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JillD
Member
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 961 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Online
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Posted: Sun Feb 17th, 2008 06:11 pm |
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Yes, today our priest announced that he's being moved to a Newman Center nearby. I'm stunned and sad - he's wonderful, but I guess we need to share him...
How are priests replaced? Does the bishop move a new person in? Does the priest have the option of saying 'no'?
April 15th... I'll have been a Catholic one year, one week, and one day.
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"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret." Ps 139
"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men." Ps 140
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CajunRick
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Posted: Sun Feb 17th, 2008 10:33 pm |
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JillD wrote:
How are priests replaced? Does the bishop move a new person in? Does the priest have the option of saying 'no'?
A priest pledges obedience to the bishop, but his wishes are taken into consideration, and he is rarely moved against his will. That doesn't necessarily mean he wants to move, but he is willing to move.
As priests get older and become more experienced, they are put in positions of greater responsibility. The pastor of a small parish, after several years, is likely to be moved to a larger parish. Lateral or descending moves are usually made to resolve particular problems. A pastor of a large parish may ask to move to a smaller parish to lessen responsibility if he is experiencing health problems, for example, or to deal with a financial crisis in the parish. Popular, spirit-filled priests may be moved into a parish that is seen as "dead", and a pastor with an active youth program might be sent to a parish that desperately needs one. Also, a bishop may see that a parish has become stagnant, and feel that "new blood" might revitalize things. Sometimes a priest who is more mechanical and less spiritual (I don't want to use the word "bad") may be sent to an alive parish with a very active laity, figuring that the ministries will continue even without input from the priest, while the priest who stimulated that activity can be sent to a less productive parish.
Each diocese has a personnel policy that regulates the movement of priests, and committees that make recommendations to the bishop. However, the bishop as CEO of the corporation that is the diocese, has the ultimate authority to follow or reject recommendations, or to make, change, or override policy. For example, in my diocese the policy is that a priest may remain in a parish for six years, with an option to remain for another six. Last year we had a priest moved after one year in a parish, and we have one priest who has been in the same parish since the 70's. The priest who was moved had followed a long-serving, very popular priest, and he knew when he was assigned that he was a caretaker.
Priests also have the ability to leave the diocese if they feel they are being mistreated in any way, by finding a bishop in another diocese who will accept them, or by accepting a ministry outside a diocese. A priest who is from a diocese with a lot of priests may see his opportunity for advancement limited, so he may seek permission to move to another diocese. Many foreign priests come to the United States because of shortages here, so their potential for advancement is greater. A friend who didn't get along with his pastor requested a transfer but the bishop said no, so he moved to a neighboring diocese. My friend is now medically retired, and the bishop who was here is now the bishop there.
The only real difference between employment as a priest and any other job is lifetime job security. As long as a priest doesn't do something really bad (like molesting altar servers or embezzling parish funds) he's guaranteed a job for life.
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