Post for November 19, 2009
I attended a meeting this morning of the various lay pastoral agents for our Archdiocese, which was organized by our office (the Office for Pastoral Personnel). I found the gathering very touching — several witnesses got up to give their testimony of the work they are doing in the Lord’s vineyard, and more importantly of the work they see the Lord doing in his vineyard.
I really believe that the transformation of our culture is going to require a body of laity truly alive and the Spirit and awake to their task. Some commentators have called the Catholic laity a “slumbering giant”, and in some respects I think that is true. I was very encouraged by what I saw and heard, but we need more. We need a way to take these people, give them community *around the task they are called to accomplish* and give them the training they need so that they are (a) truly Catholic, and (b) truly competent. The Archdiocese has the herculean task of now trying to make it happen. Ah well, sleep is overrated…
Posted by Wordmobi
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for November 14, 2009
Whew, what a weekend. I had another 24-hour training session with some of the foreign priests, which had me going full steam all day Friday (until 10 pm) and all Sat morning. But it was amazing — Fr. Alain Pouliot came from the diocese of Quebec City to be our guest speaker on the subject of teamwork in the Quebec cultural context, and Francine Tremblay spoke to us Saturday morning on the relationship between men and women (again, in the local cultural context). Both sessions were just great, and I think everyone got a lot out of them. I know I could never have led them with such quality, so I’m really glad I was able to find people of quality to take on this challenge.
Our next sessions will be in two weeks, on media and communications. I may add a fourth 24 hour session to cover miscellaneous topics that have been arising over time. One thing I do know: the priests attending these sessions are not wasting their time.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for October 22, 2009
Today was a special training session for our new pastors, who were joined also by some priests who are likely soon to be named pastors. One thing they don’t teach us in seminary is how to administer a parish, and in the past a priest learned it by being an associate pastor for ten or twenty years. Well, we don’t have that luxury any more, and priests are becoming pastors with sometimes less than 3 years of experience. Hence, today’s training session.
We first covered the basic ecclesiology of what it means to be the presider of a community. Then, after lunch I presented a French-language version of a paper I once wrote on the relationship between a parish and a fabrique. Finally, we had a general overview of the administration of a parish: what papers need to be filed, how to avoid problems with the various level of government, and so on. It was a full day, to be sure!
I’m not sure how much 1 day of training is worth for the mammoth task of pastoring what can sometimes be several parishes at once. All the same, it is certainly better than nothing, and from the reactions of those just starting out, it was much appreciated.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for October 1, 2009
Today I had a meeting of a special ad hoc committee within the diocesan structure: the “comité employeur”, which was put in place a few months ago to respond to certain elements of the ambient legal climate in which the Church finds itself.
Simply put, the Church does not exist apart from the world. We are *in* the world, but at the same time, we are not supposed to be *of* the world. Part of the secret to maintaining this distinction is to make sure that we, as Church, are strong in our understanding of who we are and what we are about. Part of this strength comes from being consistent in how we apply that understanding, i.e. we need to act justly and without arbitrariness. If we don’t do this, then the world will define these things for us — and will feel quite free about doing so, I might add, because we either won’t be living up to our own standards, or worse, we won’t even have a consistent picture of what those standards are.
Now one significant area of law other there in “the world” is the question of employment law. The rights and responsibilities of employer and employee are quite developed in the various branches of law and government. We also, in the Church, have a concept of being “workers in the vineyard”, with concept of hierarchy and obedience giving a “buck stops here” kind of structure that is parallel to what we find in most secular corporations. That being said, the fit is not perfect. Most secular employers, for example, don’t really care to what religion an employee belongs, but obviously this is a mission-critical question within the Catholic Church for most positions, particularly those where a mandate from the bishop is required.
So this “comité employeur” is all about trying to find a way to best interface with the requirements of secular society while at the same time retaining the independence of the Church and her freedom to act according to her conscience. It isn’t easy. Our legal advisors, for example, don’t all understand the nature of ecclesiatical work, and a host of jurispridence seems to indicate that even the courts and tribunals are trying to feel their way through the same questions. One thing is clear: they don’t want to wind up having to define what Catholics believe, and it seems to me all those judges and mediators would welcome a clear presentation by the Church that takes into account the complex social framework we have in place. Nope, it isn’t easy, but it is kind of fun (I like puzzles), and it is part of the challenge of the job I presently have.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 1 Comment
Post for September 10, 2009
I spent most of today running between government offices. Wow, it’s amazing what hoops we must jump through to get papers and forms…
Why? A brother priest did not have the right immigration document. So first, we had to go to the Canada/US border, try to enter the USA, be refused, re-enter Canada, and get the paper. This is apparently a fairly standard procedure called the “Buffalo shuffle” — border guards on both sides were aware of the process. Hats off the the Americans, I might add: they were courteous and efficient, exactly what we needed.
Then, upon making it back to Montreal, we ran between different federal and provincial departments to try and get other papers — social insurance number, health insurance card, and so forth. It took the whole day, but at last (almost) everything is in place.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for September 4, 2009
I had the privilege of being a special guest at an Iftar dinner this evening. Iftar is the name of the meal held at the end of the day during the Muslim month of Ramadan. As devout Muslims don’t eat anything at all during the day, the eat “breakfast” (literally, the meal that breaks the fast) once the sun goes down. It is meant to be a time of joy and celebration, lived with family and friends.
This particular Iftar was organized by the Canadian Muslim Forum. The Cardinal was invited to attend, but as he could not make it he asked me to go in his place and offer his greetings and friendship. I was honoured! The meal was held at the Nuits de mosaique restaurant (albeit without the belly dancers!), and the food was delicious. I also had a chance to meet a number of very interesting people, such as the mayor of Brossard (I sat next to him throughout the meal), as well as a number of other political representatives and candidates.
