FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
To provide essential context for Set Ablaze, the Code of Canon Law defines “a parish (as) a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a diocese whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop” (Canon 515§1). Therefore, while
· every parish has only one pastor, only one priest may be pastor of several parishes; and
· additional priests (parochial vicars) may be assigned to a parish or a group of parishes to assist the pastor in his
responsibilities.
“Whenever it is necessary or opportune in order to carry out the pastoral care of a parish fittingly, one or more parochial vicars can be associated with the pastor. As co-workers with the pastor and sharers in his solicitude, they are to offer service in the pastoral ministry by common counsel and effort with the pastor and under his authority. A parochial vicar can be assigned either to assist in exercising the entire pastoral ministry for the whole parish, a determined part of the parish, or a certain group of the Christian faithful of the parish, or even to assist in fulfilling a specific ministry in different parishes together” (Canon 545).
Design – In the context of Set Ablaze, a pastorate is a geographic territory consisting of one or more parishes that is created as a stable structure to be used by the diocesan church for the upcoming 10 years. Within the pastorate there exists an alignment of our priests who are available for assigned ministry with the existing parish resources (e.g. numbers of Catholics participating in the sacramental life of the Church, physical infrastructure, financial resources, etc.).
Mechanism of planning – The pastorate is created in order to make this alignment (priests and parish resources) a sustainable planning structure that is meant to be used all throughout the 10-year period for which we are planning. This establishes a workable context in which pastoral planning will occur. The pastoral planning that follows the implementation of the pastorates is an intentional effort to re-orient the resources and ministries of the Church. Set Ablaze seeks to disrupt unhealthy trends, and the re-orienting of the ministries and resources will mark the intentional efforts within the pastorate to disrupt those trends.
Purpose – Therefore, the pastoral care of all the people within the pastorate’s boundaries is entrusted to the pastoral care of a single priest, the pastor. The pastor, parochial vicars, deacons (if they are available), consecrated and parishioners of a pastorate are called upon
· to grow together as a community of faith;
· to worship God through worthy celebration of, and participation in, the Mass and other sacraments of the Church;
· to organize the resources of the pastorate to most effectively build up and support parishioners in the pursuance of Lifelong
Catholic Missionary Discipleship Through God’s Love in the apostolic mission we have been given;
· to foster opportunities to lead people to an encounter with Christ, and to grow in Christian service to their neighbors;
· to be good stewards of God’s gifts within the pastorate by calling and equipping people to live their vocations well and
fruitfully by optimizing parish staffing, including the use of volunteers, in the pastorate and the organization of a leadership
team, advisory council, etc., to be effective, and to avoid duplication of administrative resourcing;
· to delegate and empower; and
· to assist and support the pastor and with the help of diocesan resources, to develop a pastoral plan which identifies within
the pastorate how best to achieve the above aims.
Means toward an end – A pastorate is also marked by a locally developed pastoral plan that is subject to the approval of the diocesan bishop. Pastoral plans are the specific measures to be implemented within a pastorate with the purpose of achieving a common vision.
The 117 parishes currently served by 57 different pastors will be redesigned into a new structure for parishes referred to as “pastorates.” Presently, the consultation process is examining a model that would create a new structure to be served by 27 pastors (from 57 parishes/pastoral linkages). The pastors would collaborate with approximately 34 priests who are available for assigned ministry as parochial vicars.
The number of pastorates may change in the consultation process; however, the 61 priests (27 pastors and 34 parochial vicars) that are projected to be available for assigned ministry in parishes comes from the Current Reality Report developed for Set Ablaze. Therefore, the number of total priests assigned to the new model will not change substantially. The design of the structure is very intentional about achieving Set Ablaze’s specified goal of creating a more stable structure for the parishes. Per the same Current Reality Report, this stability is in the midst of projections that show the total number of priests available for active ministry will decline due to anticipated retirements and fewer expected ordinations to the priesthood over the next 10 years
Modeling and the design of pastorates have sought to establish a consistent ratio of priests to parishioners. All parishes were included in this design process (see Guiding Change document for more information).
