of the archdiocese accept responsibility for collaborating with the implementation of these changes. It time for us to live with prayerful generosity the theology we celebrated in Synod and to test how deeply that theology has taken root in our minds and hearts.