Envisioning
Ministry for the Future Pastoral Letter to the Clergy, Religious and Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Pittsburgh Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Christ: The August 6, 2004 issue of the Pittsburgh Catholic published my pastoral message “Fewer Priests, Not Necessarily Less Ministry” where I spoke of envisioning our needs, and what that means in terms of fewer priests available for pastoral ministry. Earlier, in December 2003, the Pittsburgh Catholic carried a feature article highlighting this concern. This same issue has been the subject of discussion at the Priest Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council. It has also formed the topic of conversation a number of times at deanery meetings throughout the diocese beginning last February. As I have visited parishes this same concern has been expressed by many of the lay faithful. Since 1992
our diocesan priests have convened every three years for a multi-day
convocation to address significant issues related to priestly
ministry, solidarity and spirituality. These convocations afford
the priests an opportunity to discuss in an environment of mutual
concern such issues as preaching, collaborative ministry in the
Church, responsible and effective pastoral leadership, promoting
priestly vocations and forming a priestly identity in the likeness
of the Good Shepherd. The 2004 convocation is the first major step in a diocesan-wide consultation that will involve priests and deacons, religious and lay leadership in parishes, and strategy sessions at the deanery level to examine how we will continue to provide effective ministry in the future. At the conclusion of the multi-day convocation each deanery in the diocese will study ways to enhance pastoral ministry. Out of that reflection will come proposals tailored to meet the needs and resources of each deanery throughout the diocese. Steps
Already Taken Fifteen years ago we began the diocesan-wide parish reorganization/revitalization process which combined and reduced the number of parishes in some areas. In 1990 we created the Institute for Ministries which made leadership formation available to the nearly 40,000 lay faithful involved in ministry. Resources, including the “Lay Ministries Handbook for Parishes and Institutions” (1994) and a “Hiring Handbook” (1999), have proved useful for maintaining qualified and effective ministry. In 1995, parish revitalization efforts which focused on spiritual and pastoral renewal included the production of the “Parish Resource Manual” that identifies all the elements necessary for vibrant and healthy parishes; the “Handbook for Deans” which is a useful tool for evaluating the ministerial quality of parishes, and the “Policies for Financing Elementary Schools” that redistributed the cost of Catholic education throughout the diocese. In the following year the diocese implemented the program “A Future Full of Hope: A National Strategy for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life in the Dioceses and Archdioceses of the United States” which helped parishes develop initiatives to promote priestly vocations. The renewal of the permanent diaconate continued in our diocese with an ordination class of 33 deacons who completed a formation process that began in 1995 and concluded in 1999. The diocesan office for the diaconate is currently finalizing a proposal for future ordination classes as we await final approval from Rome of the United States Bishops’ directory for the diaconate. A very significant part of the renewal of the diocese in its structures and ministry took place during the 19th Diocesan Synod that convened from Pentecost 1999 through Pentecost 2000. Goals, recommendations and statutes were implemented as a result of the Synod to guarantee effective and quality ministry. Concomitant with the preparation for the Synod was a clergy distribution study (1998-1999) which identified projections and statistics regarding the number of diocesan priests in the future and the deanery planning project (2000-2001) that studied how ministry was being carried out in each deanery in the diocese. In 2002, the diocesan-wide parish-based stewardship initiative was created to assist parishes in the development of programs to support effective and qualified ministry. All of this served as remote preparation for the process on which we will reflect at the multi-day clergy convocation. The more recent efforts to respond to the circumstances of our day include the establishment of an ad hoc committee to examine some of the issues raised by individual parishes and deaneries in 2003 and during my visit to each of the deaneries in February of 2004. This was followed by a visit to each deanery by the clergy office to review the current situation as expressed by the priests so that we could more adequately prepare for this September multi-day convocation. Who
We Are as Church Baptism
and Mission The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that in baptism one is not only purified from all sins but made “a new creature, an adopted son of God, who has become a partaker of the divine nature, member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1265). From the baptismal fonts is born “the one People of God of the New Covenant which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races and sexes” (1267). “Reborn as sons of God the baptized must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the People of God” (1270). Role
