It’s that time of the year again. Yes, pastoral appointment time! Though it’s still in the early goings of the annual pastoral appointment process, we’d like to relay any information that has surfaced as of April 15th. If you notice an error, or have additional information on upcoming appointments, feel free to shoot us an e-mail or post a comment. If you’re a Rochester priest, deacon, or lay employee with information, please contact us using a non-DoR e-mail address and from a non-DoR network connection. Your privacy will always be respected by our staff.
Due to the transitional nature of our leadership in Rochester, all new pastoral leaders will be appointed to administrator positions until the next bishop arrives.
Check back often for updates.
Update 4/21: Confirmation that Fr. Hayes is heading to Our Lady of the Lakes.
Update 4/20: Confirmation that Fr. Gagnier is leaving Holy Name for St. Peter.
Update 4/16: A few more pieces of the puzzle are in place. This post has been updated.
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Fr. Thomas Mull from Pastor of St. Benedict (Canandaigua, Bloomfield) to Parochial Administrator of Our Lady of Peace (Geneva). Fr. Mull has served beyond the maximum 12 year limit. |
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Fr. Stanley Kaczrpak from Pastor of Our Lady of the Lakes (Finger Lakes region) to Parochial Administrator of St. Benedict (Canandaigua, Bloomfield). Fr. K has been in Our Lady of the Lakes for only two years. |
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Fr. Paul Tomasso from Pastor of Our Lady of Peace (Geneva) to Parochial Administrator (?) of Mother of Sorrows (Greece). Fr. Tomasso is resigning his post in Geneva for health reasons. He replaces Sr. Leandra Kosmoski, who has been serving as temporary administrator. |
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Fr. Hoan Dinh from Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of Peace (Geneva) to Parochial Administrator at St. Matthew/St. Mary (Livonia, Honeoye). |
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Fr. John Gagnier from Pastor of Holy Name of Jesus (Greece) to Parochial Administrator of St. Peter (Shortsville, Phelps, Clifton Springs). |
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Fr. John Hayes from Pastor of St. Matthew (Livonia)/St. Mary (Honeoye) to Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of the Lakes (Finger Lakes). |
Rumor mill:
-Holy Name may cluster and/or share priests with Mother of Sorrows.
-Fr. Donald Curtiss to retire or take a small appointment
Pastoral openings:
-Our Lady of the Lakes, pastor (Could end up being Fr. Hayes or one of the priests on staff)
-Holy Name of Jesus, pastor
-Our Lady of Peace, parochial vicar
-Bl. Marianne Cope, sacramental minister
-St. Agnes/St. Rose/St. Paul of the Cross, sacramental minister
-St. Vincent/St. Columba/St. Mary of the Assumption, sacramental minister
-Our Lady of Lourdes/St. Anne, parochial vicar
Free agents and new priests
-Deacon Michael Costik
-Deacon Peter Mottola
-Deacon David Tedesche
Retirements:
-Fr. William Endres
-Fr. Robert Beligotti
-Fr. Richard Beligotti
-Fr. Walt Plominski
Over 70, but unlikely to retire in 2013:
-Fr. James Schwartz
-Fr. Dominic Mockevicius
-Fr. Thomas Wheeland
-Fr. Frank Falletta
Term limits (2) reached:
-Fr. Ed Palumbos
-Fr. P. Frederick Helfrich
More rumor milling: A policy allegedly has been put in place that would permit a pastor within two years of retirement to continue in his assignment after serving the maximum 12 years. Given that, don’t expect Fr. Palumbos to be reassigned from his influential position at Assumption.
End of first six-year term:
-Fr. Stephen Karani
-Fr. Joseph McCaffrey
What is a Parocial Administrator???? Never heard of that one.
A parochial administrator is a canonical title – he is a priest who takes the place of a pastor in a parish that is vacant or whose pastor is impeded. Under canon law, a diocesan administrator may not appoint pastors unless and until the see has been vacant for one year or longer.
Apostolic Administrators can not appoint permanent pastors. Thus the title Parochial Administrator. A new permanent bishop could void these appointments if he so chooses, but that’s highly unlikely.
Anything on Fr. John Hayes? He’ll be leaving Livonia and Honeoye.
Actually, once a see is vacant for a year or more, AA’s may appoint pastors (canon 525, par. 2).
Newly ordained priests are “priest interns” and have in the past served under a priest-pastor their first couple years in ministry. So you probably won’t see them as sacramental ministers/assisting priests anywhere.
