Feedback to Parishioners (to come after Easter)
Two of the three Feedback Meetings with parishioners at the Cathedral on April 13th and at Our Lady of Lourdes on Thursday, April 20 have taken place.
On Thursday, 27 April, at 5 pm is the final meeting at St Marys Foxton.
Each meeting is one hour. Parishioners are invited to attend any one of these meetings.
At these meetings, parishioners will hear feedback from the questionnaires.
There are three main themes Communication, Governance and Cooperation.
Questions were raised by participants, and here are their questions and my answers. I hope this is informative for everyone.
Is there a problem that needs to be solved? Fr Joe Responds
Is there a problem that needs to be addressed?
Fr Joe: I do not see a problem, but an opportunity. We have been in this “cooperation mode” for three years by default. No one envisioned it. During Covid, we had to move our thinking and operating, and this has brought the need to consider how we continue.
Will the possibility of combining governance functions lead to better cooperation between the parishes?
Fr Joe: I agree there are possibilities, and there are limits. Finding both is the purpose of the consultation. We can be overtaken by the future or we can actively engage in shaping it.
The reason for the consultation is not clear to me, to be honest. Problem identification, in the first place, is lacking. One of the biggest issues is one priest administrator for three parishes. If this changes tomorrow, will we need to make this change?
Fr Joe: There isn’t a problem as far as I can see, except that our present structural thinking is based on “one priest, one parish”, and he (the priest) is the link between leadership groups and the community. This can’t happen in our circumstances. We can’t “parish priest” as we did ten years ago, and we can’t “parish leadership” as we did ten years ago. If there were priests tomorrow, things might change, but realistically this won’t happen. Our only viable source of clergy is off-shore. We have had no indigenous New Zealander ordained a priest for this diocese in the last 21 years. The four men ordained since then for the diocese came from the USA, the Philippines and Vietnam. Of these four, only two are still working in the diocese.
I hear the back office administration is working very well.
Fr Joe: Yes, the back office administration is working very well, thanks in huge part to the Finance Committees at each parish cooperating during Covid to support technology development and staff roles that are paid on a percentage basis by each parish. Our goal was to create a single administration that would support our pastoral life. The administration and technology are there to serve pastoral outreach.
Can we have clarity around the future: a new bishop, if more priests arrive, is this something that could be picked apart tomorrow? Will the cooperation continue?
Fr Joe: I think this is similar to Question 5 above and my answer above. Yes, this could be picked apart, and the cooperation may or may not continue. The reality is that if or when a bishop is appointed, he will most likely be looking for solutions, and we are only one part of the larger diocesan puzzle. At the moment, we are very well served with six active priests in the area. Fr Peter Brockle lives in Marton and cares for Bulls, Taihape and Ohakune each weekend.
Looking at the structure, will it enable us to do the mission? The mission is what we’re about.
Fr Joe: I totally agree with this; this is the direction of synodality and of Pope Francis’ call. His call is not new; Popes before him have said that the Mission is not in the parish office but out in the world and not only in safe, pastoral environments. We need to engage more with the city too.
We need sustainable structures, a Church of the People. Will this help?
Fr Joe: Yes, we do need sustainable structures so that people (leadership groups) know where they stand and what their pastoral function is because finance, pastoral life and liturgy are all grounded in the pastoral outreach of the church, or they are just functions of the business. How we get to sustainable structures is the work of the leadership groups and their members in consultation with the parishioners and the parish team. Everyone has a voice.
Fr Joe