One particular guest across from me was Sheikh Said Youssef Fawaz. He is a local Imam, and the Canadian representative of the Ligue Islamique Mondiale (in English, the Muslim World League), a key islamic missionary organization. This organization is heavily supported by the Saudis and therefore is likely heavily influenced by the Wahabist interpretation of Islam. I’d be very interested to hear his sermons.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 2 Comments
Post for August 28, 2009
I had to help deal with a bit of a media emergency today: a foreign journalist, whose first language wasn’t French and whose second language was English, called the diocese looking for some info for a story she was doing. Our diocesan press secretary asked me to help out, so I wound up being temporary spokeman for about an hour. This sort of thing is always makes me a bit nervous, but I do believe in engaging the media in as professional a way as possible, as they have a very important role in a free society. We’ll see how it turns out.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for August 26, 2009
I had a meeting of our priest pension fund today. It was fairly routine: looking over the performance of our investments, checking on our conversion rate, and so on. We still have a large actuarial deficit, but things are looking up for our fund nevertheless.
What is an actuarial deficit, you ask? In order to protect the members of the pension fund, the Quebec government requires that a fund have a minimum amount of value based on the number of members in that fund, their age, and so on. After a complex series of calculations using actuarial tables, this target amount can then be compared to the actual amount in a fund to see if the fund has too much or too little money/value.
The thing is, the actuarial tables are prepared by external professionals based on population data. As the demographics of the population change, so do the tables. The tables had a major adjustment a few years ago, and suddenly pension funds all across the province found themselves in a deficit situation. Note that these funds were not losing money! They had, for the main, actually been very well managed. The deficit is an actuarial one, i.e. a difference between the actual and target amounts based on the demographic data.
Still, paper deficit or not, the government obliges the funds to make up the difference — again, to protect the members, and in a sense they are right, as that actuarial deficit would become a real deficit over time as priests retired. Here is the diocese the bishop made an appeal to all the parishes to contribute an annual amount so as to protect the priests pensions, and people were very generous. The deficit has not been completely erased, but things seem on track.
Of course, there are other things out of our control as well. The current economic turbulence throughout the world does not help, although our portfolio is wisely divided between growth and income investments and so should weather the storm well.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for August 25, 2009
I had a meeting today to look a building a fundraising project for the diocesan “Oeuvre des vocations”. This is the foundation that supports our seminarians, as well as seeks to promote vocations (especially to the priesthood). For some reason I am part of the team trying to develop a “look” for our fundraising program. The thing is, anyone who knows me knows that I am not the guy to go to for a winning “look”. I’m the kind of priest who, upon ordination, was thrilled to be able to put on a black clerical shirt each day because I could stop having to be my usual fashion disaster. When it comes to websites, for example, I know exactly what I want technology-wise — just don’t ask me to make my website “pretty”, ’cause I just don’t know. When it comes to publicity, I know what I don’t want to see; I know what story I want to tell; but as for being creative in the visual department, it’s just not me.
So, somehow, I got the job of helping to put together the visuals for a fundraising project. Ah, the strange ways of Mother Church.
But maybe there are times that the geeky programmer side comes in. After all, the basics of cooking are pretty much all the same across the board — the secret is in the spices, not the main ingredients. I think maybe the same of true for visuals. Ideas do not drop from the sky — I suspect most are incremental refurbishings of other ideas. So my partner and I took a look around the net at stock photography websites, to see what visual ideas are already out there.
It turned out to be really useful for priming the creative pump. In particular, the goreous visuals found at WP Whittman were really useful. Bill, the owner, explained that while this is the way he makes his living, he also sees it as a ministry and does his work as an offering to God. And it shows. Check it out!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 25, 2009
If you’ve read the homily preached by Cardinal Turcotte at the mass of ordination for Michael Leclerc, you already know we have just begun a special “year for priests” where the Pope is inviting us to reflect on the gift that is the priesthood for the Church and for humanity. I attended a meeting today to help prepare our own diocesan response to this opportunity, and I thought I’d share with my readers some of the resources already popping up on the Net.
First of all, the Congregation for the Clergy already has a number of links posted on its web site relating to this Year for Priests. Of particular interest, of course, is the actual letter of Pope Benedict XVI on the question.
The US Catholic Bishops have also put up a section of their web site concerning the Year for Priests, with lots of resources sure to be added.
So has CatholicCulture.org.
And as well, Our Sunday Visitor has a friendly web page with practical ideas for ordinary folks to help enter into the spirit of this year. I especially like the suggestion of inviting the priest to dinner! 
Know of any other resources? Feel free to leave a comment and let us know!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 16, 2009
Benin is a country in west Africa. I just finished meeting with Bishop Paul Vieira of the diocese of Djougou (in the north of the country). He came as the representative of the episcopal conference of that country, to see how to encourage relations between the church of Benin and the Catholics of Quebec. We discussed many scenarios, but I then added that one thing that could help a great deal would be for them to organize a program (say two weeks long) that a group of pilgrims from Canada could do to really get to know the people and culture and church of Benin. A positive experience would mean that their local church would have enthusiastic supporters back here in Canada.
He LOVED the idea. So, anybody want to go to Benin?