I’m expecting a few surprises in the next few weeks.
Haven’t both Fr. Thomas Wheeland and Fr. Frank Falletta, both at retirement age as you report, also served over the maximum 12 years in their current assignments? Why is that? Is that a rule that only gets lip service? I truly would like to understand. Can someone please speak to this term limit thing in the DOR. +JMJ
The term limit rule was put in place by Bishop Clark in 1986. Those serving as pastors at the time were grandfathered, therefore they’re allowed to continue in their pastorates indefinitely.
Frs. Wheeland and Falletta were both serving in their present assignments prior to 1986.
Thank you for that information, Dr. K. I’ve been wondering why they are so long in those parishes. +JMJ
Fr. Wheeland is seriously impeded in his walking and uses 2 canes. But his voice is strong, his attitude is outstanding. He is a marvelous priest who has done much for Holy Cross in Charlotte, a parish which has had a number of illustrious pastors. As far as I’m concerned Fr. Wheeland can stay as long as he is able. May he continue to be blessed.
I should point out that some priests might not be capable, by temperament or ability, to be an effective pastor. Some may be good in small parishes, but not in large parishes. So, just because there are a requisite number of priests, a square peg can’t be assigned to a round hole. All the more reason for Bishops to be very careful and discerning BEFORE a man is ordained. I hope that the next crop of ordinands have talent for leadership.
In George Weigel’s “EVANGELICAL CATHOLICISM Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church”
we read on pages 138 & 139, ‘the priest..is a man who has been ordained to a unique priestly share in the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ…..what Catholic priests do is wholly dependent on what Catholic priests are. The Catholic priest brings Christ to the world, and brings men and women of the world into friendship with the Lord Jesus, in a unique way: through his celebration of the sacraments, through his preaching and teaching; and through his exercise of pastoral charity and pastoral leadership…..ordination configures a man to Christ in a unique way. The fundamental reality of the priesthood, therefore is sacramental, not clerical…..The fundamental requisite for a Catholic priest is that he be a radically converted disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ…..thoroughly converted to Christ, must be living a life of friendship with the Lord Jesus, and must have shown at least some capacity to invite others to meet the Lord before he can be seriously considered as a candidate for the diocesan priesthood.’
Let us pray for our priests and seminarians that they are friends of the Lord Jesus who make a point of inviting others to that same friendship so as to help all of us become saints.
Anything less than this is not good enough.
Given Fr. Tomasso’s recent health issue, I was surprised he accepted Mother of Sorrows and not a smaller parish. But he does have retired priests to help him.
y2kscotty: RE your comment: ” I hope that the next crop of ordinands have talent for leadership.” I believe that the Lord calls a variety of men to become priests, not just good leaders. Jesus’ Apostles are a good example….they were all very different men with a variety of personalities and gifts. FYI…in this diocese, because of the lack of the numbers of priests, most, if not all of these men HAVE to pastor in at least one, if not several parishes at the same time! So, yes, some of the more quiet personalities have to become emboldened to take over many responsibilities. I believe it is important for them to have the qualities of holiness and perseverance.
I miss the ‘good old days’ when a Pastor/Priest was part of the church community for decades.
The Priest who baptized you could easily be the priest who gave First Communion, heard your first confession and presided at your wedding. And, if you were really lucky, that same Priest baptized your infant, as well. Your family had a stronger connection to the church through the long association with the same Pastor/ Priest. I believe it makes a difference in how we relate to the clergy and the church community as a whole.
That sense of continuity and permanance is missing.
Flowerchild – on the other hand, an unhealthy “cult” or attachment to that particular priest can develop, which can become more important than attachment to the bishop, which is theologically what is supposed to happen. Witness, if you will, what occurred at Corpus Christi where 2/3 or so of the congregation left that Faith with Fathers Callan and Ramerman. So in that respect I think moving priests around is healthy.
Jim – part of the job for a priest is to be a leader – in the very least a liturgical leader. The most important part of the calling is to preach the Gospel – that requires a certain amount of boldness and leadership. I agree that holiness is a must, as is perseverance. But a man who has no desire to be a leader ought to seek a different calling (vowed religious?) than the priesthood.
And it should be noted that any authentic calling is a two-way street – no authentic calling to the priesthood comes only from within, but rather men are called from and by the Church as well. The Church, in her discernment, should seek men who will be good leaders.
