Priests are unified at Clergy Convocation

IC photo by Christine Young

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Priests from throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City attend a Mass with Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald as the main celebrant at the Saint Mary Old Town Chapel in Park City. The Most Rev. Bishop John C. Wester and Father Dominic Thuy Dang H

PARK CITY ­— Priests from throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City met at the Lodge at Mountain Village in Park City for the Fall Clergy Convocation Oct. 5-8. They were led by Father Ronald Knott of the Archdiocese of Louisville.

“We had a wonderful Clergy Convocation this year,” said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. “I have been, and continue to be very impressed by the cohesiveness of our priests, their camaraderie, clear sense of concern for each other and for the people they serve, their depth of spirituality, and their willingness to give generously of themselves. We are very blessed in this diocese to have such a wonderful presbyterate.

“This is the Year of the Priest, as declared by Pope Benedict XVI. It was very fitting that our Clergy Convocation was led by Fr. Knott, who did a superb job of underlining the importance of a unified presbyterate. He commented that each individual priest must contribute intentionally to the unity and the effectiveness of the presbyterate.

“Indeed this is a model for our entire church as we live Christ’s command to serve each other and to love our neighbor,” said Bishop Wester.

He added that the priests had liturgies, prayed and enjoyed meals together, and “it was a time of real renewal and to be energized in our service of God’s people. I hope it was also a time for the priests to rest and to enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Park City.”

He said he and the priests are very grateful to all the people, staff, lay leaders, religious leaders and deacons who made the convocation possible.

Father Javier Virgen, vicar for Hispanic Affairs and associate vocation director, is the chairman of the Clergy Convocation committee, which was formed to help priests in their ongoing formation throughout their lives. The Clergy Convocation offers specific topics for priests’ intellectual, pastoral and spiritual growth.

The priests usually meet the first week in October, Fr. Virgen said, “not only to reflect on specific topics that will help us, but also to relax and rest, to come together as the presbyterate, and to share our pastoral experiences and what is going on in our lives. Above all, it is a time for us to increase our bonds of friendship, to help and support each other, and to understand each other in our ministries as priests, as we try to help the bishop in his ministry.”

Because the diocese encompasses the entire state, it’s difficult for all priests to get together, so there are two convocations a year, Fr. Virgen said.

Fr. Virgen said the bishop has formed a ministry team for priests to help him decide which topics and speakers would be best for these convocations. He is very conscious of the needs of his priests and really cares for them.

This year the topic was the priesthood in The Year of the Priest, and Fr. Knott spoke of his own experiences as a priest.

“He was a great inspiration and help for us as we continue to serve as priests in our diocese, and at the same time as we continue to grow spiritually and pastorally,” Fr. Virgen said. “His input from traveling throughout the United States gives him vast wisdom and knowledge about the needs of the priests knowing that first we are Christians and then human beings being called by Christ to continue his mission of the salvation of souls.”

“In our unity, we, as priests gathered around the bishop, need to work to make sure we have a common mission to serve the people of the diocese and to serve each other as brother priests,” said Father Samuel Dinsdale, pastor of Saint Patrick Parish, Salt Lake City. “We are to work against anything that would bring disunity to our presbyterate.

Fr. Dinsdale added that he found the convocation very helpful because they talked about how their ministry relates to each other’s ministry. “It is a great challenge, because like all presbyterates, ours is aging, priests are coming in from foreign countries who are bringing with them different experiences and understandings of the church and priesthood, and different cultures. We were talking more about divisions in ideology rather than ethnicity, and whether we see ourselves as a traditional Catholic, or a pre- or post-Vatican II Catholic, and everything in between.”

Fr. Knott invited them to appreciate the gifts and abilities of each priest,” said Father Martin Diaz, pastor of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, Midvale. “He used the example of international priests getting an opportunity to speak about their diocese in their own country to the whole gathering of priests. Fr. Knott said that no diocese has done this.”

Fr. Knott also said that the priests from the local diocese should offer the workshops rather than someone from the outside.

“The idea was acknowledging that within our presbyterate, or any presbyterate, there is a multiplicity of gifts that we tend to not support unless we are directed to support them,” said Fr. Dinsdale.

“He challenged us, not in a confrontational way, but to envision ourselves to respond better in ministry, not to discount what is good, but what we can do that is better?” said Fr. Dinsdale. “How can we look to the future to further respond to the need to be more unified and have a common understanding or direction as a grouping of priests? As priests we were never meant to operate individually, we were meant to collaborate with the bishop.”