of the Laity In his vision for the beginning of the new millennium, our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, spoke of the diversity–in–unity that marks the Body of Christ. He then recognized the variety of ministries serving the Church and the world. In his letter Novo Millennio Ineunte he wrote: “The unity of the Church is not uniformity, but an organic blending of legitimate diversities. It is the reality of many members joined in a single body, the one Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12.12). Therefore the Church of the third millennium will need to encourage all the baptized and confirmed to be aware of their active responsibility in the Church’s life. Together with the ordained ministry, other ministries, whether formally instituted or simply recognized, can flourish for the good of the whole community, sustaining it in all its many needs: from catechesis to liturgy, from the education of the young to the widest array of charitable works” (46). Consecrated
Life The same document reminds us that in the consecrated life “it is not only a matter of following Christ with one’s whole heart, of loving him ‘more than father or mother, more than son or daughter’ (cf. Mt. 10.37) – for this is required of every disciple—but of living and expressing this by conforming one’s whole existence to Christ in an all-encompassing commitment which foreshadows the eschatological perfection, to the extent that this is possible in time and in accordance with the different charism” (16). The
Ministerial Priesthood Saint Paul points out that the Holy Spirit is the source of the division of labor in the Church and that the offices are quite distinct (cf. 1. Cor. 12.4-11; Rom. 12.4-8). The division of work follows a design set by God. Some are called to serve as priests, others to serve in different roles – but all are called to build up the Church of Christ (cf. 1. Cor. 12.27-31). Christ is the true, invisible head of his body which is the Church. Yet just as the Body of Christ is made visible and manifest in all the members throughout the world, so too is it manifest in the presence of Christ the head of the Church specifically in the priesthood which carries on the ministry of Christ as head of his body the Church. Priest:
Teacher and Pastor The priest is prophet and pastor. He stands in the midst of the faith community as the good shepherd whose voice is recognized as that of Christ. For this reason, his proclamation of the truth from the pulpit is balanced by his compassionate care of the flock when they come for counseling and sacramental confession. It is not an exaggeration when the Church says that as the priest proclaims the teaching of the Church, he speaks with the voice of Christ. Priest:
Leader and Shepherd To build a Christian community is one of the functions of the priest because it was one of the priestly works of Christ and was passed on to his Church as a continuing obligation. However the priest is not the sole person responsible for carrying out all the details in building up the faith community. With the emergence of numerous lay ministries and the development of lay involvement in the life of the parish, much of the work of the parish priest is less “hands on” and more “supervisory” and “empowering.” Where once the priest was expected to direct, coordinate, or at least, be present for almost every activity that was carried out in the name of the Church, now it is increasingly recognized that the responsibility and work of building the parish community and helping it function is shared by many. The principal work of the priest as community builder is spiritual. The priest, therefore, should see his objective as involving primarily the faith and charity life of those entrusted to his pastoral care. His specific area of concentration is that of building a faith community strong enough to live the love of Christ so that the whole community is permeated with the Spirit of Christ. As a true priest of the new covenant the priest is expected everywhere and in all times to be the shepherd of God’s people. With special love the priest provides the spiritual food necessary for salvation for those entrusted to his care. Whatever faith community is given to the priest it is here that he feeds the sheep. The
Priest: Administrator of the Sacred Mysteries Traditionally, the priest has been called “the dispenser of the mysteries of God.” Whatever else the priest is, he is the source of sacramental contact with Christ. The framework within which the Christian reaches God is a sacramental one. It is the priest who makes Christ the Savior sacramentally present. The priest celebrates the sacred mysteries through which the Christ of the Passion and Resurrection is made really and truly present in our time and world. It is the ordained priest, acting in the person of Christ, who brings about the Eucharistic Sacrifice (cf. Lumen Gentium, 10). Our Holy Father writes so clearly about the purpose of the ministerial priesthood in his encyclical on the Eucharist: “In persona Christi means more than offering ‘in the name of’ or ‘ in the place of’ Christ. In persona means in specific sacramental identification with the eternal High Priest who is the author and principal subject of this sacrifice of his, a sacrifice in which, in truth, nobody can take his place... The assembly gathered together for the celebration of the Eucharist, if it is to be a truly Eucharistic assembly, absolutely requires the presence of an ordained priest as its president... the community is by itself incapable of providing an ordained minister... It is the Bishop who, through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, makes a new presbyter by conferring upon him the power to consecrate the Eucharist” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 29). All
Working Together The