Annonymouse: By virtue of a man’s ordination, he is fully responsible for proclaiming the Gospel, and leading his Parish Community! By all means, that is his paramount mission. What I am talking about is the fact that so much emphasis can be place on being a strong, bold leader, that the other functions of his priesthood can be overlooked. There are Order priests, (Abbey of the Genesee?) for example, whose vocation is to live in a cloistered community, where the priests and brothers spend their day in prayer, work and penance. Some other examples of men who come to mind are St. John Vianney, who spent hours and hours hearing confessions, and St. Thomas Aquinas, who was nearly rejected from the seminary, because he was considered too “dumb” to continue his studies. I don’t want to belabor this point, but having been in the seminary many years ago, I saw firsthand many men who were ordained, because of their boldness and aggressiveness; who later left the priesthood, and others who were rejected; who probably would have been really good spiritual leaders, had they been given the chance.
I want to register my agreement with Flowerchild. Jean Vianney spent a lifetime in his parish and I sincerely doubt that he would have accomplished what he did if he’d been moved around every 6 years. He was able to better act as a father to them, and to know them and serve them through his priesthood. And he took seriously being a priest “forever” according to the order of Melchisedek. In turn, the people took their relationship with him seriously too; hence, Jean Vianney died with his entire community in prayer for him. Their loss was as the loss of a ‘father,’ not as somebody who ‘used to work here before he retired.’
Today, the priest is more of a ‘hired gun,’ or what one seminarian had called ‘a sacramental robot.’ It is very sad. But it is also damaging to a community. People who do have a special holy relationship to their priest will leave a community when possible to continue being under his spiritual care. It weakens a community. And, on the other side, a priest loses accountability for the mess he makes in a parish, when he can just skip off to another parish, and maybe do it all over again. Keeping priests in a parish makes them live with the results of both their being loved, and not. It keeps them doing what is financially necessary rather than leaving the mess to the next pastor. And when they really mess up, at least their incompetence is contained and made even more visible to their brother priests and to the bishop,rather than going to an unsuspecting parish and doing it all over again.
My personal belief is that it is good for new priests to move around, learn from older priests, and better form themselves to be pastors. But after a priest becomes a pastor he should not be moved unless he requests it after a suitable period of time. Priests over, say, age 50 should not be required to pull up roots and move to a new community as if all the spiritual connections they built with people meant nothing.
There are many reasons for the underfunding of priests’ pensions and maybe soon we will know more. At least it should really be investigated, with full disclosure, including where the money went from the liquidation of closed parishes and/or for sex abuse lawsuits. If I had a pastor who was not in danger of being moved, and if I respected him and depended on him, it would be an easy thing, with others, to help fund an annuity or other suitable retirement vehicle for that person. But to give to a diocesan campaign wherein a significant number of the recipients have far too much baggage to be respected, who have closed churches and schools, refused to say extra Masses to keep churches open, damaged church patrimony, refused to preach against intrinsic evils, supported inappropriate roles for women masquerading as pastors, and ignored basic church teaching — never. Somebody else will have to pay their greens’ fees.
Well once again, Diane, we’ll have to agree to disagree. Our relationship is supposed to be with Jesus Christ, and I have seen it where people become TOO attached to their priest and that becomes more important to them than either their relationship with Christ or with the Church. Most of the Corpus Christi people did exactly that. Theologically, there is a bigger problem with bishops being moved around than there is with priests being transferred.
Yes, Annonymouse, we will agree to disagree. Spiritus Christi is indeed a great tragedy, not to be laid at the feet of the parishioners but to Bishop Clark’s responsibility. If he had acted quickly and transparently, the pressure cooker wouldn’t have exploded, and many more people would have been properly catechized. Thank God that Fr. Callan didn’t contaminate a lot of other parishes before getting excommunicated!
Maybe I’m sensitive, but don’t you think “the pressure cooker wouldn’t have exploded” is in bad taste?
No, Annonymouse, I don’t think it is in bad taste. I think it is quite an apt analogy. Pretty soon, political correctness will have people unable to say what they think / feel / believe. I don’t intend to be one of them, but I do respect other people’s right to think / feel / believe differently.
Well we will have to agree to disagree about that, too. Two days after the Boston bombings, it seems as if you could express yourself with a different metaphor.
In this instance, I have to agree wth Annonymouse.
