Challenges and Opportunities

Fewer Priests

priests meeting a homeless manThere are fewer priests in England and Wales, and this is now beginning to be felt, especially in some dioceses. Some priests have to look after a number of parishes, and it is not always possible to have Mass in every church every Sunday. Although the situation is still very good compared with somewhere like Latin America, the average age of priests in England & Wales is rising alarmingly. There are not enough new priests to replace those who die, retire or leave the active ministry.

Times are different

We live in a very different society to that of a few decades ago. Simply to be a committed Christian is to swim against the tide. Religion is seen as something to do in private. People are more likely to turn for help to the counsellor, social worker or psychiatrist than to the priest.

There are tremendous problems in society: poverty, unemployment and homelessness, and the sense of hopelessness they bring; racial prejudice, and divisions within communities which can flare into violence; the increasing number of one-parent families and of broken marriages; an attitude to life based on materialism and self-interest, and a decline in personal and social moral values. It can be very difficult for someone brought up in our society to make any kind of life long commitment, and celibacy poses a special challenge.

Thirsting for God

On the other hand, there are also very positive signs today. The stress on self-interest in our society, with its craving for possession, pleasure and position - often at the expense of others - has done nothing to give people meaning and purpose in their lives. The lack of a sense of belonging and personal worth, and of any real community, has left many feeling alone and numb. They need something to bring them wholeness and vision, something to bring them truly alive. There is a deep spiritual hunger in many people, especially the young. Although they may not themselves see this as a yearning for God, it is only his good news of love which can bring them life in its fullest sense.

A community of reconciliation

All of this means that the Church has a vital role to play in our society. It should be a communal icon of God’s care and love, a parable of community and the living Gospel for all to hear.

By ‘the Church’ we mean of course all of us who believe in Jesus Christ. This means that all Christians have to act together ever more closely. Only if Christians themselves are reconciled can they be a full sign of God’s reconciling love. Any priest in England and Wales will have to work in a true partnership with the ministers of other Christian communities. A real commitment to a deeply Catholic ecumenical spirit is essential for anyone offering himself for priestly service. A priest will have many opportunities to join other Christian ministers for prayer, study and pastoral care. His shepherd role will include leading his flock to take a full part in working with other Christians to bring the Good News to all.

One special characteristic of our society is the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-faith dimension of many neighbourhoods. This presents its own challenges but it is also one of the great riches of our society, full of potential for something very special. The priest has to reflect Jesus’ own openness to all and his deep respect for every human being, of any faith or none. He will help to form the Catholic community entrusted to him into a leaven of reconciliation, a servant of harmony in a society so often torn apart by differences of race and culture. There is so much to gain and share by living in a mixed society such as ours, and much to discover as we make our human and spiritual journey together.

Always new, ever the same!

Our society is always changing, for better or worse. The Church and its ministers must always be open to renewal by the Spirit of God, reading the signs of the times and listening to the Word of God speaking to us today, alive and afresh.

But the priestly ministry will remain at its heart always the same, whatever the changes in society, the renewed insights of the Church, or the problems faced by priests themselves. It is to be the living sign and instrument, the ambassador of the Good Shepherd. The pastoral love of Jesus our Priest is made present in the pastoral love of his priest. The priesthood is a vital ministry, a tremendous adventure and, if anything, a greater challenge than ever before!

You must do justice to your position
by showing the greatest diligence
Both in its temporal and spiritual duties.
Give thought especially to unity,
for there is nothing more important that this.
Make yourself the support of all and sundry,
as the Lord is to you,
and continue to bear lovingly with them all,
as you are doing at present.
Spend your time in constant prayer,
and beg for ever larger gifts of wisdom.
Be watchful and unsleeping in spirit.
Address yourself to people personally,
as is the way of God himself,
and carry the infirmities of them all
on your own shoulders,
as a good champion of Christ ought to do.
The heavier the labour, the richer the reward. 25

(St Ignatius of Antioch, writing to his friend Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. Ignatius was martyred by being thrown to the wild beasts in the Flavian amphitheatre in Rome in about 115 A.D.)

25 Early Christian Writers (Penguin Classics 1968) p. 109

IN SERVICE TOGETHER

The dwindling number of priests has concentrated our minds wonderfully on the need to involve other members of the Church in a truly collaborative form of ministry. But this partnership in service is how it should always be in the Church whether or not there is a shortage of priests! Lay people, religious and ordained ministers working closely together in heartfelt co-operation, living and bearing to others the good News of Jesus Christ: this is the norm for any truly dynamic Church community.