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for April 8, 2009
Today I began to work in ernest on a new personnel database for our office. I’m able to update the main profile table, and the system I have designed tracks every change made to that table (along with the userid of whoever made it). Next step: a login system, which should not be hard because I’ve designed something like that before.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for April 3, 2009
One of the major advisory committees within our diocese is called the Nominations Committee. It is composed of the Director of the Office for Pastoral Personnel, his assistant directors (including yours truly) and the regional episcopal vicars of our diocese. It is the committee responsible to discern what pastoral assignments to recommend to the Archbishop.
Every spring, the Nominations Committee goes through an exercise to determine what pastoral changes will be made for the September 1 start of the pastoral year. Which means that every spring we have lots of long meetings, trying to see what needs to change and what needs to stay the same.
Today was one of those meetings. Sorry, the results are top secret until the Cardinal approves of the recommendations, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how relatively painless the exercise was this time. Oh we are not done yet, and much can still be undone through unforseen circumstances, but it is looking good.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for March 28, 2009
Yesterday I had a most interesting experience: I was refused entry into the United States at the Champlain border crossing. Or, to be more accurate, my passenger was refused entry, so we had to be processed inside the border services post and then sent back to Canada.
While it sounds kinda dramatic, it wasn’t really. In fact, we did this on the advice of Immigration Canada, and the Americans were totally aware of the situation. Basically, my passenger (a foreign priest) needed a new immigration document. He had applied by mail, but that took months only for it to be refused by mistake. We know it was by mistake because when we consulted the immigration office in Montreal, they confirmed that it should probably not have been refused. Rather than wait another two to four months, they then proposed a procedure some call the “Buffalo shuffle” (not the official name, I assure you). Basically, because immigration officers are allowed to issue papers right at the border and on the spot, the trick is to go into the USA and return immediately into Canada. The danger is that there is no guarantee that the person will be allowed back into Canada, but since it was Immigration that had proposed it I figured they probably had notes regarding his case on file. Besides, we had documentation up the wazoo, so no worries, right?
Well……I’ll admit, I wasn’t too keen on the idea. After all, somebody does need to bring the individual in question to the border, so you get personally involved. But no guts no glory, right? And I’m happy to say that all’s well that ends well. First of all, hats off to the Americans. The border guards were friendly, understanding and professional, explaining exactly what needed to be done; I was impressed! The Canadian side went smoothly as well: we weren’t the first ones to ever do the “Buffalo shuffle”! While it took a couple of hours to be processed, all the necessary paperwork was soon in place. Soon my brother priest had a social insurance number as well, and it now ready to become a taxpayer. Lucky him.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 1 Comment
Post for February 12, 2009
I just got out of a meeting with a missionary who has been working in Papua New Guinea. Now for those of you who don’t know, Papua New Guinea is one of the last places on earth where cannibalism was frequently practiced (heck, even up until 10-15 years ago). So this missionary tells me this story:
He was having a group meeting of some parishioners, and at one point asked the people, just out of curiosity, how many had tasted human flesh. They were nervous about answering, because nowadays cannibalism is illegal in that country. So he reassured them he wasn’t interested in having anyone go to jail, and a few older people put up their hands.
“And what part of the human body is the tastiest?” he asked.
The answer: “Ladies thighs”.
So the next day he made sure to tell the nuns not to go and visit certain villages.
The things you learn in this job!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal, Scenes of priesthood | Leave a Comment
Post for October 12, 2008
On Friday I had the privilege of presiding over a first for the province of Quebec: a gathering of our brother priests from other countries who are here for studies and/or ministry. The goal was to help them understand the Quebec context, but as well give them tools for dealing with their own experience of being here (e.g. how to handle culture shock).
First, the participants: we had brother priests from Guatemala, Poland, Haiti, Brazil, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Holland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo sharing fellowship for 2.5 days. Regarding activities, Father Benoit Lacroix, the famous Quebec sociologist, was present the Saturday morning to offer a conference on Quebec culture, Bishop François Lapierre celebrated mass for us the Saturday night, and Father Rick van Lier was with us all of Sunday for a look into the history of the church in Quebec. We also had some down time to view the classic Quebec film La Grande Séduction, which contained many references to things we had discussed, and finally Father Bertrand Montpetit came to share with us his own experience of culture shock when he was a missionary in Peru.
I really enjoyed the weekend, not just because I felt I was really doing my job, but because I was getting a taste of the universal Church. This will not be the last time we will do such a weekend, I am sure, and I suspect if the Holy Spirit has his way (as he always does) there will be even more demand for this kind of experience in the future. I know, I know: I’m crazy to be giving myself even more work. But when it goes so well and has so much meaning, it is hard to resist.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 1 Comment
Post for July 25, 2008
I had lunch with Father Marco Guzman today. He was the priest that got me set up for my month in Mexico, and now he is returning home. Many thanks for all your help, Father, it was great getting to know you.
As a special treat, Father Guzman gave me a gift: a Spanish-language sacramentary! This is a major addition to my liturgical books collection, and I look forward to practising the mass in Spanish. Thank you Father!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for July 24, 2008
I had a wedding rehearsal today for Deanna and Nick, who are getting married this Saturday. I really like this couple, and I look forward to the day.
The wedding will be taking place at our local Slovak church (although you won’t hear any Slovak from me), so I also had a chance to spend some time with the pastor Father Francis. He’s a young priest (younger than me in both age and years of ordination) who come to Canada shortly after ordination to take charge of this parish. After the rehearsal we drove to the post-practise party, and had a really nice chance to chat with people and with each other. I’m hoping I’ll be able to help him find some additional ministry within the city, as the Slovak Catholic population is rather small (and getting older).