Diane, given your obvious facility with language (I’ve read many of your posts), perhaps a different phrase would have been more suitable at this time. And, I don’t believe political correctness plays any part in this, it’s more an issue of sensitivity to the situation.
Flowerchild, you are also entitled to your opinion. If one thinks that souls being so damaged doesn’t deserve strong language, well — that is your opinion too. Many Catholics who have left the faith for their own personal reasons, have no idea what they’ve done to their own souls, and to those to whom they give scandal. The laxness of pretty high level people who should be diligent in their responsibilities can blow up souls as well as bodies. I believe that imagery is justified given the very serious damage caused by Spiritus Christi. Mat 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Diane, I agtree completely with your point, I took exception only to your choice of words.
The Church has a lot more problems than “choice of words.” But here is an amusing twist this afternoon, far from pastoral assignments but all about “choice of words”.
I was listening to FOX 1280AM Sports show around 3:30PM and the talking head (who later admitted to hating John Sterling, Yankees announcer) went ballistic over a comment made by the NYY’s announcer last night when Hafner, a new addition to the team, homered to deep right in the bottom of the 8th for the win over Arizona. Sterling shouted elatedly: “He’s a BRONX BOMBER!” Well the FOX guy today said he couldn’t understand it, played it 3x, and finally identified what Sterling had said, and expressed great horror at Sterling’s using such a word — disbelief — hostility — judgement – fury. Why in the world would anyone use such a term? What could it possibly mean?
Clearly the “FOX guy” had no understanding that the Yankees have been called the “Bronx Bombers” since 1936. We need a little bit of “Common Core Curricula” for sports commentators too, I guess. It’s probably a good thing that Sterling didn’t mention Murders’ Row 🙂 So, was this a poor “word choice?” lack of sensitivity? politically incorrect, or is the horror all in the mind of the beholder?
I’m with you, Diane. As Dennis Miller said so well last night on O’Reilly (in what O’Reilly labeled Miller’s finest hour), he is sick of people translating what others say, and aways giving the words some awful meaning, shaking their heads in disgusted disapproval. Take what I say for what I say, ranted Miller, and stop deciding I meant something nefarious, something hateful, something other than what I said. He was really worked up over this reading of hearts and motives that has become a new American industry. If all these PC “experts” have their way, the dictionary will soon be halved. Please know that I, for one, ascribed nothing awful in your choice of words, trusting that your heart is as heavy as the rest of America regarding Boston and knowing that I have no more right to teach sensitivity than any other human. I’m so sorry you were hammered on that, and I’m sure others feel the same way. May God be praised and you blessed in all you do. +JMJ
Thanks, JLo. Your assessment is exactly correct. I did not hear O’Reilly and Miller; sounds like a great expounding of what needed to be said. We know what Jesus thinks of the lukewarm. Peace, d
CMON,
Diane. The Yankees have been called the Bronx Bombers for a hundred years. You, on the other hand, referred to a pressure cooker blowing up. If you cannot fathom why one is not even noteworthy and one is in unspeakably bad taste, I have to question your judgment!
Annonymouse, you obviously don’t read very carefully. And you misinterpret a lot. And you exaggerate (e.g. it’s not ‘a hundred years.’) I’m not going to bother explaining to you what I did say about one more un-informed person drawing illogical parallels to the Boston situation and being outraged over his/her own interpretation of political correctness. I think the FOX announcer being upset over Bronx Bombers is just as silly as your being upset over a pressure cooker analogy for what the Bishop caused at Spiritus Christi. If you can’t see the connection, there is no point in trying to explain it to you because you are so wide of the mark.
You are entitled to your opinion that my calling the Spiritus Christi situation a pressure cooker is bad taste; but I am entitled to my opinion that it is an apt analogy. So we agree to disagree. But I not only stand behind what I said by putting my name on it, but you continue to hide behind your “screen name,” lobbing snide comments without personal responsibility. Because of the disproportion of your remarks, I personally think that you are still smarting about the tabernacle issue we also agreed to disagree on. You might want to try to get over it. Everybody isn’t always going to agree with you.
And on a different subject:
Good news on LifeSite News tonight: “An Argentinean priest who has been an outspoken supporter of homosexual “marriage” and gender ideology has been removed from the clerical state permanently by the Vatican’s Congregation of the Clergy, according to the Archdiocese of Cordoba, where the cleric was stationed….” The matter is not subject to appeal. Full story here: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/priest-who-defended-homosexual-marriage-transgenderism-defrocked-by-vatican?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f9ca86fbd8-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines_04_19_2013&utm_medium=email
How have all of these “off topics” come out of a simple article on clergy appointments for 2013? It possibly shows that many have their own agendas?
