In a posting on CW yesterday, reference was made to a letter submitted to The Irish Catholic newspaper by a priest in Dublin.We now wish to publish this letter in total and verbatim for your benefit and indeed the benefit of those in hierarchial authority and ask them to consider its contents very carefully...
Dear Editor,
I refer to your editorial piece "The new Parish" in the July 31 edition.
If one wanted to devise a scheme to offend, belittle and sow the seeds of dissension among the clergy it would be difficult to come up with anything better than His Grace of Dublin has managed to concoct in the manner of the Dublin Diocesan appointments 2008. The high handed manner in which priests lives, their conditions of service, their reasonable expectation of progression etc. have been swept aside in a breathtaking exercise in episcopal arrogance worthy of a feudal overlord belies a worrying disregard for the foot soldiers on which the Church in Dublin depends.
When he came to Dublin Archbishop Martin set a theme for his ministry under the headline "A humble and listening Church" and all began with a flourish and a bang - full of promise. Soon humility and listening were thrown out the window when a "Decree" was issued ordering the establishment of Parish Pastoral Councils in every parish in the Diocese.
Undoubtedly, Pastoral Councils are a welcome and necessary development - but the manner of their introduction using a canonical instrument, which to the best of my knowledge had never been used by any of his predecessors, raised a sense of unease in the ranks; which has proven subsequently to be well founded.
There is no disputing the fact that Dublin is in need of change, and that change needs to happen sooner rather than later if the needs of the Diocese are to be adequately met; but the priests must be central to the planning and implementation of any change; they must be made to feel that they matter and that the conditions of their lives and service cannot be radically altered in the manner they have been, without consultation and agreement.
Each Summer men are invited to interview with the Archbishop for what has traditionally been a time when they made some progression in their ministry, being entrusted with the Pastoral care of a parish community most frequently as parish priest. It clearly marked a progression and from a human point of view gave a sense of satisfaction and well being that the years of service were in some sense finding recognition and acknowledgement. Indeed the families of priests shared their sense of satisfaction in seeing their son or brother become a parish priest.
This year, however, the waters were extremely muddied. Men came from the interviews uncertain what they had been appointed to. Terms had been mentioned like "Rector Ecclesia" (Rector of the Church) - despite the fact that even a cursory reading of Canon Law clearly reveals that it precludes the appointment of a Rector Ecclesia to a Parish Church. Moderators have been appointed - primus inter pares - (first among equals) with some vague and undefined responsibilty for several parishes as leader of a team of priests - and all of this without a word of consultation to any of the men involved.
A new term "Pastoral Leader" made a brief appearance on the Diocesan website list of appointments only to disappear without trace after a few days. If team creation were really so easy, how wonderful life would be. And God said "let there be...and it was so" alas for us mere mortals the creation of human endeavours is an altogether more laborious and painstaking process which needs consensus and agreement.
In one case, a man was appointed as Moderator of two parishes - the announcement was made in the parishes only to be changed completely when, much to the man's utter amazement, a letter arrived appointing him as Parish Priest of the two parishes. This man is now greeted laughingly with a "What are you this week" jibe by his colleagues.
Another priest of over thirty years service received a letter informing him that he was now curate to the adjoining parish in addition to his present appointment; again no word of consultation. It clearly is not good enough.
Archbishop Martin needs to start listening to his priests; there is a growing sense of resentment and disaffection in the ranks. He may well come on a charm offensive to the Pastoral Councils and Finance committees, which are comprised largely of people extremely well disposed - and often placated by the presence of a mitred prelate; but the fact remains that significant decisions about the parishes have already been taken with no deference to the councils or finance committees whatsoever. If his priests were to take that behaviour as a model, imagine the chaos that would ensue.
Archbishop Martin needs to understand the principle that consultation needs to happen PRIOR to decisions being made, if it is to be more than window dressing. He may well be a bureaucrat of eminent distinction in Roman circles but his lack of pastoral tact with his priests is alarming.
It need not be so. We are a shrinking presbyterate in Dublin and the demands of our ministry are such that we cannot afford to expend time and energy tackling the kind of internal mayhem that the summer appointments have generated this year, many priests are angry and frustrated. So let's hope that the priests of the Diocese won't learn of the next pastoral initiative which affects their lives deeply through the medium of a press release or a sound bite.
Signed : A priest of Dublin (Name & Address with the Editor)
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