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 1 Comment
Post for July 3, 2008
Well, not quite. This afternoon I actually headed over to Anjou, a sub-section of Montreal, to meet with a brother priest who is himself from Brazil. Although we had seen one another from large diocesan gatherings, we had never actually met or chatted, so this was our chance to get to know one another. We headed out to his favourite coffee shop (where “it takes like coffee from home”, as he put it), and had a good couple of hours just sharing priestly brotherhood.
I love days like this.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 29, 2008
I didn’t have any particular ministry assignment this weekend, so I decided to head over to Chinatown nearby and visit with Fr. John, the young pastor of the Chinese Catholic mission. He and I have become good friends, and we go for coffee often enough. This Sunday was a special commissioning service for the youth of his parish who were headed off to Sydney for the World Youth Day, and I was glad to be there.
Fr. John did pull a bit of a fast one on me, though: 5 minutes before the mass, he asked me to offer a few words at the homily! He smiled and explained that he always offers a few words in English at this mass in particular — why not have it be from someone new? (Naturally I agreed: I can’t resist a chance to open my mouth, after all.)
As an added bonus, Fr. John has offered to help with the Adventus site — by translating some of the articles into Chinese! He believes that new Chinese immigrants might benefit from our approach to presenting the faith. It is a very exciting prospect.
» Filed Under Adventus, Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 27, 2008
We had a double ordination tonight.
The Cathedral was packed.
150 priests showed up. Five additional bishops were seated alongside the Cardinal.
I was one of the two masters of ceremonies.
It was one of the most beautiful ordinations I have ever been privileged to be a part of.
Congratulations, gentlemen!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 26, 2008
Normally I dress in my best clerics when I go to work, but today I wore jeans, a t-shirt and sandals: it was our end of year team meeting at the Val-Marie diocesan centre north of Montreal. While I am not a fan of meetings, and certainly not all-day meetings, this one at least gave us a chance to evaluate what we accomplished during the year and where we now stand.
It has been a rock-and-roll year…again. With the departure of Bishop Tony Mancini to become Archbishop of Halifax, my own boss became the vicar general of the diocese, taking over that function around the end of November (Bishop Lionel Gendron became my new boss in January). My teaching schedule was particularly hectic, with two whole courses to develop (and which, happily, are now available on the web!) My work with foreign priests suffered somewhat, but the new inculturation program I’m getting in place is coming along super well. I’ve also been able to collaborate with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on a document on stewardship, and my work with the Canadian Center for Ecumenism has also taken off. Again, it has not been a perfect year, but I’ve actually started feeling like I know what I am doing (which is probably a dangerous feeling 
).
I mentioned back in April how my retreat this year was a real spiritual butt-kicking from the Lord. Without getting into the details, let’s just say that it truly was transformative. The hard part has been learning to be both a disciple and a leader at the same time. I’m far from getting that one right.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 25, 2008
As regular readers of this blog might know, I set up a committee some time ago to develop a program to welcome foreign priests in this diocese, as well as help them to understand our local culture and way of doing things. We had our third meeting this morning, and I am really pleased. We get more things done in this committee in an hour than other committees accomplish in a month. My hat’s off to my members.
Word is getting around the province that this is getting organized. I’m told there are some bishops who would be interested in sending some of their priests on this session. My archbishop wants this to remain a Montreal project, but he’s open to this other possibility, as long as the budget is shared. Seems fair to me, so it looks like things are full speed ahead!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 23, 2008
Today I had the pleasure of meeting 3 different diocesan bishops:
- Bishop Ehouzou of the diocese of Porto-Novo, Benin
- Archbishop Agboton of the diocese of Cotonou, Benin
- Cardinal Tumi of Douala in Cameroon
All were in town for the Eucharistic Congress that took place last week in Quebec City, and they stopped by in Montreal to speak with me about the possibility of our diocese receiving addition priests from them for further university studies. It was a wide-ranging and frank discussion in each case, particularly with regards to the challenges we face here, and I was greatly encouraged by the realism of these men.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 18, 2008
I visited a parish today, one that I hadn’t seen for almost a year. When I first saw it, I knew I could never live there, as there was absolutely no separation between the living quarters of the rectory and the office portion — people were wandering in and out and all about at all hours, literally. And this type of situation is of great concern for me, actually, because I really feel that our priests deserve decent living conditions (and you should see some of the hellish rectory situations some have been in).
I am very happy to report, though, that this parish has really turned things around. I am sure the changes have ruffled some feathers, but now the second floor has been isolated from the rest of the house, giving the priests a private sleeping and living quarters. The kitchen is still Grand Central Station, mind you, but at least they’ve been able to take the padlocks off the refrigerator (no, I am not kidding on that one). One thing at a time, I guess.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 17, 2008
One of my responsibilities is to prepare dossiers regarding the incardination of priests. “Incardination” refers to the fact that there are no “freelance” priests in the Catholic Church — every priest (and deacon) is “incardinated” in a diocese or other religious structure of some kind, thereby making them accountable to some sort of superior. Priests who do not respect their incardination are known as “vagus” priests, a term that within ecclesiastical circles is a real slap in the face.
It is possible, however, to change your incardination, if the new diocese or religious order accepts you, and the old one accepts to let you go (something called “excardination”). While the transfer of priests does not happen every day, it does happen, and my job is to process the requests and, in particular, undertake some sort of evaluation process.
While an incardination can happen immediately, very often the receiving bishop accepts a candidate ad experimentum, i.e. for a trial period, to see how things work out. This trial period then serves as the basis for the evaluation. For example, today I spent a greater part of my day visiting parishes where a particular priest has served, as part of his incardination dossier. It would not be fair to him, nor to the Church, for us to accept him (or not) simply on the basis of hearsay. I believe firmly that justice requires an objective look — and not just justice, but the opportunity for self-growth.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for June 16, 2008
The title, by the way, refers to myself in this particular case.