Diane – 77 years. Whatever. Now, normally “pressure cooker” would be an excellent analogy. Not this week. “Pressure cooker exploding” is in bad taste, but in a black and white world, maybe it’s no different than “Bronx bombers.” I am not going to be able to make you see just how much that is in poor taste. Do a google image search on “gruesome boston” and you’ll see just what a couple of pressure cookers did this week. Oh, lost souls are worse, you’ll say – I agree, but on that one we’ll have to leave it up to God.
On a happier note, I wholeheartedly agree with you – I was delighted by the news today that the Vatican has defrocked “Father” Alessio (ironically so close in name to former Senator Alessi of “gay marriage” fame). Certainly this action was done with the Holy Father’s full knowledge and approval. The liberals’ honeymoon is ending quickly! May God bless our Holy Father!
Wait a minute. I think we are being a bit scrupulous and politically correct.
The phrase “pressure cooker” has been around for years and describes a tense situation. I just heard someone mention the phrase on a sports talk radio show today. It doesn’t have to reflect on the trajedy in Boston.
So since someone used a pressure cooker to kill people. we are now going to eliminate that phrase from our vocabulary. I do not want to hold our language and mannerisms hostage to political correctness.
RT – the exact quote is “the pressure cooker wouldn’t have exploded.”
I don’t see how that cannot “reflect on” the tragedy in Boston. To use that phrase two days after the Boston terror is inappropriate and in very poor taste.
Someone on Talk radio in Buffalo used it this AM in relation to the hockey season and there was no protest.
So I guess that makes it OK, and less in bad taste, because someone on the radio said it. Whatever.
It’s done with. Diane said it; she can’t be convinced that it was even one little bit inappropriate, and a number of you can’t see how using that analogy/metaphor THIS WEEK might be wrong and maybe even cold-hearted. So be it.
Let’s move on.
YES, PLEASE MOVE ON !
To the site operators – you may want to give the news that Diane posted about now-former Father Alessio it’s own thread. That the former-father lobbied the Holy Father and his entreaty has been soundly rejected by the Holy See is truly wonderful news and deserves more notice than it’s been given.
I for one, am extremely happy that none of these appointments include women “administrators” going into a parish. I have to say, it has been a terrible experience in the few months it has been at Our Mother of Sorrows. I have gone to mass very limitedly and I cannot believe the damage that has ensued. The holiness of the church has all but vanished. I have heard the rumor that Our Mother of Sorrows and Holy Name are going to “cluster.” It is rampant among my friends.
We have a cottage in Canandaigua and I am SHOCKED that Father Mull is leaving Canandaigua.
I would also like to comment on the “secondary conversation” in this. I used to believe that priest should be able to serve for more than 12 years, but I have been to mass so many times at Holy Cross and at St. Lawrence and have to say, it’s not healthy. The priests seemed to be worshiped, not our Lord. I find that very cultist and very scary.
Diane,
Glad you stuck to your guns. The ultra-sensitivity that is part and parcel of political correctness nowadays needs to be shot down as often as possible until it expires. 😉
I read your statement about the pressure cooker and did not make a connection to the Boston bombings. Using those words as you did is more than common in descriptive language today.
Additionally, having lived and worked in Boston for a number of years, I am very familiar with the place where the bombing took place, having walked, shopped and even lived right in that exact area. I’m saying it held a special horror to me because I’m so familiar with the area. And yet, I did not jump to a certain judgement like others did.
Sorry to put my two cents in so late in the thread, but I felt this perspective might be helpful.
God bless,
Gretchen from SOP
Eyeondor, I, too, have come to the conclusion that decade-long appointments are not healthy for the parish. The parish belongs to the people; and pastors, by virtue of their chosen vocation, come to serve the people sacramentally, helping them by such service and by teaching the Faith, to become an ever stronger community. A priest left so long in one assignment may come to see himself as head of the community, not its servant, and may even see the bricks and mortar as HIS estate and thus could make material decisions which do not benefit the parish community but rather fulfill his own vision of home on earth, especially as he approaches retirement. Then they won’t even retire from such position, and they should. If they feel still vibrant enough to continue to serve God’s people, wonderful! Every parish community benefits from the sacramental services of retired priests. God bless all of them. But the retired pastor should serve elsewhere. I think the term limits rule is a good one, and it’s too bad it was not imposed on every pastor, maybe giving those at the time of its imposition one extra term. +JMJ
I obviously meant decades-long, meaning way over 12 years.
