Priests’ convocation seeks to foster unity

    From Sept. 20-22, you will hold a convocation called “Cultivating Unity” for priests in the archdiocese. What was the genesis of this initiative?
    In my conversations with priests and in talking to priests at the Presbyteral Council and the Council of Deans, it became evident to me that priests were asking for more opportunities for fellowship, prayer and mutual support. As we began to talk about this, several of us were familiar with a national program that’s offered by the National Organization for the Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy (NOCERCC) and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), which is based at Georgetown University. NOCERCC and CARA have designed a “Cultivating Unity” workshop that is exclusively for priests. Priests get together with their bishop to reflect on their priestly ministry, come to a deeper appreciation of their call and vocation, and then very specifically talk about their sense of fraternity and unity. The priests also talk about the spirit of unity they have with their bishop and how that can be assessed.
    This sounds much more intensive than a one-day seminar.
    It’s 2 1/2 days, so it is extensive. It’s designed for priests to gather for prayer, reflection, Mass and discussion, and then we hope to set some specific goals to unify the presbyterate and to help the bishop be more effective in his role of shepherding. We’ve signaled how important we think this is by asking deacons and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion to offer Communion services in parishes on Sept. 21 and 22 in order to free up priests to attend the entire convocation. Some parishes might have Mass celebrated if there is a retired priest or a religious community priest available. It’s important for us to be together and to reflect on our vocation and to see how we can serve God’s people better.
    What kind of preparation work went into the convocation?
    Each priest was sent a somewhat detailed survey in which he could express his opinion about the fraternity of the presbyterate and also his assessment of the role of leadership of the archbishop. Some of the questions were answered by checking off “strongly agree,” “somewhat agree,” “strongly disagree” and so on, but some of the answers were open-ended, where priests could write in their responses. Those responses have been tabulated, and we’ve disseminated the findings to the priests. Besides the survey, Father Stephen Fichter, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, coordinated four listening sessions to give priests the opportunity to express themselves verbally. They talked about why they are grateful for the relationships they have with other priests and also about how those relationships can be improved. They talked about how we could become a more unified group of disciples and a more unified coworkers in ministry.
    What will the basic format be?
    We will start on Tuesday afternoon and I will give a “state of the archdiocese” for about an hour and then open things up for discussion. Later that afternoon the conference will begin. Two priests, including Father Fichter, and a layperson will make presentations and lead the discussions.
    How many priests are expected to participate?
    We’ve been preparing for this for a year, and I’m very happy to say there is good news and challenging news. The good news is we have almost 200 priests who have responded. The challenging news is the meeting room at the hotel where we’ll be staying is going to be a little tight – so that will give us a chance for real fraternity! The response from priests has been overwhelmingly positive.
    Should anyone feel threatened by the process?
    I’ve been through “Cultivating Unity” once before, and I found it to be a very affirming process. It gives us an opportunity to put our minds and hearts and prayers together and to come up with some goals. My experience is that it has not been threatening at all. If there are some things we need to share with one another in order to produce greater fraternity in our ministry, we need to hear that. That means whether those comments are directed to brother priests or to the bishops. I am going into this with an open mind and an open heart, and I am assuming I will learn something and will be able to be a better archbishop after this is over.
    What specifically would you like to see come out of this event?
    It’s hard to tell because it’s a process. It’s a discussion and there are presentations. Once it’s over, what I’d like to do is give a recap of what we did and list some of the goals and objectives that we see for ourselves. I would ask everyone throughout the archdiocese to pray that our time together will bear fruit and improve our collaboration and unity, which in turn will foster the priestly ministry for which we have been ordained.
    Questions for Archbishop Aymond can be sent to [email protected].