Today was my day off, but the Vicar General asked me to come in for a group meeting with a lawyer to discuss the legal implications of some of our diocesan structures.
As it turns out, we have a certain amount of unnecessary legal exposure in our manner of hiring lay pastoral staff, and of giving them work assignments. The lawyer did not think so at first, but when I pushed him on it (giving additional details in the process) he actually changed his tune. (I hate to say this, but I have been underwhelmed by the competence of some of the lawyers I have met in my day, so I refuse to back down when I think a point has not been properly addressed.)
Our exposure comes from the fact that the diocese does not simply certify lay pastoral workers, but directly assigns them to parishes. This makes the diocese the legal employer, and not simply the parish. And to be honest, in some ways this is impossible to avoid, as lay pastoral workers now serve in multiple church capacities (e.g. multiple parishes, sharing the expense). Somebody needs to be the boss in such a case, so it tends to get kicked upstairs.
The proposed legal solution to this was the merger of these parishes into a single legal structure (basically one parish on paper but with more than one church). Again, however, I felt it important to be a fly in the ointment: if we start dissolving legal parishes to create “super-parishes”, we simply transfer the legal risk from the diocese to the “super-parish” — it does not get rid of it. The multiple parish structure has actually helped protect our local communities from predatory lawsuits. If we concentrate assets in larger corporations, the predators start to salivate.
It seems the only real solution is to actually do what a proper theology of the laity demands. The laity have their share in the mission of Christ thanks to their baptism and confirmation. The hierarchical church (i.e. bishops and priests) should respect that. The hierarchy does have the right and responsibility to make sure those who are working in the name of the Kingdom of God are doing so in a manner consistent with the Gospel — I certainly have no problem with that. But we can do this through a general certification process, without the bishop needing to directly assign this or that specific person to this or that specific parish.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 1 Comment
Post for June 12, 2008
Well, ok, it wasn’t Vietnam. It was the Vietnamese mission here in Montreal. I was there this morning to meet a foreign priest who has just recently arrived for language lessons (he is here to learn French, in preparation for future graduate studies in French, and my job is to welcome him into the diocese). I was very warmly welcomed at the parish by the pastor, and given my first taste of Vietnamese-style coffee. WHOA, was it strong! But very tasty, I must admit.
There are a few communities in the city that celebrate mass in Vietnamese, but the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam mission is the only one with a full pastoral approach geared to that language and culture. This priest will be here to acquire greater learning and then return to teach others back in his home country. May his trip be a success!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for March 14, 2008
One of our foreign priests has been having trouble getting his Social Insurance Number renewed. Just to explain the way this works: when a guest worker is in Canada he does not obtain a permanent S.I.N. (gotta love that acronym) but a temporary one that must be renewed periodically. Fr. Cameroon (we will call him) went to a Service Canada outlet to do exactly that…..twice…..and still got nowhere. So he contacted me to see if I could help him. I looked through some files, printed off some info from the Government of Canada website, and headed out this afternoon.
The basic problem, I have come to realise, is that Service Canada and Immigration Canada do not seem to be on the same wavelength for these things. I arrived At Service Canada with a copy of the Immigration Canada regulations which clearly state that, as a priest working in a parish, Fr. Cameroon does not require a work permit. One would think that this would make issuing a S.I.N. a snap. Alas…..
Fr. Cameroon’s visa indicates he is a student at a university, and points out that this gives him the right to be employed on the campus of the university. The clerk we were dealing with, however, was interpreting this right as a restriction, saying that he was ONLY allowed to work on the campus of the university (which is patently false). When I pointed out to the clerk that I represented the Archdiocese of Montreal, that Fr. Cameroon was one of our employees and that there were 20 other priests like him in the same situation, she got nervous because we weren’t just going away. When I handed her a copy of the relevant paragraphs of the government regulations regarding employment in Canada, in which it clearly stated he didn’t need a work permit, she started to panic and resorted to the final defense of the bureaucrat: “But you don’t have the right papers!”
I didn’t budge. “We don’t need those papers,” I said, “the law itself says so.” “Yes, but our procedures say you do!” she replied. To which I explained that I didn’t really care what her procedures said, the law was the law and it stated that no work permit was necessary.
She then said, “Perhaps this means that he can work without needing a Social Insurance Number.” (Translation: “Go away so I don’t have to give you a Social Insurance Number”.) To which I replied, “Do you honestly mean to suggest that he is going to be allowed to work in Canada without having to pay taxes? Are you honestly suggesting that this is now government policy?”
So she did what any other low-level bureaucrat confronted with the contradictions of the system would do: she phoned Ottawa. She explained the problem to one person, and then to another, and then to another. Now they were putting *her* on hold. She invited us to take a seat, but I smiled and replied that we would rather stay where we were, standing right in front of her. As she remained with her phone glued to her ear, I started pulling out paper after paper, including emails from people *within her own department* indicating that we had a right to the thing we came for.
I wish I could report that we left with a renewed S.I.N., but it was not to be. Our friendly neighbourhood bureaucrat made photocopies of our documents and faxed them to her superiors in Ottawa, but that was all that could be done because, it would seem, no one higher up the food chain was ready to make a decision either. As we left I let her know, quite plainly, that Fr. Cameroon was going to continue to use this old Social Insurance Number, expired or not, and that we were going to continue to pay him for his work.