All modern statements on the ordained priesthood begin by affirming the royal priesthood of the faithful, and a call to an active sharing in the Church’s worship and witness by every member, each in his or her own way. We have already seen the importance of St Paul’s marvellous vision of the church as the Body of Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is with us all, and every one of us is needed by and needs every other. We each have God-given gifts and talents for service of the Lord.

Flowing from their rebirth in Christ, there is a genuine equality of dignity and action among all of Christ’s faithful. Because of this equality they all contribute each according to his or her condition and office, to the building up of the Body of Christ. (The Code of Canon Law canon 208)

The ministry of the priest serves the ministry of all. He works to build up a servant community, living out its true calling as a bearer of Christ.

He leads by blending together people with their many different vocations, talents and ways of service. He helps them to discern, develop and use their creative gifts, so that they can flourish in a community of active Christians. We are only just beginning to take many of these gifts seriously, and the priest must be open to the many new forms of ministry and service which will be needed in the 21 st century.

A shared ministry

Jesus called his disciples ‘friends’, and shared his own ministry with his companions. The priestly ministry is essentially a shared ministry, exercised in genuine friendship between priest and people. It can only be properly carried out in true partnership with others. Being able and willing to minister in this way is essential for any priest today, and it will become increasingly important! Together, and only together, can we be living witnesses and ministers of the Good News of God’s reconciling love.

It is particularly important to prepare future priests for cooperation with the laity. (Pope John Paul 11) 26

We are convinced that it is in their very collaboration with fully active lay men and women that priests will discover the depth of spirituality in their mission … It is our belief that the more effective the truly gospel-inspired role of the lay person, the more satisfying the spiritual role and the clearer the ministerial identity of the priest. True collaboration does not blur distinction between ministries. It clarifies the distinction and shows the ministries to be complementary in the life and mission of the family of the Church.
(The bishops of England and Wales in The Easter People) 27

27 art.30

SERVING WITH LAY PEOPLE

‘Team Ministry’ is a term which usually means a group of priests working together in a special way, but all priestly ministry is team ministry. More and more parishes today have just one priest, but he is still called to work at the heart of a pastoral team. The same is true of any other priestly ministry, for example in university, hospital or prison chaplaincies. All kinds of important ministries are taken up by lay people today, and there are bound to be new ones in the years to come.

In the Church’s worship, lay people are heralds of God’s Word as they proclaim the Scriptures. They assist the priest in bringing the Body and Blood of Jesus to God’s people. With their musical gifts they help to deepen the prayerfulness of the liturgy. The ministry of hospitality is especially important, helping to create a welcoming community which takes newcomers to its heart. Others work to build a community of faith by their ministry as catechists. They help to prepare adults for initiation into the Church (R.C.I.A.) or for reception into full communion, and share responsibility for preparing people for all the sacraments. We should remember too those who teach in our schools, a very special and vital ministry. Many are servants of pastoral care by their active love for those in any kind of need, either as individuals or as members of special groups (e.g. S.V.P.). In all kinds of different ways, lay people are bearers of the Good News to others, sharing the Church’s mission of evangelisation.

The list of lay ministries is vast and open-ended. The priest has often to invite and encourage people to serve with their gifts, and he helps to affirm, train and support those who take on these ministries and services. The Church also expects anyone offering himself for pastoral leadership as a priest to be already involved in active lay ministry of some kind.

Do not forget, too, that our lay people have been anointed with the Holy Spirit. He is at work in them as he is in us and our leadership of this. Ours, priests and people, is a partnership. We have different roles, but one purpose which is to give glory to God and to serve our neighbour - it is an adventure of love. (Cardinal Basil Hume) 28

The Church is poorer whenever any of its members fail to use their gifts.
A successful priestly shepherd, therefore, is one who not only uses his own charisms, but also knows how to help others use theirs.
(Cardinal Joseph Bernardin) 29

28 Light in the Lord p175

29 Called to serve, called to lead p21

A leader of leaders

The value of small groups is being recognised more and more today. In large parishes, people often need a smaller grouping to give them a real sense of personal belonging and community. Neighbourhood groups are developing, as well as others which gather for prayer, study, action or recreation. Their shared Catholic faith is the key to what holds them together. Far from being splinter groups at odds with the Church, they are vital parts of the parish, in full communion with their bishop and priests and with the Eucharist at the heart of their life. In all of these there is room for the growth of leadership by lay people. The parish becomes a community of communities and one of the main tasks of the priest will be to give pastoral and spiritual leadership to his team of lay leaders, keeping them in true communion of mind and heart with the Catholic Church.

