The practise in the Catholic church of moving diocesan priests from parish to parish is a wise one, according to Bishop of Elphin, Christopher Jones. “Priests are human. When they are appointed to a parish, they will relate very well to numbers of people, but maybe not so well to others. It gives people a change.”
Bishop Jones said that on average in his diocese priests were moved around every seven to eight years, but once a priest is appointed parish priest, he is not moved again.
He agrees that bishops have a role to play in making the transition from one appointment to another easier. “You must sit down with a priest, and if he has misgivings and for any reason he feels he should not be changed, you must listen to that,” he said.
Years ago priests just got a letter in the post telling them to report for duty in a new parish a few days later, but now the practise is to give priests at least a month, so they can say goodbye to their friends and parishioners, and to the sick, for example, during their monthly visit on a first Friday.
“It is good for the priest and the people,” said Bishop Jones. “The priest might be in a rural parish, and then is moved to a city one, so he gets a wider experience."
Dublin diocesan priest, Fr Breandán Leahy, says while moving can be traumatic (anyone moving house will find it stressful), priests appreciate it too, because “it gives you a fresh start.”
“After a certain number of years priests have given what they can give in relation to insights into the Gospel. However the downside is sometimes if you have started something, you have to leave it.”
Fr Leahy , a professor of moral theology in Maynooth, says the idea of priests moving around, goes right back to the Gospel. “Jesus and his disciples moved from place to place. That is the model in once sense.”
However, not all priests are expected to move. For example in Southern Italy, a priest is ordained and sent to a parish for life. This has come about for cultural reasons, and because of the Byzantine influence coming from Greece where the Greek Orthodox tradition allows for married clergy, and where a married priest stays in the one place with his family.
“There is always a risk of routine setting in, says Fr Leahy. “This is a terrible danger, because the edge of the Gospel wears off if you settle into something comfortable.”
Bishop Jones said priests who are happy where they are do find it hard to move, but they understand it is part of their vocation.
He recalls telling one priest of his new appointment. “He said ‘If that is what you want, then that’s God’s will for me.’ He went, I think, quite happy.”
He himself went through many ‘moves’ as a priest before he was made bishop. The hardest was, when he had to leave teaching. “It was a beautiful Easter day, and I was called to St Mary’s. I didn’t realise I would never go back to teaching.” But in hindsight, he admits that all the experiences were enrichments in his life. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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(Source: CIN)