Oh, and as we left I politely said I looked forward to seeing her again. She tensed and replied that we didn’t need to come back again, as Ottawa would contact us directly with its decision. “Oh no,” I said, “I don’t mean I’ll come back for Fr. Cameroon. Like I said, I have at least 20 other priests who are in the same situation. Assuming your procedures aren’t fixed, I’m sure I’ll be back again and again…..”
One of us had a smile at that point. One did not. I’ll leave you to guess who it was that did.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for March 11, 2008
One of my major responsibilities is to coordination the welcome given to foreign priests coming to the diocese, and to help them integrate with us. This is not always easy, given legal and cultural barriers that sometimes exist. So today, I presided over a very interesting gathering: a group of missionaries, immigrant priests and diocesan officials whose common purpose is to find a way to make the proper welcome of our brother priests from other lands. The shared experience we possess is really awesome, and I felt really good about the common sense of compassion and purpose that was expressed. If we can propose something truly worthwhile I suspect the diocese and even the province will run with it. Another meeting will be held in April to follow up on the results of this meeting and keep things moving forward. I’m looking forward to it.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 1 Comment
Post for March 6, 2008
One of the key challeges of working in diocesan human resources is the sheer size of those resources: we have over 600 priests on our lists, and then the deacons and mandated lay people as well. And this does not count, of course, the thousands of committed Christians active in their parish (and other) milieus. We want to be able to support all these people, but just getting to know who they *are* is already a challenge in itself.
But then again, that is why God invented database software.
Well, ok, maybe not. But I must say, it sure can be useful nonetheless. I’ve been working with one of our priests to try and build a database to track basic information on our priestly personnel (e.g. name, address, age, date of ordination, that sort of thing), and so far it is going well. The real goal, however, is to expand the database to include things like training and skills. We would then be able to plan out our continuing education needs, and act accordingly. The challenges facing priests have always been great, and I am not convinced we’ve always been able to get our guys ready for what is coming next — even in those rare occasions when we’ve actually *known* what was coming next. That has to change.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for March 1, 2008
Today I gave a special training session to a group of diaconal candidates. The topic? Preaching!
To put this course in context, you should know that last week I offered part I of the training session, giving the theory of what a homily is, and some tips on how to craft one. You can find those lessons in two parts:
- Homiletics training, part 1
- Homiletics training, part 2
Today, we put all this good stuff to use. I brought a video camera, and each diaconal candidate presented a 10-minute homily on the texts of next Sunday. We then began to review the homilies one by one, offering our critiques.
I must say, the guys did well. They all claimed to be nervous, but I didn’t really notice at all. Granted, there is a certain ease that comes with experience, as well as the ability to “get to the point” and not try and say it all, but in all honest I was really delighted. I’m hoping that we can repeat this process, as one Saturday of practical training is simply not enough to help people become good preachers, and the guys themselves seemed to want that. Of course, that means more work for me, but it is fun work, and I think it would be worth it.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for February 28, 2008
Today was a meeting between the various department heads (and their associates) at the Archdiocese. We call the “Offices and Services”. In 2000-speak of our diocesan curia, an “Office” is like a “congregation” in the Roman Curia — its role is to set binding policy for the diocese. On the other hand, a “Service” is more like a “council” in the Roman Curia — it is there to support certain pastoral initiatives. For myself, I work in an Office, called the Office for Pastoral Personnel. We basically handle human resources issues for all pastoral personnel in the archdiocese. I am the “adjoint” to the Director of the Office, a title which does not translate well into English (I usually use “associate director” to express that I have no power to make any decisions without reference to my boss, but at the same time I have the right to take initiatives within certain defined fields of action). Yeah, its complicated.
Now please don’t misunderstand the title of this post! I do not mean that I am “getting out of the Office of the Pastoral Personnel”. Far from it! I’m referring to a request that the Archbishop made shortly before I began working at in the curia — that all curial personnel devote 20% of their time “on the ground” in the pastoral regions of the diocese. In other words, he wants us to get out of the ivory tower and see what is really going on.
Well I can tell you, that is preaching to the choir as far as I am concerned. Personally, I’ve tried to equip myself to be able to do just that. My backpack is pre-loaded, for example, with things that turn it into a kind of portable office. It is subdivided into several pouches so I can store multiple files when I travel. I’ve got my 4 GB data key that can store basically every electronic dossier I have. I’ve got a Blackberry-ready cell phone complete with Bluetooth keyboard, so I can work basically anywhere. My contact database has over 500 people in it, and I keep a spare copy of the diocesan directory in one of pouches so that I’m never really out of touch.
Still, the situation is not perfect. For some odd reason, I can’t forward my phone from the office to the cell, so if people call me they have to leave a message (and I have to remember to get the message – it isn’t seamless). I can only get access to email through a complex web interface, and the diocese does not (at present – *ahem*) pay for data usage. I have no remote access at all the file servers on the LAN, and no way of synchronising files with the data key. This last point is really important, because if I were to lose the data key — poof. And I need a way to encrypt it, too, so that no one else would gain access to confidential materials. One step at a time, I guess.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for February 27, 2008
One of the key areas of responsibility on my plate is support to the recently ordained priests in Montreal (i.e. those ordained less than 10 years, otherwise known as the “young priests”). In practical terms, one of the things I do is organize an annual meeting between the Cardinal Archbishop and these priests. Today was the day for this encounter.
The Cardinal has written his weekly column on the subject of this meeting, and I thought that, rather than supply my own blah blah, it might be good simply to link to his own thoughts and words. Enjoy!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for February 26, 2008
I had planned to take today as a planning day, as I had no meetings scheduled. No such luck. The phone just did not stop ringing.
