UNSUNG HEROES

After his back to back Masses at 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM at his residential parish, Father gets behind the wheel and drives the twenty-five miles of highway to celebrate the noon Mass at the parish where he also serves as Pastor.

Father is in his late 60s and took on the role as Pastor of the neighboring rural parish when the people found themselves in need of a Priest.  As canonical Pastor of both parishes, Father splits his time as best he can between the two locations.

Father isn't alone in his hectic weekend schedule — as fewer men enter the Priesthood and fewer parishioners attend mass, many parishes now share Pastors.

The decline in Catholics, parishes and parishes with resident Pastors that has been taking place throughout the dioceses in America over the past four decades is alarming.

In the new experience of parochial life, “community” is often the term used when parishes merge such as the Lamoille County Catholic Community, which includes Hyde Park, Eden, Johnson and Morrisville in Vermont.

Pastors who care for more than one parish typically celebrate three to six Masses a weekend between the parochial communities, a grueling schedule for a young man let alone a Priest in his latter 60s. 

Oftentimes, the arrangement is not fair to either parish as it impacts the ability of the Pastor to get to know parishioners, who along with the Pastor have to make a lot of changes in their lives.

Based on information available from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), nearly 70 percent of present day Pastors in are in charge of more than one parish. In some cases, Pastors are celebrating Masses at as many as six locations.

For the present,  working with multiple parishes is a necessary solution to the challenges facing the Catholic Church.   The situation is destined to come to a moment of critical mass when the number of aging and infirm Priests are no longer able to provide spiritual care and leadership to multiple parishes.

It is time for the Church in the person of the Holy Father and the Bishops to confront this looming crisis maturely and seriously.  

To date, Church hierarchy has chosen to bury its collective head in the sand and pretend that everything is alright and that people can expect to enjoy easy availability to their local Pastor and to the Sacraments.

Certainly, one option available to the Church is to extend Ordination to the Priesthood to the thousands of Permanent Deacons who, at present, are no more than glorified altar servers offering little service to the Pastors of the parishes to which they have been assigned.  They would be ordained to the Priesthood solely for the purpose of providing sacramental care to the People of God.   And the needless requirement that they must remain celibate should their spouses die should be suppressed immediately.

The Holy Father and the Bishops are fond of speaking about the need of the Priest to accompany those whose lives are spiritually broken or shattered.  To fulfill this lofty enterprise, the Pope and the Bishops need first to insure that a generous supply of Priests will be available for that accompaniment.

To date, the Pope and the Bishops have done nothing substantial or enduring that would provide that assurance.   

In the meantime, the older and aging Priests who are providing such sacrificial service to God’s People need to be commended for the unsung heroes that they truly are.

Let us pray that they will and will do so soon for the good of the Church and the welfare of souls.