Relationship with others

Lay pastoral assistants

Some lay people with suitable gifts are able to give themselves full-time to working as part of a pastoral team. They are supported from the parish finances, and help the priest in his leadership of the community. They may well be more able and suited to some aspects of parish life than the priest. This kind of lay ministry would have been unimaginable a few decades ago. It is still emerging as a richly valuable contribution to the life of a parish or chaplaincy. Priest and pastoral assistant retain their own special identity. The emergence of these new ministries does nothing to undermine the irreplaceable and vital ministry of the priest, but a partnership in friendship, with such lay ministers is going to be an increasingly important dimension of priestly ministry. Many students for the priesthood now spend an extended period in a parish working as a lay pastoral assistant as part of their formation and training.

SERVING WITH RELIGIOUS

All that has been said of lay people above is true also of members of religious communities. Women and men religious make a tremendous contribution to the life of the Church in so many different ways. The prayer of religious in enclosed orders is a great support to the secular (‘in the world’) priest. Each congregation has something special to add to the life of a community, enriching it with its particular gifts.

Many exercise special ministries in the diocese and the parish: teaching in schools; coordinating catechists and others; running retreat centres; and being involved in counselling and spiritual direction, among many other things. There are many ‘parish sisters’ at work in the Church, with much the same ministry as the lay pastoral assistant. They are also involved as chaplaincy assistants in many different settings. There are also of course many religious priests who work in parishes in our dioceses. The diocesan priest has to have a deep and sincere respect for his religious brothers and sisters, sensitive to their special calling and eager to work with them as partners in ministry.

SERVING WITH ORDAINED COLLEAGUES

When Jesus called the Twelve to follow him, he formed them into a close-knit group with himself at their heart. The same should be true of all who share the apostles’ ministry today: the bishop with his priests and deacons. The priest shares the ministry of his bishop. In a sense he makes the bishop present in a local Christian community. Brotherly communion with his bishop should be an important part of the priest’s life. Hopefully a person will have he chance to get to know his bishop during the years of priestly formation.

With permanent deacons

While priests are fewer, permanent deacons (both married and single) are growing in number. As ordained ministers, deacons should be valued members of a pastoral team, co-workers and co-servants with the priest. He shares the priest’s celebration of the liturgy and leadership of prayer. He often presides at the sacraments of baptism and marriage, as well as at funeral liturgies. He proclaims the Gospel at Mass, but also by his whole ministry as a deacon. The priest should see him as a close colleague in the pastoral team, and he needs to be the sort of person who can share responsibility with deacons and others. He will experience personally the value of this ministry when he is ordained a deacon himself towards the end of his priestly formation, perhaps working for a while as a deacon in a parish.

With his brother priests

Even when a priest is on his own in a community, he is always a member of his bishop’s community of priests, as well as the local deanery. There are plenty of opportunities for getting together with fellow priests, perhaps meeting in small groups for prayer, for reflection and simply for enjoying each other’s company. Support and care for one’s brother priests is an important part of one’s priestly ministry.

Most priests begin their years of service as an assistant priest in a parish. They serve with a more experienced parish priest and with other members of the parish team. This gives the new priest the opportunity to learn and share what it means to be a priest. More and more emphasis is placed on ongoing - indeed lifelong - priestly formation.

Different ways of working together as priests are being developed. Sometimes a team of priests live together as a community and look after a number of parishes, each with his own responsibilities. One priest is the team leader, a pastor of pastors. Such experiments are bound to continue as we try to make the best use of fewer priests, but also to respond to new times and needs.

But even when the priest is very much on his own in a parish or chaplaincy, he is still involved in a shared, team ministry, in a partnership of priest and people. This is the way of Jesus himself, the way of the first Christian community and the way of the Church today and tomorrow. Essential for any priest is the ability to relate well with others and to work with them, cherishing and weaving together their vocations and gifts into a seamless robe for the service of the Lord.

The Church … must be a family, bishops, priests, deacons, religious and laity, supporting each other and sharing with each other the individual gifts given by God.

Every priest relies on the faith and talents of his parish community. If he is wise he will not only know the joy of dispensing God’s grace, but also of receiving it abundantly through his parishioners as well. The partnership between priest and people is built upon prayer, collaboration, mutual respect and love.
(Pope John Paul II) 30

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

30 Ordination homily at Heaton Park, Manchester 31.5.1982