I did some quick calculations: if I get an average of 15 phone calls per day, and I spend 10 minutes (on average) with a call, I spend 2.5 hours per day on the phone.
If I get 6 work-related emails per day, and spend an average of 20 minutes per email answering it properly, that is another 2 hours gone.
Finally, if I have one meeting per day, on average, that lasts 1.5 hours, I have a total of 6 hours spent without getting any actual work done.
Incredible. 80% of my average day is already gone, before I even get to the areas where new initiatives are called for.
This is insane. I have to get a better grip on this, or else the phone, email and etc. are going to be the masters of my mission, rather than tools to enhance it.
Yeesh.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 1 Comment
Post for February 20, 2008
Not for me. For an elderly brother priest, who needs to get special injections every 3 months. We have an infirmary for priests who require medical attention, and while this brother priest does not need 24-hour care it makes sense that he go there to receive his medication.
Except he does not drive. That’s where I come in, given that my job is to support the pastoral personnel. I must say, though, he is very pleasant company, and afterwards he always want to go for coffee or lunch (depending on the time of day). We actually wound up having a HUGE meal at The Keg in downtown Montreal. It was very enjoyable.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for February 15, 2008
Today we had an all-day gathering of the Nominations Committee. This is the diocesan body that makes final recommendations to the Cardinal regarding appointments for pastoral personnel, including priests. If a priest is about to change parishes, this is the committee that proposes the change.
It isn’t easy setting pastoral placements, because of the domino effect: as soon as one priest changes parishes, for example, another needs to be named to replace him, and the dominos start to fall. Each year the Nominations Committee meets in the spring to get an overall picture of the situation. That’s what we did today. And since there are 200+ parishes in Montreal, it takes time, so we met all day at the Val-Marie diocesan house.
So what changes are in the making? Sorry, can’t say. But I can say that so far it looks like a relatively quiet year.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for February 5, 2008
Sometimes, I am helping an elderly priest make the transition to having to live in a home.
Other times, I am helping foreign priests get settled in our diocese.
Today? I went bowling.
Yep. Bowling. It was the priest bowling tournament this afternoon, followed by a dinner. Not that I actually know how to bowl all that well. Still, I showed up, mainly to demonstrate my support for the event and to have a bit of quality time with my brother priests.
My first game was terrible. My second game was not much better. But my third game was smokin’! I managed to eke out a 159. I was pretty happy with that.
And, I must say, none of us were really all that good. People in the other lanes, when they heard there was a priest bowling tournament going on, kept looking over at us with curiosity, to see how we were doing. Apparently we need to pray harder, because if we just rely on our bowling skills we’re toast.
The evening concluded with supper and a small set of prize giveaways. I won a bottle of cognac for my bowling performance (the 159 made all the difference). I’m already looking forward to the golf tournament in the fall!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for January 31, 2008
I had a chance today to visit with an elderly priest who has lived in an apartment since his retirement. He was offering his help at a local old age home, but his own health took a turn for the worse while on a recent trip. *He* now needs to move into a home, and I could tell the whole experience has left him somewhat rattled.
At any rate, he now has to try and pack up a 2-bedroom apartment and fit it all in a single room — an impossible task. It is forcing him to have to make some choices about what to keep and what to leave behind. I met with him just to make sure he was doing ok, and to let him know that the diocese was there for him if he required our help. He has lots of relatives in and around Montreal, so I don’t think we need to worry about being abandoned or anything like that, but he seemed glad of the visit. I’ll be keeping tabs on him to see how things evolve.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for January 24, 2008
No, the correct response is not “gesundheit”!
Today I visited the Institut de formation humaine intégrale de Montréal, otherwise known as the Jeanine-Guindon institute. Jeanine Guindon was a Quebec psychotherapist who developed a model/theory of human maturity, and proposed a particular psychoeducational path to follow in order to attain the fullness of maturity. In a nutshell, it involves becoming perfectly aware of one’s states of being, both physical and psychological.
I must admit that when I first heard this, I thought it was gobbledygook. At the same time, though, the great mystics of the Church have openly stated that the heights of sanctity cannot be attained without a humble awareness of self. “Know thyself” is an important element of a genuine spirituality. So perhaps there is something there.
At the same time, though, I think there is often a danger of replacing spirituality with psychology. We live in a very “therapeutic” society, much like what Philip Rieff described in Triumph of the Therapeutic, and in this context faith gets reduced to feelings. Still, with IFHIM, I know that a great many priests and religious have been involved with it, and it is broadly supported by religious communities who, I guess, see some benefit to it. If it is leading people to freedom and integrity, what can I say? Those are good things!
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for January 20, 2008
I visited with Fr. John Zhong-hui Zhang of the Chinese Catholic Mission today. The Mission is conveniently located 15 minutes walk from my house, so I just showed up for the 11 am mass to pay him a brotherly visit. He invited me over to the house for lunch afterwards, where I also got a chance to meet the choir and the youth group. (Apparently the housekeeper was very impressed when she saw me eating with chopsticks!)
The Chinese Mission is very impressive in the work that they do. They run a major community centre in Chinatown, which includes a private Chinese language school for kids. That, along with other works, constitutes a major outreach to the Chinese community. Everybody in Chinatown knows the mission and the good work it does.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for January 17, 2008
One of our priests has recently been giving our department a hand by preparing a personnel database. It hasn’t really gone that far — just creating a basic structure, with names and dates of ordination and that sort of thing put in — but I am hoping it will become the basis of something much more extensive.