Thank you Dr. K, and Diane,
It is good to remember that the ordained Priest is alter Christus, and as such, participates in a special way in the office of God the Father. The priest-pastor is indeed the spiritual father of the parish. For a young man, the pastor, along with his own father, should be the model for Christian manhood.
The office of the pastor includes in a preeminent place, providing the Sacraments, and catechizing the parishioners, as well as evangelizing all the people within his parish boundaries. Canonically, the parish pastor is the spiritual father of ALL the people in his parish, not just the Catholics, but all the not-yet-Catholics as well.
The parish priest prays for each person in his parish, and he fasts and sacrifices for them. A holy parish pastor knows each person in the depths of his soul, and he loves each person with the love of Jesus. Sadly, there once was a priest I heard of who was a 9 to 5 pastor, but I hear he’s retired.
We are so blessed to have true Father Pastors. That is why IAW canon law, parishes are only headed by an ordained priest or bishop. We only need consider the life of St. John Vianney to see that being assigned as Pastor until death is normative. I do not say it is always necessary, because the bishop has many parishes to serve, and the diocesan priests must go where the Bishop assigns them, but there is nothing wrong with being assigned as pastor until death. One does not resign from being the father or mother of a family when one reaches a certain age, so in the same way there is no absolute requirement for a priest to be limited in the time he serves the parish as her pastor. We must love our Pastor, obey him, and pray for him.
Diane,
I once served on a PPNM committee with a woman who objected just about every time anyone used the term ‘bullet point’ in her hearing, convinced that it’s use helped to promote an atmosphere of violence. What I found amazing was that a significant minority of the other committee members seemed willing to cave in to her demand that we expunge the term from our collective vocabulary simply because she took offense.
Thank God for CF! For I am the least sensitive, least politically correct, most black-and-white person I know. So it’s good to be repudiated by everyone here, for against the stark relief provided here, I appear to be a downright softy!
Fr. John Hayes confirmed in St. Matthew’s bulletin this weekend that he will be going to OLOL as “Parochial Vicar.” His main note to his parishioners was a reflection on the Boston Marathon, and then he added as a PS:
“As for me I am being assigned as parochial vicar to Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Community which consists of; St. Januarius, Naples; St. Mary’s, Rushville; St. Michael’s, Penn Yan; St. Patrick’s Prattsburg; and St. Theresa’s, Stanley. It is actually one of the bigger (if not the biggest cluster) in the diocese. For now let’s start getting geared up for confirmations, first communions, and going away/parish picnics and ordinations
and first masses that all have to take place before I can even think about leaving! Am I sad about leaving, yes, but there are still good times to be had for all of us!
I wonder if he knows that St. Mary’s doesn’t exist anymore, thanks to Fr. Ring?
@annonymouse
1) I still love you…..
2) You had enough of a point that it should be respected. I thought you and Diane had it right the first time when you both simply agreed to disagree.
@ Mike
Thanks for sharing about your PPNM experience. While I declined being on the actual committee which went for 37 months and did nothing except provoke dissent, I can still sympathize. Your particular experience shows that it is important to have on board the right caliber of people 🙂
What I found amazing was that a significant minority of the other committee members seemed willing to cave in to her demand that we expunge the term from our collective vocabulary simply because she took offense.
At that point I’d just substitute a new word every time there was a complaint. “Mortar-shell point”, “Tomahawk-missile point” and so on.
It was just a few years ago that Eastern Greece/Charlotte pastoral planning wanted to close Holy Name of Jesus.
Interstate,
I was on the EG/C PPNM Steering Committee from 1998 through 2007. It wasn’t until 2 years after I left that the attendance at both Holy Name of Jesus and Our Lady of Mercy had fallen to the point that the committee was concerned about the long term viability of those parishes.
In 2009 I blogged about that subject here.
Sr. Miriam Nugent announced her retirement as pastoral associate at St. Charles Borromeo this weekend.
The Diocesan website shows the posting for the Pastoral Associate position at St. Charles as well.
Three men will be ordained to the priesthood on June 22nd.
Fr. Walt Plominski is retiring in June as well.