Approved 02/04/06
Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
Archdiocesan Pastoral Council
MINUTES
December 3, 2005
The Pastoral Center, Portland
Present: Archbishop John G. Vlazny,
Fr. Dennis O’Donovan, and Members: Clint Bentz, Jesus Bojorges, Mother
Francine Cardew, B.J. Finleybranch, Sr. Ruth Frank, Fr. Don Gutmann, Bruce
Heldt, Ray Houghton, F.J. Maloney, Eleanor Myers, Rick Nelson, Diane Peterson,
Pat Ridenour, Fr. Dick Rossman and Deacon An Vu
Staff Present: Todd Cooper & Fr. Chuck Lienert
Not Present: Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers
(E), Thom Faller (E), Michelle Forster, Eloisa Hernandez (E) and Francisco
Peña
The nineteenth meeting of the Archdiocesan
Pastoral Council (APC) was called to order at 10:05am by the council chair,
F.J. Maloney. Diane Peterson led the opening prayer.
The minutes from the September 10, 2005
meeting of the APC were approved as written.
The agenda was approved.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
Clint Bentz reported. The task of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council
has been to help develop pastoral priorities for the Archdiocese of Portland.
The council has done that and it has also recommended strategies for implementing
those priorities. It is not time to begin developing new pastoral
priorities all over again. Where does the council go from here?
First, it must be open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The council
will continue to serve as a sounding board for the archbishop. In
addition, the council can bring any ideas it has to the archbishop so that
the two-way conversation continues. The task for the APC in the coming
year is to help ensure the success of the Annual Vicariate Meetings and
to plan for the Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly which is scheduled for November
10-11, 2006. One of the items that the council may want to consider
is how to bring about the idea of best practices sharing.
ARCHBISHOP’S REPORT
Vatican II
December 8 marks the fortieth anniversary of the closing of the Second
Vatican Council. In a very real way, Vatican II is the reason that
we are gathered together here as an archdiocesan pastoral council.
It was Vatican II that identified baptism as the central sacrament of the
Church. It is through baptism that we enter into the life of the
Church and become responsible for the mission of evangelization.
Together, because of our baptismal call, whether lay or ordained, we are
responsible for the mission of the Church.
Two Faiths, One Covenant
In the final year of the Second Vatican Council, many documents were published,
including the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian
Religions, Nostra aetate. Last week at the Cathedral, a special event
entitled Two Faiths, One Covenant was held to mark the anniversary of this
document. Two of the best national speakers on the issue of Jewish
and Christian relations were part of the program: Fr. John Pawlikowski,
O.S.M. and Rabbi David Rosen. It was a high quality event.
Here in the archdiocese, Jewish/Christian relations are very good.
Catholics and Jews are praying and celebrating together. Ongoing
dialogue is important.
Perhaps the APC could pick up the topic
of ecumenism. Theological dialogue with other religions needs to
continue. How are we doing in this area?
U.S. Bishops’ Meeting
The fall assembly of the U.S. Bishops took place in November in Washington
D.C. A document on the death penalty was approved. There was
remarkable consensus amongst the bishops on this issue. A document
on lay ecclesial ministry is in the works. A new children’s liturgy
was approved. The liturgy was also discussed, as was the publication
of a new missal.
Priests
The Priests’ Convocation in October was a good one. The archbishop
received the good news that the Paulists will not pull out of Portland.
They will remain at St. Philip Neri, although with one fewer priest.
Fr. Jim Kolb, a Paulist priest, will also be allowed to stay at St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton. Fr. Jim Brady, a Holy Cross priest who was serving at
Shaw, has been diagnosed with cancer and has been called back to South
Bend.
The presbyteral council met two
days ago. Two topics that the presbyteral council has expressed concern
about are the bankruptcy and the issue of the shortage of priests.
Voices from the laity are needed on these issues. The APC could address
these.
Youth Rallies
The recent diocesan youth rallies were very
successful. The archbishop was quite moved by the prayerfulness of
the youth. There were about 350 youth at the middle school rally
and about 750 at the high school rally. Marist High School was very
hospitable as the host site for the rallies.
Upcoming Events
The annual Catholic Charities celebration will be on March 18, 2006.
The 2005 celebration raised about $250,000.
The archbishop’s annual vocation retreat will be the weekend of January
20-22, 2006 at Our Lady of Peace Retreat House in Beaverton.
The Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) is gearing up again to begin in February.
