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INFORMATION BULLETIN No 84 AUGUST 2007
The Changing Face of the Presbyterate Health and Wellbeing Issues for Priests Cheryle Davies speaking to clergy... Pastores
Dabo Vobis no. 74 (extracts)
The
last two Bulletins (Diabetes, Christmas in mega-parishes) brought with them many
positive responses. Many thanks for your generous comments. A great deal has
been happening around In
addition, fine work is being done on the same topic in the Archdioceses of
Brisbane and Melbourne partic-ularly by their health-care teams. These teams
include among their number women with
a nursing and/or social welfare background who are actively engaged in caring
for clergy. The exceptional work done by Cherlye Davies and Bernadette Mills
(and other mem-bers of their teams) is referred to in this Bulletin. Both women
spoke to the There
is no substitute for our care for one another. Pastores
dabo vobis makes this clear, as you will see from extracts of no.
74 printed on the back. What is also clear are the great blessings that
result from well resourced dioceses sharing their gifts with other dio-ceses.
The sharing in health care is a great example. With
personal best wishes, Frank
Devoy Director
THE NATIONAL MEETING OF DIOCESAN DIRECTORS The Changing Face of the Presbyterate
The
national meeting of Diocesan Director of Clergy Life and Ministry this year was
devoted to examining the Presbyterate. Entitled The
Changing Face of the Presbyterate, the Directors provided photographs of
their presbyterates, explaining why they had chosen them. Many displayed two or
three photos spanning the past fifty, even eighty years, using them to identify
clearly the changing face of their presbyterates. Probing the topic at a deeper level, Archbishop Mark
Coleridge ‘unpacked’ Section 74
of Pastores dabo vobis. His analysis
prompted wide-ranging discussion on our obligations to each other and to the
Church. The focus then shifted to the “Health and Well-being
Issues for Catholic Priests”. The second guest speaker was Bernadette Mills who spoke of
her rewarding work with the ‘retired’ men in The nurses both enjoy their work immensely and express a
desire to work toward excellence in care and services. There are a number of
clergy care services across a variety of dioceses. The nurses are increasing
their communication and the sharing of information to continue to improve
services nationally. The blessings of reasonable health, good genes, age, and the need or desire to step down from the responsibility of running a parish, call not only for our personal support for those ‘retired’ (by visits etc), but also for such specialised care which can be offered only at diocesan level. These are the topics the nurses presented to the gathering of Directors:
ARCHDIOCESE OF BRISBANE AND MELBOURNE "Health & Wellbeing Issues for Priests"
Speaking in detail
of the importance of proactive preventative health care, Bernadette
Mills provided details of the day-to-day work involved in looking
after some 80 or more retired priests in 1. They care
about others: ‘Fr X needs you, I don’t’ 2. Maintaining a
sense of Individuality is important. 3. Being
Independent is a high priority. 4. Generosity
of Spirit is more easily expressed to others than to self. 5. It can be
challenging as capable/competent
leaders, to adjust when personal circumstances are out of control (eg. Illness) 6. As public
figures, maintaining privacy is
important and it can be hard to ‘let down the guard’ and trust others. 7. Conscientious.
‘I will have my heart attack on my day off, or at least after 8. Resourceful
and self sufficient. Priests tend to find ways around any obstacle or
challenge...it comes back to independence. 9. Not
good at asking for help. It can be hard for the ‘carer’ to allow others
to care for them. 10. Priests
are a very interesting and diverse group of people.
Cheryle Davies speaking to clergy....
As
a priest, you work in the area broadly known as human services (e.g. police,
ambulance officers, health professionals, social workers etc). Studies identify
that those working in human services have an increased risk to their health and
wellbeing due to high stress levels and burnout. There
are many reasons why clergy are at particularly high risk, a few of these are: •
High
expectations on self and varied/unrealistic expectations by others •
Lack of
clearly defined boundaries - tasks are never done •
Hard to
measure achievements •
Lack of
separation between role, relationships, living environment •
High time
demands •
Multiplicity
of roles/responsibilities •
Increasing
administrative work – offers little reward •
‘Shift
work’ and being ‘on call’ can increase isolation To
list some simple guidelines may seem trite if you are currently feeling stressed
and frustrated. A big part of the picture is to recognize that it is normal to
struggle with these sorts of issues in ministry, and thinking through some
positive approaches is a good way forward. Perhaps the first thing to do is to
think through how you can say ‘No’ when you need to. Work out your personal
and ministry priorities so you can measure requests against a bigger view than
the immediate demand. Start with self care so that you can feel back in control
of the decisions you are making. There
is a slogan ‘A well dusted life is the sign of a wasted life’: it is a good
reminder about priorities. Perhaps you can think of an equally apt slogan for
priests! Pastores Dabo Vobis, no 74 (extracts)
“The
priest should grow in awareness of the deep communion uniting him to the People
of God: He is not only ‘in the forefront of’ the Church, but above all
‘in’ the Church. He is a brother among brothers … The
sacrament of holy orders is conferred upon priests Ø
as individuals, but Ø
they are inserted into
the communion of the presbyterate united with the bishop ... This
sacramental origin is reflected and continued in the sphere of priestly
ministry: Ø
from mysterium
(mystery) to ministerium (ministry) Unity
among the priests with the bishop and among themselves Ø
is not something added
from the outside to the nature of their service, Ø
but expresses its
essence inasmuch as it is the care of Christ the priest for the people gathered
in the unity of the Blessed Trinity. The presbyterate thus
appears as Ø
a true family, Ø
as a fraternity Ø
whose ties do not
arise from flesh and blood but from the grace of holy orders. This grace takes up and
elevates Ø
the human and
psychological bonds of affection and friendship, Ø
as well as the
spiritual bonds which exist between priests. It is a grace that Ø
grows ever greater and
Ø
finds expression in
the most varied forms of mutual assistance, Ø
spiritual and material as well. “Priestly fraternity excludes no one. Ø
it can and should have its preferences: Ø
those who have greatest need of help and
encouragement. This fraternity takes special care of Ø
young priests, Ø
maintains a kind and fraternal dialogue with
those of the middle age and Ø
older age groups, Ø
with those who for whatever reasons are facing
difficulties, Ø
those priests who have given up this way of
life or are not following it at this time, this brotherhood does not forget them
but follows them all the more with fraternal solicitude.” Religious clergy who live
and work in a particular church also belong to the one presbyterate, albeit
under a different title. Their presence is a source of Ø
enrichment for all
priests. Ø
The different
particular charisms which they live … help to encourage and promote ongoing
priestly formation. For their part, religious
will be concern to ensure Ø
a sprit of true
ecclesial communion, Ø
a genuine
participation in the progress of the diocese and the pastoral decisions of the
bishop, Ø
generosity putting
their own charism at the service of building up everyone in charity..
--
Pope John Paul II
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