Other essential considerations of the design process include but are not limited to:
· Parishes and pastorates do not exist if it were not for a pastor, so the number of priests available to serve in that capacity
over the upcoming 10 years was a primary consideration. This number took into consideration expected retirements and
ordinations of priests.
· The pastorate model places an increased administrative responsibility on the pastor. And so, the number of priests who
possess the unique giftedness required to fulfill the additional responsibilities that the pastorate model places on the pastor
and whose disposition is one of empowerment and delegation were essential considerations in the design process.
· The Sunday Mass obligation is the center of parish life. Priests, per canon law, are permitted to celebrate three on a weekend
(including the Saturday vigil).
· The seating capacity of churches within the pastorates.
· The total number of registered households and the total giving within the parishes.
· Regional centers within our diocese where commerce, business resources, and/or social activities are more prevalent.
· Distance between parish churches.
· The presence of Catholic schools, an important ministry of the Church, within parishes.
· We are blessed in this diocese to be served by two different communities of religious order priests. The importance of their
rule, the guide which orders the way they carry out their priesthood, was an essential consideration.
All of these were factored when arriving at a current design that seeks to create a relatively consistent ratio of priest-to-Sunday-Mass attendees (“worshippers”) across all pastorates.
Other considerations that also were made when developing the current model for pastorates included the current/historical pastoral linkages, school district and county boundaries, and the physical condition of parish facilities.
There is really one essential distinction: a pastorate is erected with the explicit purpose of creating a context in which a pastoral plan is written and implemented. They begin with the directive to collaborate with neighboring parishes in their ministry offerings, to cooperate in mission, and to find solutions that work for the good of all souls within the pastorate. This includes cooperation and collaboration in the administration of parishes.
One essential reality that remains: all ministry activities, particularly those carried out by the staff and appointed volunteers, is to be carried out under the direction of the pastor. This is the case in our current model of pastorally linked parishes and will remain the case under the pastorate model.
Feedback from priests is that, for many, so many of the administrative duties are not life-giving nor is the model of the pastor having to fulfill them all sustainable. The pastorate model will allow our priests to focus more on offering sacramental, spiritual and teaching ministries to parishioners entrusted to their pastoral care.
The pastorate model addresses the needs of our priests by providing a consolidated lay staff that better supports the priests serving within the pastorate. The intentional development of a lay, employed/volunteer operational staff serving all parishes within the pastorate is meant to take away much of the administrative duties that our priests and pastors typically carry out under our current model.
No. A Mass schedule is not determined in the pastorate modeling process. This is a decision to be made within the pastorate as part of the implementation process and the pastoral planning that coincides with it.
The pastorates will thus encompass multiple parishes as we know them to exist today. The pastorate will be under the pastoral authority of one priest, the pastor, whose appointment will take effect on July 1, 2023. In most pastorates, that priest will be accompanied by a parochial vicar(s). Implementation will, then, be ongoing with the assistance of a pastoral planning process that will begin immediately following the July 1 effective date.
Feedback will be received through November 21, 2022. Bishop DeGrood will receive all of this input to complete his discernment. A final design will be announced in late January 2023.
Priestly Resourcing
The use of employed staff and the effective development of advisory councils collectively is meant to empower others through delegation and at the same time reduce unnecessary duplication of meetings in each parish of the pastorate. Experience shows that doing so permits the priests to allocate more time to the pastoral care of souls.
Exactly how the staff and advisory councils will be utilized is a decision to be made locally, within the pastorate. Such decisions will presumably be based on, among other considerations, the particular needs of the parishes, the gifts and professional expertise of those who are hired to serve in this capacity, and the personal dispositions of the pastor. Additionally, the location from where staff members carry out their duties would be the decision of the pastor and would presumably be based on facts and circumstances particular to the pastorate and the persons involved. While examples from other dioceses have been examined, the intention will be to provide resourcing so that each pastorate develops an administrative team that best fits its needs.
Having begun the planning process, prior planning experience shows that any delay beyond the summer of 2023 will jeopardize our hope of achieving a stable, 10-year plan.
