Diocesan priests gather for spring convocation

Friday, May. 09, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — Creating an “intentional presbyterate” that shares the same goals, ministers the same way and supports each other was the topic of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s spring priest convocation, held May 1 at Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Salt Lake City.

As the morning began, Father Martin Diaz, chair of the Board of Ongoing Formation for Priests, conducted an exercise in which the priests were divided into various categories, such as by age and country of origin. The exercise revealed that most of the younger priests in the diocese were born outside the United States.

These priests come to the diocese with a different experience than those who were raised and attended seminary in the U.S., Fr. Diaz said in an interview. “What’s happening in the United States – and around the world – is that in the priesthood there is much more mobility and people are coming from other countries, and so part of our task with ongoing formation is to develop a commonality so that we understand each other in terms of cultures and experiences, and then try to get a sense of who we are as a presbyterate, so we don’t end up ministering as individuals but we minister as a community of priests.” 

In this way, when a new priest is assigned to a parish the change will be less dramatic, Fr. Diaz said, and also the priests will support each other when offering penance services, or if one is on vacation or gets sick.

For these reasons, the convocation topic was “an intentional presbyterate,” Fr. Diaz said.

Sulpician Father Jim Myers, who directed the convocation, said other dioceses in the U.S. also are working toward the goal of forming “a presbyterate that is unified and intentional in the service toward our people.” 

One critical factor in doing so is for the priests to get to know each other, to welcome each other and to make room for each other, Fr. Myers said.

A geographically large diocese like Utah’s, combined with increased workloads, generational and cultural differences, tends to isolate priests, creating “lone rangers” who work on their own rather than with one another, Fr. Myers said. 

To create an intentional presbyterate, the priests must understand and respect each other’s cultures, he said. “I think it’s worth your while in future clergy events to have conversations about what the priesthood means in El Salvador or Vietnam or the Philippines as well as what priesthood has meant in Salt Lake City.” 

An intentional presbyterate has a sense of being colleagues, a mission and culture of being disciples of Christ, and knows and cares for each other, he added.

As the convocation closed, the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, said Fr. Myers’ insight was very helpful. From his perspective as bishop, “our unity is very important,” he said.