Pastoral Ministry of the Church As the Bishop of this local Church it is my responsibility to encourage all of the faithful to live out their vocation in building up the faith community. In his recent post synodal exhortation on the ministry of bishops, Pope John Paul II explains: “The duty of Bishops at the beginning of a new millennium is thus clearly marked out. It is the same duty as ever: to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, the salvation of the world. But it is a duty which has a new urgency and which calls for cooperation and commitment on the part of the whole People of God. The Bishop needs to be able to count on the members of his diocesan presbyterate and on his deacons, the ministers of the Blood of Christ and of charity; he needs to be able to count on his consecrated sisters and brothers, called to be for the Church and the world eloquent witnesses of the primacy of God in the Christian life and the power of his love amid the frailty of the human condition; and he needs to be able to count on the lay faithful, whose greater scope for the apostolate represents for their pastors a source of particular support and a reason for special comfort” (Pastores Gregis, 74). A
Call to Work Together A
Dynamic, Living Parish Community In his post synodal exhortation to the Church in America, Pope John Paul II explains the goal of parish life: “The parish is the privileged place where the faithful concretely experience the Church... The parish needs to be constantly renewed on the basis of the principle that the parish must continue to be above all a Eucharistic community” (Ecclesia in America, 41). It is in the parish that the priest celebrates the sacraments, people are spiritually nourished and hear the Word, and where the faith community thrives and grows. Indeed, the experience of faith and spirituality can be nurtured in many ways but the parish is the normative experience of Christ’s Church and therefore becomes a central point of interest for all believers. “The institution of the parish, thus renewed, can be the source of great hope. It can gather people in community, assist family life, overcome the sense of anonymity, welcome people and help them be involved in their neighborhood and in society” (Ecclesia in America, 41). Questions
to Guide Our Discernment We also need to be aware of the many ecclesial career services that have developed in recent years in the Church. For example, we have a number of fulltime parish employees ranging from directors or coordinators of religious education to business managers, from youth ministers to directors of music, and maintenance personnel. Almost half of our parishes have a parochial school and thus employ a principal, teachers and staff. All of these together form a collaborative effort to best serve the ministry of the Church within the parish. At the heart of the Church is the Eucharist. As the encyclical letter on the Eucharist teaches us: “When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the memorial of her Lord’s death and resurrection, this central event of salvation becomes really present and ‘the work of our redemption is carried out’… This is the faith from which generations of Christians down the ages have lived” (11). The gift of the Holy Eucharist is what sustains, fashions and forms the parish community. Without the Eucharist the faith community is incomplete. Our Holy Father also reminds us that: “The People of New Covenant, far from closing in upon itself, becomes a sacrament for humanity, a sign and instrument of the salvation achieved by Christ.” Thus the parish community is involved not only with its own interests but also the interests of the wider community. The Holy Father continues: “From the perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and her communion with the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, the Church draws the spiritual power needed to carry out her mission. The Eucharist thus appears as both the source and the summit of all evangelization, since its goal is the communion of mankind with Christ and in him with the Father and the Holy Spirit” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 22). Future
Directions In Spring 2005 I hope to receive recommendations from each deanery on how best to sustain pastoral ministry in its parishes, institutions, and faith communities. My intention then would be to share the fruit of this process in a pastoral letter which will provide some direction as we move into the future. In concluding these reflections I ask for your prayers in this important moment. In your prayers I ask you to include all of the priests who during the convocation will begin this journey considering the issues of effective, qualified ministry needed in our Church today. We will join you in the prayer that we will be open to the power of the Spirit who asks all of us to be generous with our gifts, talents and lives. This is our moment. In every age in the life of the Church it has fallen to the faithful and clergy of that specific time to respond to the issues and the circumstances of the hour. This is our moment. These are our circumstances and we need to address them motivated by faith, guided by the power of the Spirit and directed by the teaching and received tradition of the Church. Out of this will come, with God’s grace, a fruitful development that will only enrich this diocesan Church and those whom we serve now and in the future. We can “set out into the deep” with confidence and courage as we are challenged by Jesus and reminded by our Holy Father. Whatever we undertake if we do so with prayerful faith and confident respect for the mission entrusted to the Church we can succeed. We are confident of this because it is Christ who walks with us as we set out into the deep – into the future – filled with faith, hope and love. Asking God’s
blessing on this effort to envision ministry for the future and
on all of the faithful of the Church of Pittsburgh, I am Faithfully in Christ,
Bishop of Pittsburgh September
3, 2004 |
