 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
Flowerchild
Member
| Joined: | Wed Oct 11th, 2006 |
| Location: | Washington USA |
| Posts: | 35 |
| First Name: | Terri | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Presbyterian to nothing to Lutheran to now Catholic |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 21st, 2007 01:35 am |
|
I was just wondering why Dioceses move Priests from one Parish to another? It would seem that keeping a Priest in one Parish for many, many years would help build a community to the Parish.
What is the average length of stay for a Priest in a certain Parish?
At the Lutheran Church that I attended the Pastor has been there ?35 years. He has been at every birth, wedding and funeral that our family has had. He has become woven into the church fabric. I know that there are many Lutheran Churches that do not have this type of longevity with their Pastors, he would seem to be an exception. In the Catholic Church it just seems that the Priests move about quickly.
Thanks..... Terri
____________________
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
St. Francis of Assisi
|
|
|
CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5453 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 21st, 2007 08:47 am |
|
Pastors in the Catholic Church have virtually unlimited authority, with no oversight except by the bishop. In a Protestant church, the pastor is hired by the congregation. It's a whole different dynamic.
Each bishop establishes his own personnel policies. In my diocese, a priest is assigned for six years, and the bishop has the option to extend that assignment for another six years. This avoids a sense of ownership of the parish, and provides new ideas and rejuvination periodically. It also prevents a bad or do-nothing priest from stagnating in a parish for an extended period. A sense of ownership is vested in the parishioners rather than the parish. I have lived through at least a half-dozen different pastors (probably closer to a dozen since childhood). How many pastors have the people in that Lutheran parish known?
Of course, there are exceptions. We have one parish where the same priest has been in place for more than 30 years, but he has always had an assistant, and they have rarely been in place for more than a couple of years. The bishop has the power to make those exceptions if he feels they are in the best interest of the parish, and it is the rare Catholic who never attends mass elsewhere (at least in my area where we have probably 75 Catholic churches within a 50 mile radius.)
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
|
|
|
Current time is 06:13 am | |
|
|
|
|
|
