Column
by
Archbishop John G. Vlazny
|
Archbishop's
Column by Archbishop John G. Vlazny |
Archbishop’s Column
10/24/03
This final Sunday of the month, October
26, 2003, has been designated
“Priesthood Sunday” here in the United
States. Our Catholic communities
all over America have been asked “to celebrate
the gifts of Priesthood in
service to their parish community.”
The reasons for this celebration should
be obvious. The number of priests
per Catholic has declined over the past
40 years. This makes it more
difficult for individual parishioners
to establish a close relationship
with any one particular priest. When I
was growing up, our pastor served
in our parish for 34 years. My mom and
dad knew him well. His presence and
service were significant factors in the
story of my own vocation.
Furthermore, priests are no longer the
only ones who offer pastoral care
to our people. Yet without a priest, no
parish is able to be a Eucharistic
community. It is important to reaffirm
the importance of the priesthood of
Jesus Christ and its central place in
the life of our Church.
Secondly, the recent Church scandals, whether
we like it or not, have
tainted all of us priests. Last month
I had a letter from a Catholic in
this archdiocese who suggested that the
cost of compensating victims of
child sexual abuse by some of the clergy
should be primarily the
responsibility of the ordained priests.
It was suggested that all of us
priests take at least a 25 percent cut
in our compensation. I know that
most Catholics don’t share those sentiments,
but the negativity directed
towards priests in the past two years
has been significant. Priesthood
Sunday gives us an opportunity to proclaim
to all who will hear that our
parish priests are for us Catholics instruments
of Christ’s presence and
pastoral care. In spite of our recent
troubles, they are loved and
respected by their people.
Most of you know that in my life as priest
and bishop I have served with
three different presbyterates, the first
in the Archdiocese of Chicago,
next in the Diocese of Winona and now
here in the Archdiocese of Portland.
I never cease to be amazed at the talents,
dedication and goodness of all
these priests. I tell people that as a
Chicago priest I felt that we were
the best and brightest. Then I went to
Winona and found more of the best
and brightest. Ditto for Portland. God
has taught me, patiently and
consistently, that there are all kinds
of “best and brightest” ordained
Catholic priests serving God’s people.
Last month I received a copy of a newly
published book titled Still Called
by Name: Why I Love Being a Priest, by
Father Dominic Grassi of the
Archdiocese of Chicago. Father Grassi
was a high-school student of mine
back in the 1960s. He shares some wonderful
stories about his life as a
parish priest for 30 years. He describes
himself as an ordinary person who
“still finds incredible joy, profound
awe, silencing mystery, and
overwhelming peace as a priest.” He knows
it was God who called him to
this vocation, and he is grateful that
God continues to call him each day
to discover new ways in which through
his ministry he is able to witness
the working of God’s grace and love among
the people he serves.
Most of us priests are convinced that the
clergy sexual abuse scandal has
provided us with a marvelous opportunity
for grace and growth. If history
teaches us anything, God’s grace is especially
abundant at a time of
crisis. The renewal many of us now envision
is not an initiative that will
turn a bad priesthood into a good priesthood.
Priesthood today is not bad.
But rather the goal will be to make a
strong priesthood even better. We
priests will be working and praying together
so that we will reach a new
level of holiness and commitment in our
servant ministry.
Have priests here in Oregon been disheartened
by the revelations of the
sins of their brothers? Of course we have.
Holy Orders does not remove a
man from the human condition. But, in
spite of it all, recent surveys have
given clear indication that priests remain
happy in their ministries and
are very much committed to their vocation
in spite of the hard times we’ve
shared together.
A Los Angeles Times poll of 1,854 priests
nationwide, conducted last year,
found 91 percent of priests satisfied
with how their life as a priest is
going. Six in 10 said they find their
lives better than they ever
expected. Ninety percent would choose
priesthood again if given the
choice. People also expressed great satisfaction
with their priests. As
much as the church in Boston has suffered,
only 4 percent of Boston
Catholics expressed dissatisfaction with
their own parish priests.
Earlier this week, the priests and bishops
of this archdiocese gathered in
Newport for our annual convocation. When
bishops and priests don’t know
each other or trust each other, their
ministry is a disservice to the
Church. Here in this archdiocese, we work
hard to cultivate unity among
all our priests, diocesan, religious and
international. We work together.
We pray together. We study together. We
celebrate together.
My friends, during these final days of
October, please pray for our
priests. Each one of them is “still called
by name” to offer this servant
ministry of the Church. Father Grassi,
my former student, uses 198 printed
pages to tell the world why he still loves
being a priest. He unabashedly
acknowledges that the task was made easier
because he knows his people
love him. Your love and support for our
priests do make a difference. As
your archbishop, I want you to know that
I love our priests and I need our
priests. The way I see things after six
years here in this archdiocese,
you love them and you need them too. Why
not tell them so?