Keeping Parishes Open without Killing our Priests
By Fr. Jeff Lorig, Director of Pastoral Services
In January of 2019, the Archdiocese of Omaha proposed a new way forward in pastoral planning. The proposal has now become more plan than proposal since it’s been initiated in several locations in the rural area and is now possibly happening in the metro area in the near future. The most important and urgent project for pastoral planning right now is to help the archdiocese prepare for approximately 30 fewer priests in the next 10 years. The plan has several objectives:
Objective 1 – Let’s do everything we can to keep our parishes open.
In order to accomplish this objective, we assigned one pastor and sometimes an assistant pastor or two where needed to a particular area, thus serving several parishes. At a bare minimum we asked the parishes to share these priests and a Mass schedule.
Unfortunately, as the planning continues to be shaped, it’s not always going to be possible or reasonable to keep saying Masses at certain locations, but we’re going to do everything we can to avoid that.
Where these groupings have started, it seems to be working…for the most part. Whether it’s sustainable for our priests is another question?
Objective 2 – Let’s not kill our priests.
Mass Schedule: On Sundays and holy days, a priest can say up to three Masses in this archdiocese on one calendar day. The night before is not part of that day. Vigils are not part of that day. By Canon law, a priest can say two Masses on Saturday and three on Sunday. Four Masses between Saturday night and Sunday is doable, but not ideal. Add a funeral and/or a wedding into the mix and life can start to feel a little miserable. I would think the goal, if possible, would be to reduce the Mass schedule between all parishes so that Father doesn’t have to say more than 3 Masses between Saturday night and Sunday.
Meetings: If the parishes are going to remain separate corporations, then that means Father will have to attend all of the finance council meetings of every parish. These councils are required by Canon Law. It’s doesn’t mean they have to meet monthly, so reducing the frequency would be reasonable.
While parish councils are not required, they are highly encouraged. That said, a new council should be formed with representatives from each parish and the previous councils should be gradually dissolved. Many parishes rely on parish councils to help manage parish life. It would seem that new committees (e.g., maintenance or fundraising) for each parish could be formed that would not require the pastors’ presence, but leadership of these groups could be delegated to the representatives of the finance or parish council or to a staff member.
Staff: Speaking of staff. I think it would drive a pastor crazy to work out of more than one office and have more than one office staff. Ideally, you’d like to streamline your staff and office space. This should be done gradually and tactfully. That said, the pastor may need to take some initiative. The first step should be some real, clear, and prayerful discernment about what kind of position best compliments either the pastors’ weaknesses or scheduling deficits. Also important to consider would be whether the position could help the vision of the parishes be realized.
Speaking of vision, some changes in the parishes will have to do with avoiding the exhaustion of our priests, but more meaningful changes will need to be driven by a preferred future, a vision. Whatever the vision is should ultimately be connected to Matthew 28’s “Great Commission”, which is all about making disciples. This is the mission of the Church.
Community Life: Life can get lonely especially for priests who need to be a father to the community, but also set healthy boundaries. To counteract a tendency towards isolation, we’ve encouraged priests to live in the same rectory if possible. There are a lot of different factors that play into that decision so it’s not as easy as just mandating it. We know and believe that some form of community life can be very healthy and can help create an informal system of accountability for one another. If the priests are not able to live together, then some other form of community needs to be considered such as a scheduled weekly meal or other activity.
Fr. Lorig can be reached at jplorig@archomaha.org.
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One Response to “Keeping Parishes Open without Killing our Priests”
Keep the mail coming very helpful and interesting As a founding member I have seen. Many changes. Never did I expect this. I admire. The priest we have working together I pray you have the strength to continue