ACA funds are now more important than ever. The archbishop will take
part in the upcoming prayer breakfasts for major donors.
Rites of Election will be held during the first two weekends in Lent.
The archbishop and Bishop Steiner will preside at the rites. There
will be three at the Cathedral.
The Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly will be held on November 10 & 11,
2006.
Pastoral Priority Implementation Strategies
The archbishop brought the APC’s recommended implementation strategies
to the Cabinet, which responded positively to the ideas. He also
brought the strategies to the Presbyteral Council, which will come back
with a response at its next meeting in January.
The archbishop noted that there is lots of energy in the parishes surrounding
the pastoral priorities. The Cathedral and other parishes have already
been working to implement the priorities of Faith Formation, Youth &
Young Adult Ministry and Multicultural Ministry.
Bankruptcy
The litigation continues. It has been
a very slow process. Please keep the intention of a just resolution
for all parties in your prayers.
VICARIATE REPORTS
Vicariate representatives were given five
minutes to summarize their vicariate meetings.
F.J. Maloney Downtown Portland/Southeast Portland
The Southeast Portland Vicariate meets regularly once per month.
They are a very active and well-organized vicariate. About twenty-five
people were present at the meeting. The vicariate was generally very
receptive to the pastoral priorities. The idea of teaching homilies
was well-received and supported even by the priests who were present.
The vicariate is already doing many things to further the pastoral priorities.
The idea of small prayer groups also received much support and there was
a desire to get back into it. The multicultural website was also
supported.
The overriding concern of the Downtown Vicariate is care for the poor and
homeless. It was hard for at least a couple of the parishes to see
how the pastoral priorities were relevant to the major thrust of their
mission as parishes. There is a wide diversity of ministry &
demographics amongst the parishes of the Downtown Vicariate. A couple
of parishes in the vicariate saw value in teaching homilies and focus on
the Eucharist as a part of faith formation.
Diane Peterson East Ptld. Suburban/South Ptld. Suburban
The East Portland Vicariate meeting was on June 18, 2005 and it turned
out to be a meeting only of the two priests and several people from St.
Henry’s Parish. No members of other churches were present.
There was a lively and thoughtful discussion about the APC recommendations
for the pastoral priorities. Overall, the pastoral priorities were
well received. There is a perception that the APC doesn’t do anything.
More communication about what the council is doing is needed. Meeting
minutes should be distributed. Life Teen should be considered
as a vicariate-wide endeavor, instead of simply a parish program.
Some parishes simply don’t have the resources to do it on their own.
The idea of teaching Spanish to parish staff was not liked. Rather,
English classes should be offered to Hispanics to help them assimilate
better.
The South Portland Vicariate meeting was on June 21, 2005. The vicariate
meets regularly. Comments about the APC recommendations included
the following: Consider having English as a Second Language (ESL) classes
in parishes – teaching English is the best course of action to take.
Life Teen and Theology on Tap are too specific – there are no other creative
programs mentioned. Life teen may or may not work.
How do we engage young adults? Every parish ministry needs at least
three young adults. The diocesan office needs additional help.
Focus should be on training youth & young adult ministry core teams.
The Faith Formation recommendations were well received.
Bruce Heldt Metropolitan Eugene
There was no meeting of the vicariate. They have not met for the
last three years. The vicar was contacted, but no meeting was organized.
Fr. Rossman, who is now part of the vicariate, will help to get the group
organized.
Francisco Javier Peña Metropolitan Salem
No report was given as Francisco was absent.
Jesus Bojorges Tualatin Valley
Four of the seven parishes in the vicariate were represented at the meeting.
Discussion of the priorities included talk about how to best present the
ideas to the people. There was a realization about how beneficial
it could be to work together as a vicariate on some of these issues.
There was a question about where different age groups fit into youth ministry.
What is the age group focus for Theology on Tap? Cultural merging
is necessary and efforts are already underway to help this happen.
St. Alexander’s’ will host a special rosary for that purpose. Getting
the cultures to gather together one night would help. Aloha has three
main cultures in its community. The priests present took the idea
of teaching homilies well.
Sexual Abuse Charter Audit
Prior to his report on the bankruptcy, Fr. O’Donovan reported on the recent
sexual abuse charter audit. The Archdiocese of Portland was again
visited by auditors to monitor compliance with the U.S. Bishops’ Sexual
Abuse Charter. Fr. O’Donovan was pleased to report that the archdiocese
was found to be in full compliance with the charter. During the last
audit, the diocese was urged to improve its documentation of the number
of people who had received the sexual abuse training. With the help
of the parishes, the diocese was able to address that issue and provide
better documentation. The Pastoral Center staff deserves credit for
all of its hard work to ensure compliance with the charter, as do the parishes
and schools who were cooperative with the effort.
