Thank you for this excellent article on a vibrant, creative, energetic and pastoral priest. I would enthusiastically welcome him to my parish. With that authentic thought and endorsement, I am not totally in favor of having foreign priests as a resource to address our current priest shortage for two reasons:
1) Priests, especially diocesan priests are called from a people for a people. It is not easy for me to accept the why of any priest from a country or culture in which the people are persecuted to death or their worship is constrained or members are abandoning the church in dramatic numbers (i.e. Latin America) to come to a first world country that is not experiencing such. Is there a demand for their charisms here? Of course. I am grateful for their presence. Yet it supports a systemic problem that continues to contribute to an ongoing priest shortage in this country.
2) Recruiting priests from foreign countries is I believe a form of clerical capitalism. A Bishop who is responsible for meeting the sacramental needs of his people takes the easy way out. It is easier to get results by sending vacation directors to Nigeria, Poland, Columbia, Mexico, etc. than to engage all of us here to address this issue. The challenge must be shared by each parish, each parishioner. It is too easy to sit back and say will get someone from somewhere else to come to be our priest, and then have the audacity to complain that we cannot understand the man or criticize him for his slowness to acculturize.
We must continue to pray for vocations, support organizations that actively support homegrown callings (Sierra Club). We can also do things ourselves. After every mass I will seek out the servers who ministered at the Eucharist. I will thank them, young men and women alike. I also will mention to the young men that they looked great up on the altar, simply planting a seed. If I hear of someone who is considering a call to priesthood, I will send them a card of support to continue on their discerning journey. When a seminarian comes to the parish for the summer, I take time to be affirming beyond the casual greeting. Again my actions are meager, perhaps others have more creative ideas to share. I know there was a great push to get Latin American priests to minister to our Spanish Speaking brethren, but I think most priests are now bilingual at least to some degree. Also the Latin church is quickly moving beyond immigration status into a first and second generation presence and acculturation. Are we seeing vocations from this group? Let me conclude as I started. Fr. James is a gift to the people to whom he ministers. Praise and blessings for his presence. Yet I also believe the issue I raised is valid or at least merits further discussion. This is why I love the Pillar - for creative articles such as this and the invitation to comment.
Thank you for this excellent article on a vibrant, creative, energetic and pastoral priest. I would enthusiastically welcome him to my parish. With that authentic thought and endorsement, I am not totally in favor of having foreign priests as a resource to address our current priest shortage for two reasons:
1) Priests, especially diocesan priests are called from a people for a people. It is not easy for me to accept the why of any priest from a country or culture in which the people are persecuted to death or their worship is constrained or members are abandoning the church in dramatic numbers (i.e. Latin America) to come to a first world country that is not experiencing such. Is there a demand for their charisms here? Of course. I am grateful for their presence. Yet it supports a systemic problem that continues to contribute to an ongoing priest shortage in this country.
2) Recruiting priests from foreign countries is I believe a form of clerical capitalism. A Bishop who is responsible for meeting the sacramental needs of his people takes the easy way out. It is easier to get results by sending vacation directors to Nigeria, Poland, Columbia, Mexico, etc. than to engage all of us here to address this issue. The challenge must be shared by each parish, each parishioner. It is too easy to sit back and say will get someone from somewhere else to come to be our priest, and then have the audacity to complain that we cannot understand the man or criticize him for his slowness to acculturize.
We must continue to pray for vocations, support organizations that actively support homegrown callings (Sierra Club). We can also do things ourselves. After every mass I will seek out the servers who ministered at the Eucharist. I will thank them, young men and women alike. I also will mention to the young men that they looked great up on the altar, simply planting a seed. If I hear of someone who is considering a call to priesthood, I will send them a card of support to continue on their discerning journey. When a seminarian comes to the parish for the summer, I take time to be affirming beyond the casual greeting. Again my actions are meager, perhaps others have more creative ideas to share. I know there was a great push to get Latin American priests to minister to our Spanish Speaking brethren, but I think most priests are now bilingual at least to some degree. Also the Latin church is quickly moving beyond immigration status into a first and second generation presence and acculturation. Are we seeing vocations from this group? Let me conclude as I started. Fr. James is a gift to the people to whom he ministers. Praise and blessings for his presence. Yet I also believe the issue I raised is valid or at least merits further discussion. This is why I love the Pillar - for creative articles such as this and the invitation to comment.
Terrance Glamp
Thank you so much for this piece. We have Nigerian priests at my parish in Los Angeles and they are such a gift.