Although the life of a parish priest has many rewards, it can lead some to become "quite narrow in their vision of the world that lies just beyond the confines" of that parish, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta told a symposium on the priesthood Oct. 5.
The archbishop discussed the challenges and benefits of the diocesan priesthood in a talk at the daylong symposium on the campus of The Catholic University of America in Washington.
The gathering, which attracted about 300 priests, seminarians, faculty members and students, focused on "Why Priests Are Happy," a new book by Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, an associate professor of clinical pastoral studies at the university.
Archbishop Gregory, one of four speakers at the symposium, said parish priests can receive "immediate and frequently expressed affirmation" from their parishioners and become "grounded in the very lives of their people." But they must guard against a tendency to "avoid trying to serve a world that is beyond their comfort zones," he added.
"Our church must be Catholic insofar as it is always open to embrace and call to conversion the world beyond any specific territory, age, culture or ethnic context," the archbishop said. "This has been our charge since apostolic times when the proclamation of the Gospel constantly required the church to embrace peoples who were different than the prevalent or dominant culture or ethnic or language groups."
Archbishop Gregory -- who has headed the Atlanta Archdiocese since 2005 and was previously bishop of Belleville, Ill., and an auxiliary bishop in Chicago, each for more than a decade -- also offered recommendations on how to keep morale high among priests and how to promote fraternity among priests and between priests and the bishop.
"Each presbyterate that I have had the privilege of serving and to which I have been equally privileged to belong has had its own unique temperament and history," he said. "Chicago, Belleville and now Atlanta each have their own stories, heroes and legends. ...
"One cannot become a true part of a presbyterate without listening to its stories and coming to appreciate its legends," he added.
The archbishop stressed the importance of regular priestly gatherings but said they must go beyond a merely "casual alliance of religious professionals" to "invite and allow sincere and honest sharing across age, cultural, ethnic and ideological differences."
He acknowledged that every diocese has a few priests "who never join their brothers at moments of common life."
"To command these reluctant brothers to attend priestly gatherings ... only introduces such a negative energy and toxic attitude into the environment that many bishops simply cease compelling their presence -- but we can never forget them," he said. "They remain a challenge for us as we continue to reach out to them and invite them to rejoin the fraternity of the presbyterate."
Archbishop Gregory said a solid prayer life and reliance on the sacraments must be central to any priest's ministry.
"Priests do not impart a mundane service or deliver a product that they themselves do not use and in which they do not believe," he said. "Priests literally market a spiritual joy that they themselves depend upon and in which they find spiritual strength in their love for the Lord Jesus."
In a brief question-and-answer period following his talk, Archbishop Gregory was asked about the transfer of priests and how to best integrate international priests into a diocese.
He called the annual assignment and transfer process "one of the most painful things I do as archbishop of Atlanta" and said that inevitably "someone is going to be hurt or disappointed" at the decisions made.
He said the process of integrating priests from other countries has changed in the U.S. since the time when immigrant communities brought priests with them to this country and those priests ministered only to that community.
Today, "language is the easiest barrier," the archbishop said. "You could speak the queen's English but if you don't understand the cultural context you are going to have trouble."
Archbishop Gregory also said one of his favorite tasks as a bishop is confirmations, when he becomes "the archdiocesan grandpa" and is able to help teenagers feel that at that moment "my bishop loved me and told me I was important."
"It's been 28 years and I've been told I'll get over that feeling, but it is still one of the most invigorating experiences I have," he said of confirmations.