Will a redistribution of the clergy be necessary in the future? Some proposals

The Church in Spain has, according to the latest published statistics, 18,813 priests, for a total of 23,071 parishes. And the average age of Spanish priests is 65 years, which has been a cause of concern for the bishops and for the whole Church, since the new promotions of priests (there are 1,357 seminarians) do not guarantee today the generational relay. If urgent measures are not taken, in ten years there will be dioceses that will not be able to meet the needs of their faithful. For this reason, the Episcopal Conference is working on a document that includes criteria and proposals for a future and eventual redistribution of the clergy. The secretary of the Clergy Commission of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Santiago Bohigues Fernández, discusses these criteria and proposals in these pages.

The shortage of clergy, which is more noticeable in rural areas (very depopulated) than in urban areas, is causing us to face emergencies whose consequences cannot be ignored. New forms of evangelization are being proposed, but the reality is that in some places the preservation of the faith itself will be endangered. The Christian community needs the presence of priests, because it is in liturgical action that the center of the community of the faithful is constituted. And as the Second Vatican Council points out, the priestly ministry shares in the same universal breadth of the mission entrusted by Christ to the apostles.

Faced with the lack of priests, there are different positions: to surrender and resign oneself passively to what is coming, to go for the immediate without further ado, to be filled with fear of the future... or to change one's mind and heart to face the signs of the times with a broad outlook.

The shortage of clergy should worry us but not distress us; the Lord will never leave us abandoned and always attends to those who turn to him. For the bishops, obliged to have solicitude for the whole Church, the promotion of vocations is urgent. For example, it will be opportune to set up a vocation group in the parishes and various initiatives: vocation Thursdays, prayer groups for vocations, vocation petitions in the prayers of every Sunday, a prayer chain for vocations, activities and prayer meetings in the seminary open to students of Catholic schools, monthly vigils, vocation weeks, supporting the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and the Day of the Good Shepherd. Also incorporating vocation catechesis into ordinary catechesis, working with altar servers and through the Diocesan Center for Vocation Ministry....

The bishops have to lead this evangelizing impulse hand in hand with the priests, their first collaborators. They should not look to past times that will never return, but face the present times with the right inner disposition.

And in order to be right in an eventual distribution of the clergy, it is necessary to take into account many factors. The Congregation for the Clergy has already indicated that it is not only a question of numbers; it is necessary to know the historical evolution and the specific conditions of the more developed particular Churches, which require a greater number of ministers.

Criteria to consider

Among the guiding criteria, we can point out, at a general level:

• It is very important to know the reality of each diocese and of each place to be evangelized, in order to make a planning or programming that goes beyond temporal or personal circumstances.
• It is not possible to send priests only to preserve what is there, without addressing the causes of the shortage of priestly vocations that prevent the local Church from developing.
  It is advisable to prepare the priest who is willing to help in another diocese in need.
• The holiness of the priest is given in the ministerial exercise itself, and the way of life of the Catholic priest must be attractive. It will be so if what is external is an authentic expression of what is lived interiorly. We all have to make a sincere review today, following the paradigm of Zacchaeus. A personal conversion is necessary to arrive at a pastoral conversion. But how many priests make annual spiritual exercises? We need ministers in love with their priesthood, not functionaries.
• We need a pastoral ministry of growth, not of conservation. Sometimes we "burn" priests. There are new situations that we should not face with old schemes, but with new forms and methods: to create, for example, priestly and fraternal teams that facilitate the community experience and overcome the prevailing individualism. And perhaps the time of home service is over, looking for what is easy.
• Is current seminary formation adequate? Because priests may be being prepared for a world that no longer exists. Should the bar be lowered to allow more young people to enter the seminary, or in times of scarcity should it be raised a little higher?
• Perhaps it would be opportune to look for some priests of substance from different dioceses to give retreats and take care of the ongoing formation of the clergy (priests of mercy).
• The permanent diaconate is not a solution to the lack of priests, but it is a help.
• There is also a need for close collaboration between the diocesan clergy and the consecrated life.
• The laity are also important, although they must be given the formation and spiritual accompaniment they need so that they can be bearers of God's love in a missionary and "going out" Church.

Formulas

At the individual level, several formulas could be used:

• Foreign priests with ordinary pastoral care. The requests would be made from bishop to bishop, who would send some of his priests for a determined period of time and under previously established conditions.
• Priests with scholarships and limited pastoral commitment. They come to a diocese with the mission of studying for a degree or doctorate in ecclesiastical sciences. They would have the obligation to celebrate daily Mass and dedicate two hours to the parish to which they would be assigned.
• Seminarians from other dioceses sent by their bishop. They are formed in the host seminary under established conditions. This option is having many problems in different seminaries.
• Priests from Spanish dioceses offering to go to other dioceses in need. These priests would help to strengthen vocation ministry in the different dioceses with an established plan for a specific time.
• Pastoral units with a priest and a group of religious and lay people who would attend to a territory where there are several parishes. In some dioceses they also incorporate a permanent deacon.
• Restructuring of the diocese and elimination of unnecessary parishes. In towns where there are several parishes, they are being grouped into one with several worship centers. Very small parishes are also being incorporated into larger parishes.

New mentality

Faced with the eventual shortage of clergy, it is therefore necessary to change our mentality: to put aside the activism of functionaries, individualism or the lack of priestly spirit, which incapacitate us for the new challenges, and to be authentic mediators between God and his People.