Previous planning processes in the diocese would also suggest that delay is more likely to continue or intensify some of the undesired trends identified in the Current Reality Report and which Set Ablaze is meant to disrupt.
The desired stability in parish structures that the pastorates are meant to provide will promote the spiritual, physical, and emotional health of our priests. Our experience suggests that healthy, happy, and holy priests who are ministering as missionary disciples and who routinely empower those whom they minister alongside, both clergy and lay, employee and volunteer, will foster a profound impact on the spiritual lives of the faithful in the parish. The time gained will permit priests to be more focused on their priestly duties (teaching the Catholic faith, offering the sacraments, presiding at liturgies, and offering pastoral care to those facing difficult challenges in their lives).
Pastorates will also provide a mechanism by which recently-ordained priests might be able to continue in their priestly formation by being provided lengthened periods in which they are able to serve as a parochial vicar and in collaboration with a pastor. The goal is to disrupt a current trend of having to ask priests to take pastor assignments with significantly less experience serving under other pastors than was once the norm in our diocese.
Sixty-one (61) priests, as reflected in the Current Reality Report.
There are two major moving parts within the calculation: the anticipated number retirements from assigned ministry and the anticipated number of ordinations to the priesthood. This means that the actual number of available priests will fluctuate from year to year. Our modeling is based on 61 because it is the number of priests that our Current Reality Report projects the bishop can reasonably expect to have from year to year. There will be years when more than 61 may be available over the upcoming 10 years. But, if all assumptions hold (ordinations, when priests retire, continued good health, etc.), we as a diocese can expect that at least 61 priests will be available for carrying out assigned, pastoral ministry in a given year.
While priests are free to serve beyond the age of retirement, for planning purposes, 70 has been assumed to be the age at which priests would step away from assigned ministry. This aligns to diocesan policy.
A “retired” (referred to as senior priest in our diocese) is free to nonetheless continue offering ministry. Typically this is as a substitute or fill-in priest, providing relief to an assigned priest who needs to be away from his ministry assignment for a short period. This form of ministry is very different from assigned ministry in that it does not have the administrative and other responsibilities that are fundamentally associated with serving in a particular assignment.
No. But some will.
Beginning in the fall of 2022 and with the help of the Clergy Personnel Committee and others, Set Ablaze will develop a series of criteria for how priest assignment recommendations will be made to Bishop DeGrood. Assignments are, of course, a decision reserved for the bishop.
The criteria developed by the Clergy Personnel Committee and with the help of clergy is likely to include, but not be limited to, things such as:
· time at current assignment
· time until expected retirement
· previous experiences
· embodiment of a missionary discipleship approach to ministry
A priest’s ability to delegate and empower others will be absolutely essential in the advent of pastorates. This new structure holds significantly greater scale (distance, numbers of souls entrusted to pastoral care, numbers of physical buildings, experience with working with associates, etc.) and will inform the Clergy Personnel Committee’s recommendation given to Bishop DeGrood after the pastorates have been finalized and announced.
Priest assignments will likely be announced near the end of the first quarter of 2023 (March). This projected date will be, however, refined as the consultation process continues.
No.
This is an important consideration that will take the insights and assistance of the lay employees and advisory committees for how to interact with the faithful of each parish. It is important, however, to remember that the challenge already exists; the pastorate model does not introduce it.
Intentional efforts to be present, to focus on ministries that can only be carried out by priests, and to delegate other responsibilities to others, does not preclude a priest from forming relationships with parishioners. It simply challenges the priest to be more intentional about forming these relationships in ways they may not be accustomed to doing under the current model of parishes.
It is a gift that our diocese is able to entrust the pastoral care responsibilities of multiple parishes to (currently) two religious orders, the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ) and Pro Ecclesiae Sancta (PES). As confirmed through communication with the religious superiors who currently lead these respective communities of religious order priests, the unique charisms, the reality of a shared community life, and the rule to which members of religious communities are bound to uphold have been given a particular reverence during this consultation process. Thus, pastorates where religious orders are expected to be serving were treated differently than pastorates where diocesan priests are planned to serve and were modeled using different parameters.
