I’m constantly frustrated at the frequency with which priests simply don’t show up for weekly confession or schedule something else in the same time slot. More times than I count I have had this type of conversation:
“Does Father have time to hear a confession today?”
“No, he’s out blowing the leaves.”
“Will he be at regular confession this Saturday?”
“It’s on the schedule.”
“It’s always on the schedule, but he often doesn’t show up.”
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
I even wrote to my bishop once, suggesting that my diocese get rid of a weekly confession time, since it doesn’t mean anything to the priests.
But the bishop was apparently too busy to respond.
Are we seeing a trend here? Priests don’t show up. Bishops don’t respond.
I’m thinking we don’t have enough clergy. It’s hardly a novel observation, of course, but you’d think it were. No one seems to be doing anything to remedy the consequences of the clerical shortage. The Church is emphasizing more vocations, but many dioceses have a problem, right here, right now, and it seems like no one is doing anything.
Except, possibly, the Pittsburgh Diocese. It is going to experiment with lay administrators.
It’s not terribly new. Hundreds of US churches are run by lay administrators or nuns, and canon law supposedly provides for lay administrators, but I get the impression that the Pittsburgh Diocese is looking to do it on an unprecedented broad scale. Pursuant to its “Parish Life Collaborators” program, a lay administrator would help deal with the administrative aspects of running a parish, leaving priests more free to concentrate on the sacraments. Each “Collaborator” would need a master’s degree in theology or a related field and five years of experience in Catholic Church ministry.
I like it, though I have reservations.
First, the reservations: Do they really need a master’s degree in theology to organize a bake sale or schedule events? And if a theology degree is really necessary, why the wiggle room “or related field”? I suspect I know what will happen: “You have a master’s in social work? Well, Catholics believe in social justice, so that’s close enough. A master’s in physical education? John Paul II wrote extensively about the theology of the body, so…”
And how are we going to pay adequately to attract qualified administrators? Eighteen thousand dollars annually won’t be sufficient to repay the student loans required to get a master's degree.
But enough of the negatives. I like the idea. Instead of three priests handling three parishes, maybe one priest and three lay administrators can handle the three parishes, thereby getting more sacramental bang for the ordained buck.
I’ve never seen why a priest must deal with things like re-paving the parking lot and scheduling a spring cleaning. The spirit and material are intertwined, so it makes sense that one person would handle both, but let’s face it: during a priest shortage, it’s more important that the priest administer the sacraments. If he’s so busy dealing with mundane affairs, he may not have the time and energy to deal with the sacraments.
It’s also been my experience that many priests and some bishops aren’t the greatest administrators. I’ve often speculated that holiness and practicality don’t go together.
But history tells us otherwise. The world has had plenty of saints who were also practical. In his excellent little book about St. Martin of Tours, Henri Gheon wrote, “It has been said a hundred times and we must keep saying it: grace does not destroy nature; it fertilizes and elevates nature. No sort of man is more sensible than a saint.”
And when you consider how many religious have been good administrators, from St. Basil to St. Theresa of Avila, I think he’s right.
In fact, it seems that most saints are sensible. So much so, that it disturbs me to see how many incompetent clerics are running around. If grace elevates one’s sensible nature, what does that say about a person whose sensible nature is stuck in first gear?
I don’t know, and I shouldn’t speculate. We are, after all, dealing with clergy, and they deserve respect and admiration.
Still, clergy don’t have a monopoly on holiness or practicality, so I don’t see why they have to be responsible for the administrative aspect of running parishes.
After all, I think most of us would take a layman like St. Thomas More any day.
© Copyright 2006 Catholic Exchange
Eric Scheske is an attorney, the Editor of The Daily Eudemon, a Contributing Editor of Godspy, and the former editor of Gilbert Magazine.