Part Two | On The Road Together

The two depictions of St. Leo’s Parish in Los Angeles give some indication of the vast changes that have taken place in the life of the Church and its ministry in recent decades. The portrait of St. Leo’s 2005 "names" the reality that awaits us in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at this time. But, more importantly, it expresses what I believe the priests, people, and parishes of this archdiocese are called to be and become in the coming years of this new millennium.

Aware of the many changes affecting the life of the Church, the priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles assembled in Palm Springs, California, in October 1997, together with the Archbishop and the five Regional Bishops. Our purpose was to explore together the nature of the ordained priesthood in light of the challenges we must face in the Church of today, as well as in the Church of tomorrow. Throughout our gathering, one of the themes was Jesus washing the feet of the disciples (John 13) as a model for priestly ministry. As we reflected on our lives and our work, our joys and our struggles, most of the priests expressed a great sense of satisfaction, indeed excitement, in their priestly ministry. Some offered quite memorable personal witness to the joys and the struggles they have experienced in their priestly ministry. Even as the image of the priest appears to be shifting in significant ways, and as the expectations placed on the ordained seem to mount, when all is said and done, priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are both happy and fulfilled in their vocation to be ministers of Christ and his Church.

Certain tensions remain, however. While the priests agree that a central part of their vocation entails pastoral leadership, many see the administrative responsibilities they bear as a hindrance rather than a help in the full flourishing of their ministry. In general, priests desire less administration or none of it at all; they see it as lying outside the scope of priestly work and ministry. What, then, is the relationship between pastoral leadership and administration? As priests seek new understandings of ministry, with less emphasis on pastoral administration, what responsibilities must they be willing to set aside for a more fruitful exercise of their ministry? A further tensions remains: While most priests claim to be happy and fulfilled in their ministry, they give little evidence of enthusiasm for promoting priestly vocations.

The mood of the Assembly was sober and realistic as well as positive and hopeful. While the number of priests is declining and their average age rising, the number of Catholics in the archdiocese is increasing and the gifts of the lay faithful have been flourishing in unprecedented numbers and in wondrous ways. There was also a sharp awareness and a growing appreciation of the fact that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is truly a multicultural Church. The Priests’ Assembly sought out ways to recognize the presence and power of the Holy Spirit amidst these developments. As the priests of the archdiocese continue to explore different understandings and models of ministry, there is a deepening awareness that even as we are faced with a shortage of priestly and religious vocations, we are being invited to a deeper understanding of the nature of the Christian vocation, and a fuller appreciation of ministry both ordained and nonordained. There was and there remains a strong conviction that the Holy Spirit is leading us toward new horizons.

Given these circumstances, there was a clear recognition that mere adjustment and small shifts in practice will not suffice. What is called for is a major reorientation in our thinking about ministry as well as in our ministerial practice. This necessitates four things.

First, it must be recognized that lay ministry rooted in the priesthood of the baptized is not a stopgap measure. Even if seminaries were once again filled to overflowing and convents packed with Sisters, there would still remain the need for cultivating, developing, and sustaining the full flourishing of ministries that we have witnessed in the Church since the Second Vatican Council. In the wake of the council, we have arrived at a clearer recognition that it is in the nature of the Church to be endowed with many gifts, and that these gifts are the basis for the vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate, and the religious life, as well as for the many ministries rooted in the call of baptism.

Second, there is a pressing need for greater collaboration and inclusivity in ministry in the Church of the new millennium. While collaboration is to be a hallmark of the ministry shared among the priests themselves, as well as between the bishop and his priests, a major concern at the Priests’ Assembly was to develop a deeper understanding of collaboration between the ministries of the ordained and of the nonordained.

Third, there is a need for a clear understanding of the nature of lay ecclesial ministry on the part of the baptized and those who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Finally, there is a need for a common foundational theology as the basis for the formation of seminarians, deacons, religious and lay persons for ministry, as well as for the development of more collaborative skills on the part of the ordained, so that one and all can exercise their ministry in a collaborative fashion.

In the course of the Priests’ Assembly it was decided that the priests and their Archbishop would together write a Pastoral Letter on Ministry, articulating a clear vision of ministries, ordained and nonordained, and inviting local communities to begin to plan for the future of ministry in the archdiocese.

Following the Priests’ Assembly, the priests, Regional Bishops and Archbishop gathered in convocation at St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, during June 1998 and June 1999. One of the aims of these Priests’ Convocations was to discuss further the many challenges that await us as we move toward a more collaborative and inclusive approach to ministry. The discussion has continued within the deaneries of the five pastoral regions of the archdiocese. In the Fall of 1998, a report on the 1997 Priests’ Assembly in Palm Springs, entitled "Calling Forth Pastoral Ministry for Tomorrow’s Church: Hope For the Future," was published in The Tidings and Vida Nueva (December 4, 1998) and included a call for input from individuals, parishes, and other constituencies within the archdiocese about the present and future of ministry.

The title of this Pastoral Letter comes from the Gospel of John. After washing the feet of his disciples, Jesus tells them: "As I have done for you, you should do also" (John 13: 15). It expresses the conviction that all ministry in the Church, ordained and nonordained, is rooted in Christ the Servant.

This Pastoral Letter appears in the course of an ongoing dialogue on ministry in tomorrow’s Church. It is intended as a signpost along the way, as we move together to be and to build the Body of Christ. In spelling out this vision of ministries, ordained and nonordained, I call upon the whole Church of Los Angeles to think and to plan for appropriate ways to meet the changing needs of the Church. This Letter is intended, then, as a tool, a mechanism for reshaping the ministerial structures of the local Church in a way that is both more collaborative and more attentive to the diversity of cultures which make up the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. No less will do if we are to remain faithful to our vocation as a Catholic people: to be a sacrament of the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God, in our own time and place. The Second Vatican Council reminded us in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen gentium), that it is in the nature of the Church to be a light to all nations. In responding to this gift and task, a clearer understanding of ministries ordained and nonordained in this new millennium is required, not merely desirable. By the light of this fresh understanding, we will be better able to move forward in preparation for the coming of the Day of the Lord, when Christ will be all in all (Colossians 3: 11).

Continue to Part Three

Part Two | On The Road Together

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