Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: August 09, 2015
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
On Monday, July 27, the diocesan Task Force which is currently conducting listening sessions in all of the parishes in the Diocese of Baton Rouge held its visitation here at St. Joseph Cathedral. Father Trey Nelson led a spirited discussion among the parishioners in attendance. You will recall that this Task Force has been asked by the Bishop to develop and recommend strategies for meeting pastoral needs in our diocese. During this visitation, we had the chance to offer our insights and input to that diocesan group.
The evening began with a brief slideshow highlighting a few statistics and the Task Force’s mission. I suspect that it was the statistics that caught most everyone’s attention: here in the diocese of Baton Rouge we now only have 51 active diocesan priests to take care of our 67 parishes. We are assisted by a number of retired and religious priests, as well as a handful of diocesan priests from overseas, and 20 of our parishes have been “clustered” into 9 larger units. And while we all pray for increased vocations, the number of seminarians ordained in the next 5 to 7 years will not outnumber those older priests who will be eligible for retirement. In sum, with our Catholic population still increasing there remains a significant “shor tage” of priests.
The next part of the visitation evening was a guided “Large Group Conversation.” Father Trey asked everyone to reflect upon our parish’s strengths, as well as the challenges we face. It was heartening to hear so many parishioners and friends testify to how strongly they love our Cathedral Parish, and why. Some of the things which were praised over and over again were the beauty of our historic Cathedral, the quality of our liturgies, and the many active ministries within the Parish; many prized the way our community reaches out to the poor and homeless, as well as providing downtown workers from elsewhere with a spiritual oasis here. It was also nice to hear people praise the attitudinal and financial generosity of our parishioners, and the ethnic and class diversity of our congregation. For very good reasons so many who come here are willing to drive past churches closer to their homes!
Most of the challenges facing St. Joseph Cathedral Parish are well-known: we all wish we had more young people and young families, and the historic worship space we love so much is an expensive one to maintain! Our parish census and staff are extremely small, and our liturgical music program eats up almost a quarter of our entire operating budget. But there were some insights shared that seemed new to some people. For instance, the way that our parishioners are often forced to disaffiliate with the Cathedral and join another Parish in order to attend a Catholic school: this disappointing practice “lures” young families away from us, and was a surprise to many. While everyone rejoiced in the recent revitalization efforts downtown that have made a big difference, and which will bring in a significant number of new residents, the point was made that those moving downtown are mostly young, childless professionals, a demographic which is least likely to go to church!
When asked both during the large group discussion and again via an individual questionnaire about the future, the responses were rather predictable. As Father Trey pointed out, no one ever wants to reduce their Mass schedule, share their precious Parish resources with neighboring ones, or lose their resident priest. Our parishioners’ perspectives were wholly in line with these! Yet certainly it is becoming more and more obvious to everyone that in the next few years circumstances will make for some very difficult choices. Like everyone else, I hope, we are all willing to make necessary sacrifices and share burdens in following the Lord and being His Church.
While nothing has yet been decided by it, the Task Force hopes to complete its preliminary study by the end of 2015, offering a more comprehensive report and initial recommendations to Bishop Muench for implementation over the next year or so. The Task Force is advisory only, with all of the authority to take action vested solely with the Bishop of Baton Rouge. Since this is true, I suppose it’s nice that Bishop Muench is such a frequent visitor to and supporter of our Cathedral Parish!
One final thought: the point has frequently been made that encouraging parents and grandparents are the best “recruiters” for priestly and religious vocations. Unfortunately, parents and grandparents are often also the biggest stumbling blocks in vocations recruitment if they place limited personal preferences – say, for grandchildren or for worldly achievement – ahead of the good of the Church. So please, reflect on the immense value of religious and priestly vocations, and reflect your enthusiasm that young people from your own family might selflessly embrace God’s call. As always, to this end I would love to share the encouragement of a happy priest with anyone in your family! Just let me know how I can help!
Sincerely in the Lord,