BANKRUPTCY REPORT
Fr. Dennis O’Donovan reported. A diocesan reorganization plan was
filed in mid November. Public reception of the plan – even before
it had been submitted (!) has not been great. Property ownership
is still a question that has not been decided. Briefs on that issue
have already been filed. Oral arguments will take place on December
6. The diocese continues to maintain that parish properties are held
in trust. The diocese is bound by canon law, and under canon law,
parish property cannot be seized. There is precedent in civil law
for recognizing church law. No determination is expected by the court
until January at the earliest.
Well over 100 claims have already been settled. The most grievous
cases have come against Frs. Grammond and Laughlin and almost all of those
have already been settled. The settled claims provide a history of
amounts that the diocese has used to serve as a basis for its settlement
proposal. Although a proposal has been submitted, settlement negotiations
are still taking place. In some cases, the claimants want trials.
Prayer is needed for good sense and justice to prevail.
Insurance companies are still a part of the settlement picture. Some
policies held by the archdiocese, on which premiums were paid faithfully,
have not been honored. At this point, the insurance companies in
question have requested and received from the diocese hundreds of thousands
of documents. It is hoped that in the end these insurance companies
will fulfill their financial obligations toward the archdiocese.
ARCHDIOCESAN PASTORAL ASSEMBLY
Todd Cooper reported. The dates have been set for the next pastoral
assembly. It will take place on November 10 & 11, 2006.
The last two assemblies have been held at St. Pius X Parish in Cedar Mill.
A planning committee will be established to help plan and organize the
gathering. About twelve people are desired for the committee.
Pat Ridenour has agreed to serve on the planning committee, as has former
APC member Rod Spring. Additional, current council members are needed
to form the planning committee. The purpose of the assembly is two-fold:
to provide a diocesan-wide forum for pastoral planning and to elect new
members to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council. The original vision
for the assembly was that every three years, a new set of pastoral priorities
would be developed and the assembly would help to shape those priorities.
That vision may need to be reshaped. Since the strategies for implementing
the diocesan pastoral priorities have only recently been developed, it
is not the right time to begin developing new priorities.
LUNCH – 12:00pm to 1:00pm
ANNUAL VICARIATE MEETINGS
Todd Cooper reported. The APC should discuss how the meetings can
be organized and what topics should be addressed to provide the most valuable
pastoral planning input from the vicariates. The annual vicariate
meetings will be an opportunity to inform the vicariates about how the
priorities will be implemented at the diocesan level and to promote the
pastoral priorities on the parish and vicariate levels. Perhaps parishes
can come to those meetings prepared to share their best practices surrounding
the diocesan pastoral priorities. The Justice & Peace materials
received at the last meeting can be shared at the meetings as well.
The meetings could also serve as a forum for discussing the shortage of
priests and the bankruptcy.
Discussion
There seems to be confusion as to who is supposed to participate at the
annual vicariate meetings. In some vicariates, attendance is low
and often it is only the priests and parish staff people who are present.
There is also some question about the role of the vicariate representatives.
More education and better communication can help to clarify things.
The archbishop acknowledged the confusion about who is supposed to attend
the annual vicariate meetings. These spring meetings are supposed
to bring together the parish leadership, including the members of the parish
pastoral councils. Perhaps the name of these meetings should be changed
to reflect this. Something like “Annual Vicariate Meeting of Parish
Pastoral Councils.” Since many of the vicariates meet regularly,
the spring meetings have been viewed by some as just another vicariate
meeting. However, that is not the intention for these annual gatherings.
These annual meetings are meant to serve as a direct link between parish
pastoral councils and the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council. Effective
pastoral planning requires good two-way communication and exchange of ideas.
A simple, top-down approach does not work.
In his letter to vicars next time, perhaps Fr. O’Donovan can explain the
intention of the annual spring meetings. The annual meetings should be
a gathering of the parish leaders in each vicariate, including representatives
from parish pastoral councils.
The APC should work to increase attendance at these meetings. One
way would be to get in direct communication with the chairperson of each
parish pastoral council in a particular vicariate. Council chair,
F.J. Maloney, offered to draft a letter to parish pastoral council chairpersons.