An intellectual, emotional and spiritual preparedness for changes that can be reasonably expected, in this instance as a result of a consultative planning process. Change readiness can be marked by one’s ability to articulate the changes about to happen accurately and effectively, to reflect a positive disposition toward change, to be able to authentically reference the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance in the midst of the changes, to distinguish fears from anxieties, and/or to model needed changes in personal behaviors or patterns after others who have experienced similar change.
To assist a pastor in the fulfillment of his pastoral responsibilities, pastorates are marked by a common administration among the parishes that comprise them. This is achieved, in part, by structuring pastorates to have sufficient operational/administrative human resourcing. A common administrative team creates a scale among the parishes which, in turn, enables parishes to hire trained professionals on their staffs who are capable of attending to administrative (“operational”), educational, and the financial recordkeeping responsibilities within the pastorate while serving under the direction of the pastor.
As parishes remain distinct, it is important to emphasize that broad consultation among the councils and the entire parish are anticipated subsequently to the creation of these pastorates. This consultation will precede any major changes in the parishes being implemented.
Under the revised direction from the Holy See, consultation among the faithful and clergy is to continue within the pastorates as they have been decreed into effect. That consultation is expected to inform the following (but not limited to):
· Mass schedules, including which church buildings will be used for regular Sunday Masses
· plans for the ongoing maintenance and care of buildings
· the development of a consistent sacramental preparation/religious education program within the pastorate
· the formulation of councils to advise in the administration of the pastorate and in offering of pastoral care to those souls
within the pastorate
· the formulation of ministries and services, including missionary discipleship and vocations to the priesthood and religious
life
· the creation of a centralized administration and the organization of staffing and volunteer resources
· the formulation of plans for the ongoing, perpetual care of parish cemeteries located within the pastorate
· the use/nonuse/ownership of parish buildings and land
That consultation process will be conducted under the direction of the pastor. Moreover, all pastorates will be provided with specific parameters and clear expectations given from Bishop DeGrood. The consultation process will be empowered by an individual who has been trained to assist pastors by facilitating the consultative meetings, provide resourcing for examples, and to help identify next steps in the process. That same individual will walk with the pastor and the parochial vicars assigned to the pastorate, along with the laity who reside there. The individual will help facilitate the pastoral planning process within the pastorate in accord with the parameters established by the bishop and under the direction of the pastor.
A pastoral plan will be developed for each of the pastorates. Per direction from the Holy See, each pastoral plan that is developed for every pastorate will be subject to Bishop DeGrood’s approval.
Yes. Trained professionals who are not in the employ of the Diocese of Sioux Falls will be available as resources and facilitators to all pastorates to assist in the pastoral planning exercises. Those individuals, while envisioned, have not been identified at this time. They will be announced when the design parameters are introduced to the diocese.
Yes, it is entirely possible that a pastorate would, in the creation of their pastoral plan and after careful consideration of the spiritual and community needs within their pastorate, entertain the idea of becoming one new parish/pastorate while retaining some or all of their church buildings. However, the possibility that distinct parishes would remain within the pastorate also remains. It would be the collaborative work of the consolidated pastoral councils, the pastorate leadership team and their pastor to propose either approach in their pastoral plan. That pastoral plan would be reviewed by a diocesan-appointed resource for consultation and recommendation and, as with all pastoral plans, subject to the bishop for approval.
No, the canonical structure and the nonprofit corporation that reflect the parishes as they exist today will not change on July 1, 2023. Their structure will remain in the same form as they exist today. However, because of priest assignment changes, its pastor may be different on July 1, 2023. The way in which it was administered (day-to-day activities, etc.) will also begin to change. And, through pastoral planning, the ways by which ministries are offered through the parish are likely to change.
The current focus is the structure (the “pastorates”). To date, the “practicals” for fully implementing the new structure through a pastoral planning process have intentionally not been fully formulated. Hence, no timeline has been established. However, a timeline for formulating a pastoral plan for the new parish structure will be set forth well in advance of the July 1, 2023, effective date for the pastorate model. Models have been examined where parishes were provided anywhere between a year and three years to develop a pastoral plan.