The only problem with this sort of tool, though, is you need to learn how to get useful information *from* the database. To that end, I started this morning doing some on-line training in the database tool (Access). The training isn’t much, just a few computer-based training sessions found on the Microsoft website, but I must say the training is very well done and I’m already able to pull some useful info from the database.
Eventually I’d like for us to include information on continuing education for priests, so we can better apply the many skills our priests already possess and plan for their renewal (the skills, that is, as well as the priests).
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | 4 Comments
Post for January 15, 2008
Or should I spell that “Board”?
Yes, I am on *another* charitable Board of Directors, this time for a family foundation. The family decided to wind this one up, and has turned over operating control (and the money) to the Archdiocese for the sake of the education of future priests. It’s not a big foundation, but you know how it is — a hundred thousand here, a hundred thousand there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money……
(bonus points to those who get the reference in that last remark)
At any rate, we had a special board meeting of this new foundation to wrap a few thing up, and I noticed that the transfer of control was not done 100% in conformity with the Quebec Civil Code (or, indeed, with the by-laws of the foundation). So we spent a good chunk of time just getting things in legal order. This is not exactly pastoral work, but you know, if we don’t do these things properly we wind up wasting even *more* time later, time that *could* be used for pastoral care.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for January 7, 2008
As I have mentioned previously, part of my responsibilities is to help look after some of our priests who have become weakened by sickness or old age. One of my “clients” has had his things in a storage depot, but I’ve been working at clearing it out, selling some things and giving away others (all with his permission, of course — after all, it is his stuff). Today I hauled the last items out and put them in my office downtown, for temporary storage until I find a permanent solution.
One neat thing: he has a huge chest filled with slides from all his trips to exotic locations like Japan and Greece and Egypt. I’d like to get them transferred to a digital medium: anybody know a good service in Montreal that can do this (and not too expensive)?
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for December 21, 2007
Today I got in my car and headed to the south shore to visit with a brother priest who apparently is suffering from some sort of mental disorder. He has just been released from the psychiatric wing of a major hospital and is resting at a friend’s place. He was suffering from serious delusions, such that he was giving away all his possessions and was convinced that he was in Hell. Yeesh. Anyway, he feels a lot better now, but his condition is still clearly unstable. I’ve given my cell phone # to the friend he is living with, in the case another psychotic episode erupts, and if that occurs we’ll see if he goes back to the hospital or to our diocesan infirmary.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for December 20, 2007
Today I had my monthly Jesu Caritas group, a group of 5 priests who gather to pray together, share on our ministry experiences, and offer mutual support.
My personal sharing was on the experience I’ve been having lately of being an “authority” within the diocese. That doesn’t mean that I’m *in* authority — I don’t occupy a position that shares in any sort of executive power. Nevertheless, by being within the diocesan structure, including as head of a couple of committees, I become a reference point for people, and by that same token acquire a sort of “authority” whether I expect/desire it or not. This was driven home to me during the regional Christmas parties I attended this year: FAR more people knew who I was than vice versa. It was really odd, and something that I’ll just have to get used to I guess, for as long as I am at 2000.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for December 18, 2007
Every year in February the Cardinal meets with the young priests of his diocese, and organizing this meeting is one of my tasks. Happily, I have a small committee to help me in this duty, and we met today in Laval over pizza.
This year’s session will be February 27, at the Grand Seminary, in the afternoon. Given that this year will be the special Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, the special focus of discussion for our meeting will be the Eucharist. Of course, there will also be the usual times of common prayer and fellowship that are so important for this sort of gathering. There are plenty of details to still get organized, but I am looking forward to this day already.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for December 15, 2007
This evening a group of young priests of Montreal visited the Ignace Bourget home, where some of our elderly priests live (and can, if necessary, receive medical care). A group of close to 20 of us gathered in a meeting room downstairs, to share on our lived experience and our hopes for the future.
One priest had an interesting perspective, regarding (of all things) persecution. He stated that he believed that the church of the future may face very tough times, with various persecutions both overt and covert. He wanted to encourage us, saying that wherever there is persecution it is a sign that Christ is truly being proclaimed. I must admit, I am in total agreement. The worst thing is to be cowed into silence and submission. We can have faith, but we need hope to make it truly alive. And hope does not come from confidence in current favourable circumstances, it comes from confidence in the victory of Christ.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for December 14, 2007
This evening was yet another Christmas party with the Cardinal, only this one was with the English sector. At this one, at least, I am not a stranger! It was good to be among “my people”.
Listening to the Cardinal’s speech, I had to admit that it really sounded different than when he gives it in French. I don’t just mean the language, I mean the message: the English and French experiences of church have been somewhat different over the course of history, and I found the speech had quite a different impact for the English audience than for the French audience. Still, the basic message was the same: we need to move forward to build a “new” church here in Quebec, one founded especially on loving service to others. With that, I am in total agreement.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for December 13, 2007
I love Christmas. But I hate office Christmas parties. I always have. And yet, in the role I have now I have SIX of them to attend. I’ll probably duck out of a couple, but tonight’s Laval party was my first for this season.
With regards to these sorts of functions, sometimes you go to these things to see, sometimes to be seen, and in my role within the diocese it is important I make myself better known so that I can be a more effective resource person for brother priests etc. Tonight was an excellent case in point: I got a chance to chat extensively with the superior general of the Société des Missions-Étrangères. I’ve been wanting to get in touch with this group for some time to see how we might put in place some sessions to help our foreign priests become more inculturated, but I never knew who to call. Until tonight. I was chatting with one guy, who introduced me to someone else, who pointed out a third person, who turned out to be the superior general — and now I have his business card and we will be in contact in the new year.
I guess these things *can* have their uses, after all.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