APC vicariate representatives will be asked to call each of the parishes
in their vicariate(s) to find out the name and contact information of each
pastoral council chairperson. Vicariate reps should have all the
info gathered in time for the next APC meeting on February 4, 2006.
Please send the info to Todd prior to that meeting.
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS
Council members were divided into four groups and given the task of discussing
the continued work of the council, including the Annual Vicariate Meetings
and the Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly. How is the work of pastoral
planning best continued using these vehicles? Council members were
asked to consider some of the following questions: Does the council
want to bring any particular issues to the archbishop? Are there
pastoral planning topics that should be discussed at the annual vicariate
meetings (i.e. the shortage of priests or the bankruptcy)? How can
the pastoral assembly be structured so that it provides good input for
pastoral planning?
Large Group Reporting
Group One
• The top priority for the APC is to make
sure that the work it has done is taken to the parishes.
• Perhaps the pastoral assembly agenda
could include reporting from the vicariates about what is being done on
the vicariate level to implement the pastoral priorities. The assembly
agenda could be published early as an inspiration for vicariates to move
forward. The APC could ask for written reports from each vicariate
and these could be published for the assembly. Perhaps the best five
of these reports could be selected and could be given as oral reports by
the respective vicariates at the assembly. This could include reporting
on best practices and could serve as an inspiration to other parishes and
vicariates.
• Getting over the bankruptcy is important.
Put lay people in touch with non-Catholics to get perspective.
• Wild card issues that could be considered
by the council include social justice and multicultural immersion.
Group Two
• Discussion of the shortage of priests included
ideas about encouraging all religious vocations, lightening the administrative
load of priests and supporting the roles of women in the Church.
• In dealing with the issue of bankruptcy,
it was agreed that there is a lot of misinformation and lack of knowledge
about the details of the bankruptcy. Many people are angry about
the situation. Providing a forum for people to simply vent frustration
about it may not be wise if there is no one to correct misinformation.
Any constructive approach to dealing with the bankruptcy should focus on
the idea of moving beyond it. “Beyond” is the key word – moving beyond
bankruptcy.
• Increasing communication in the pastoral
planning process is important. Using various media such as the Sentinel
and KBVM would be helpful.
Group Three
• Perhaps prayers for the victims of the abuse
scandal as well as for moving beyond bankruptcy could be added to the prayers
of the faithful in parishes.
• More direct contact with the chairs of
parish pastoral councils seems like an excellent idea for the pastoral
planning process.
• Finding a way for best practices to be
shared would be helpful. This generates good ideas.
• What were the results of the Racism Subcommittee?
What is happening with the materials developed? This relates the
priority of multicultural ministry.
Group Four
• Pastors and pastoral councils should step
up and move forward. Parishes should have the opportunity to put
their best foot forward. Bring best practices forward at the pastoral
assembly.
• At the annual vicariate meetings, participation
at the pastoral assembly should be encouraged.
• In speaking about the shortage of priests,
we should keep in mind that diaconate vocations are on the rise.
Deacons could be better utilized to take the strain off priests.
• The APC could serve as a clearinghouse
for best practices. These could be posted on the diocesan website.
• A list of good speakers for faith formation
could be posted on the website.
General Discussion
Pastoral council chairs
could be asked to bring best practices to the annual vicariate meetings.
Names and contact info could be published with each best practice.
The focus of best practices could be those best practices which are
related to each of the three pastoral priorities.
Regarding the bankruptcy
and the sexual abuse scandal, the archbishop outlined three priorities.
The archdiocese wants to compensate victims, protect children and continue
its mission. At some point, bankruptcy will end, but victims and
families and the responsibility to protect children remain. Healing
and vigilance will continue after bankruptcy.
ACTION ITEMS:
1. Get contact info for each parish pastoral
council chairperson in your vicariate(s). Send info to Todd prior
to next meeting on Feb. 4, 2006 – APC Vicariate Representatives
2. Draft letter to go to pastoral council
chairs – F.J. Maloney
3. Report on Racism Subcommittee materials/results
– Todd Cooper
4. Change name of Annual Vicariate Meetings
to reflect involvement of parish pastoral councils – Todd Cooper/APC
Executive Committee
The meeting concluded with a prayer led
by Sr. Ruth Frank.
NEXT MEETING:
Saturday, February 4, 2006
from 10am to 3pm
at the Pastoral Center
(2838 E Burnside St, Portland)
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