Denver Catholic

4 I OPINION June 19, 2013 I Denver Catholic Register tHE cATHOLIC dIFFERENCE gEORGE wEIGEL Pastors are not interchangeable parts A few weeks ago I came upon the odd fact that, before and during World War II, the Royal Navy built battleships with 14-inch main battery guns, whereas Britain's principal naval rivals, Germany and Japan, were building ships with 15- and 18-inch main batteries; moreover, the RN's chief ally, the United States, had been building battleships mounting 16-inch guns for decades. When I queried a friend with long military and government experience about this curiosity, he sent a suggestive answer: "Given the cultures and the times, I'd guess that after the bureaucracy-committee-administration reached a decision, change would have been virtually impossible, and they would keep cranking out anything in its original configuration because you could never get agreement on change, absent a crisis. [It] took a lot of losses in bombing raids to spur the U.S. Army Air Corps to improve bomber protection and work on increasing fighter escort range—'the bomber will always get through' was the bumper sticker that sold airpower … and bumper sticker gospel is very hard to displace." And so, by way of Robin Hood's barn and a cautionary tale about self-serving bureaucracies, we come to Pope Francis's repeated criticism of a "self-referential" Church, the pope's strictures against clerical ambition and careerism, and clergy personnel policy in too many dioceses. Priests' councils and clergy personnel boards were set up after Vatican II to give operational meaning to the Council's teaching that priests form a kind of presbyteral college around the local bishop and share with him in the governance of the diocese; such bodies were also intended to provide some protection for priests against the whims and crotchets of arbitrary or authoritarian bishops. Both were laudable goals. Yet when you try to fit those goals into the mind-set of institutional-maintenance Catholicism (Pope Francis's "self-referential" Church), the result, too often, is to intensify, not diminish, clerical careerism and ambition. That is surely what's happening when priests' councils or clergy personnel boards, composed of priests working under the bishop, treat parishes as square holes into which pastors are fitted like interchangeable pegs. There are "good parishes" and "tough parishes;" good parishes are given out as rewards; tough parishes are assigned as a matter of sharing burdens within a presbyterate (or worse, as warnings or punishments); and all of this happens according to a fixed time-table in which pastors have specific terms of office. It may seem like diocesan collegiality in action. In fact, it's hard to imagine anything farther removed from the New Evangelization. As I wrote in "Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church," building the Church of the New Evangelization takes time and patience in a parish setting. The time involved will vary from situation to situation, and it certainly can't be measured in unrenewable terms of office for pastors. Moreover, once Evangelical Catholicism has taken hold in a parish—the Gospel is being preached with conviction, the liturgy is being celebrated with dignity, the parish is attracting many new Catholics, religious and priestly vocations and solid Catholic marriages are being nurtured, the works of charity and service are flourishing, and the parish finances are in order—moving a pastor out because "his term is up" is about as old Church, as institutional-maintenance Church, as you can get. Aside from the vanities of a clericalism that Pope Francis is urging the Church to shed, there is no reason to let clergy personnel policy be shaped by anything other than the demands of the New Evangelization in a challenging cultural moment. Thus a priority task for the local bishop as agent of the New Evangelization is the re-evangelization of his priests, especially in long-established dioceses where the mindset of institutional-maintenance Catholicism and the habits of clerical careerism and ambition are most likely to be deeply entrenched. For priests, too, can be tempted to think of each other as interchangeable parts, some of those parts more popular than others. As long as they do, clergy personnel policy will be an obstacle, not an asset, to the New Evangelization. Look Who's Reading the Christ in the City missionaries, from left, Stephen Jacobsen, Kati Belsole, Lindsay Peters and Logan Crotty are amazed as they read up on news in the Denver Catholic Register during a break at the 2012 Living the Catholic Faith Conference. Have you joined the Register's voluntary subscription campaign, Join the Mission, yet? If not, find out how to join on Page 14. Photo by Nissa LaPoint Letters to the Editor Catholic schools a light for the world It was beautiful to read Wayne Laugesen's article on Catholic schools ("Catholic schools instill academics and a love of Christ and his Church, parents say," June 5 Denver Catholic Register). All my life I've believed that the most basic foundation, next to a good Catholic family, are our Catholic schools. Without a doubt, the culture of our society has worsened and become more secularized and continues on this downward spiral. We are called to be salt, light and leaven for the world. Our Catholic schools give witness to Christ and his love daily. I realize very well how for so many, finances are difficult, but when you consider that a Catholic education affects the eternity of the treasure God gives us in our children or grandchildren, it's well worth the sacrifice. The high, hard upward climb of any education may take years to see the results—perhaps doubly so for morals, values, faith and charity. But the payoff is eternal. Someday when we are old and unable, I pray our children and grandchildren will gladly accept the torch and carry it ever onward for the faith. Frank Galmish Denver Letters to the Editor Letters should be no more than 250 words and should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. We rely on our readers to recognize that the opinions expressed in letters to the editor are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Archdiocese of Denver. Letters containing plainly misstated facts, misinformation or libelous statements will not be printed. Unsigned letters will not be printed. Letters may be edited. Send letters to: Editor, Denver Catholic Register, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or fax to 303-715-2045. E-mail us at: editor@archden.org. Archbishop Aquila's Schedule June 19: Episcopal ordination of Bishop-elect John Folda, Fargo, N.D. C d l h t A v l e t M l June 29: Pallium Mass on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Rome, Italy i w Official Appointments C Father Giovanni Capucci, appointed judicial vicar for the Archdiocese of Denver, effective June 18, 2013, for k a a period of three years. June 21: Closing Mass, Catholic Media Conference, Denver Marriott Tech Center (5:15 p.m.) June 22: Benediction at Fortnight for Freedom rally, Capitol building steps, Denver (1:30 p.m.) Father Miljenko Pavkovic, appointed administrator pro-tem, St. James Parish, Denver, Colo., effective June w 18, 2013. Father James ReVello, appointed parochial vicar, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Wheat Ridge, Colo., effective July 1, 2013, for a three-year period. The following assignment by Most Rev. Henryk Hosey, S.A.C., archbishop of the Diocese of Warsaw-Prague, is confirmed by Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, S.T.L. Father Sylwester Gaworek, granted presbyteral faculties of the Archdiocese of Denver, effective immediately, until July 30, 2013. He will be in residence at Blessed John XXIII Parish, Fort Collins, Colo. The following assignment by Rev. Pawel Bandurski, Schr., provincial, Society of Christ in America, Lombardi, Ill., is confirmed by Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, S.T.L. Father Adam Slominski, Schr., granted presbyteral faculties of the Archdiocese of Denver, and assigned  parochial vicar, St. Joseph Parish, Denver, Colo., effective Sept. 1, 2013, until his ministry in the archdiocese is completed. CORRECTIONs Rep. Kevin Priola, a Catholic lawmaker, co-sponsored the bill that would repeal the death penalty in Colorado. He never got a chance to vote on the proposal because it was postponed indefinitely in committee. A story in the June 5 edition incorrectly reported he withdrew his support because pro-life language was removed. A photo credit in last week's Denver Catholic Register of the JD and Kate Flynn family was incomplete. The photo was taken by Abriana Chilelli. The Sunday time listed in the June 5 issue of the Denver Catholic Register for the Our Lady of Mount Carmel bazaar was incorrect due to erroneous information submitted to the DCR. The Register regrets the error. Our Lady of Mount Carmel will hold its festival from 5-10 p.m. July 19-21.

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