CrossCurrents A Catholic Reflects on Faith in Our Times
Bernard
F. Swain, Ph.D. www.CrossCurrents.us
2005Õs Historic Threshold
Among all the big events of 2005, one
is sure to be missed in all the media end-of-year reviews. But for American Catholics 2005 was the year of a huge
historic change: for the first time in history, laypeople being paid to perform
parish ministry now outnumber priests!
In October, the National Pastoral Life Center
in New York reported that about 31,000 laypeople work in Òprofessional pastoral
capacitiesÓ in US parishes, compared to 28,000 priests performing parish
duties. In other words, more than
half the people performing what used to be called Òpriestly workÓ are not
priests at all (the lay figures do not include people working in parish schools
or support staff like secretaries, janitors, or bookkeepers).
Actually, the Washington Theological Union
reported survey results as early as 2000 showing the average parish staff
included more lay people (2) then priests (1.8), but there were still more
priests overall because many parishes had no lay staff at all. Even now 1/3 of
parishes have no lay staff. As recently as 1990, there were only 22,000 lay
people working as liturgists, youth ministers, social concerns directors, adult
education coordinators or in other professional pastoral positions. Since then
the overall lay numbers have continued to grow until finally surpassing the
total number of priests.
But the numbers alone are not the big
story. The numbers simply beg the obvious question: so what? Why do they make
2005 such a turning point? What
difference does it make whether we have more priests or more laypeople serving
on parish staffs? In fact, this shift makes several important differences.
On the practical level, the difference is all about collaboration. When
parishes were staffed only by priests, working together was like being on a
drill team: they all wore the same uniforms, performed the same tasks, received
the same training, shared the same lifestyle, and thought of themselves as more
or less interchangeable parts marching in lockstep. But after the shift,
working together is more like being on a ball club: people with diverse skills,
specialized tasks, distinct professional training, and widely varied lifestyles
become role players in a system where each personÕs contribution complements
the others. The challenge to collaboration is no longer marching in
synchronized step; now the challenge is to fit all the different roles together
into effective team performance.
On the financial level, the difference is about investment priorities. Before the shift, millions of American
Catholics made heroic sacrifices to invest in the physical development of their
Church: they paid to build rectories, churches, parish centers, convents,
schools, gyms, homes, etc. But after the shift, the era of Òcheap laborÓ
(priests and nuns) was over. As we
face the prospect of fewer, larger parishes, we will need less investment in
properties and more investment in people: salaries, benefits, training, support
services. The age of investing in
bricks must give way to an age of investing in brains.
On the cultural level, the difference is about the acceptance of women in power.
Before the shift, the all-male priesthood dominated a system where both women
religious and the laity (both men and women) were trained to obey and assist ÒFather.Ó
After the shift, women (mostly lay women) now make up 80% of the ÒmanpowerÓ on
our parish staffs. Priests now depend heavily on their competence and their
commitment in a culture where few women will any longer tolerate being treated
as less than equal. Priests who cannot learn to work with women respectfully
and professionally soon find themselves working alone.
On the theological level, the difference is about re-setting our sacramental
priorities. Before the shift,
Catholics widely assumed that Holy Orders was the main sacrament for vocations
in the church. Indeed, the very
word ÒvocationsÓ had become a synonym for priesthood and religious life. But after the shift, Baptism has been
restored to its original priority as the prime sacrament of Christian
vocation. Today, some people on
parish staffs have the vocation of Orders, others have the vocation of Matrimony—but
all have the vocation they share
in common from their Baptism. This
means that the work of church ministry is no longer restricted to a small elite
that has received Holy Orders. Now
the ChurchÕs work is the work of all the baptized ÒPeople of God.Ó
Of course, everyone in parish work knows
what caused all these differences: Vatican Council II (1962-1965).
Popular belief is that lay people have
moved into parish ministry to fill the gap left by the priest shortage, but actually
the shift began in the early 1970s, long before most major dioceses became
short of priests. The movement to introduce lay people into parish work was a
direct result of Vatican IIÕs stress on the Òuniversal call to holinessÓ and the
legitimate vocation and responsibility of lay people in the church.
Certainly until Vatican II the whole idea
of ÒholinessÓ was closely linked to a tiny elite of priests and religious who
actually monopolized church ministries. As the National Pastoral Life Center
reported, ÒBefore Vatican II, less than 1% of such jobs nationwide would have
been filled by lay people.Ó Hiring a lay person to run religious education
programs, or youth ministries, or coordinate evangelization was so rare that
the Center called it Òalmost an unknown phenomenon."
But what goes unnoticed even by most
parish leaders is just how significant and radical Vatican IIÕs shift really
was.
For the organization of parish life under
a clerical monopoly had a history as old as parish life itself. When parishes first emerged as the
principle structure for local church life in the fourth century, the Òparish
priestÓ also emerged as the bishopÕs local representative. From then on, parish
life and parish leadership (based on this clerical model) evolved hand-in-hand
for more than 15 centuries, and anyone over 40 can still remember how that
model worked.
What Vatican II did was trigger a dynamic
that led to dismantling this clerical model and replacing it with a new model
based on clergy-lay collaboration. The math is as simple as it is astounding: a
1500-year-old model is being replaced in a single generation! That generation
of priests and lay people has been the ChurchÕs pioneer force, transforming
parish life over the last 30+ years until now priests make up the indispensable
minority among parish leaders.
Think of it. No other organization on
earth has ever accomplished anything remotely like it: the local branches of
the worldÕs largest organization transforming their leadership structure in a
single generation after 15 centuries! It may be the biggest ignored story of
2005—but it is a story that parishes everywhere will be retelling for
centuries to come.
© Bernard F. Swain PhD 2005
Send Your Comments and Questions to bfswain@juno.com
Dr. SwainÕs
opinions do not represent the views of this parish or any other official body.
Bernie Swain has
devoted more than 30 years to adult spiritual formation in dioceses in the US,
Canada, and France. Since 1991 he has maintained a private practice as trainer,
teacher, and consultant to leaders in parishes and other religious
organizations. He holds degrees in theology and political science from Holy
Cross, Harvard, The University of Paris, and The University of Chicago.
His writings include Liberating
Leadership (Harper & Row,
1986) and more than 200 articles in periodicals such as The National Catholic
Reporter, Commonweal, The Miami Herald, The Catholic Free Press, The Pilot,
Harvard Theological Review, and
Liturgy.
A lifelong layperson,
he lives in Boston with his wife and three children. Visit his website at:
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