(As seen in the bulletin February 17, 2019)

In the late 1970’s there began a practice of limiting priest’s terms of office – from then indefinite to terms of up to 6 years for associate pastors, and up to 12 years for pastors; having the present shortage of priests already in mind at that time, our Bishops wanted to provide a greater variety of good experiences for younger priests who would be asked to become pastors a lot sooner than their predecessors ever were – many of our senior priests were ordained over 20 years before being asked to be a pastor – I was asked to assume a pastorate at 11 years ordained – our younger men today are sometimes needed to become pastors after 4-6 years parish experience; imagine how overwhelming that may be!  While people and priests form deep attachments based on familiarity, and this is certainly the case with children whose affections attach them to someone they find trustworthy and reliable, a certain amount of orderly transition was needed to help season our younger priests for pastoral responsibilities.  As the shortage of priests continues and as 61% of our active priests are age 65 and above, the coming retirements of our more seasoned pastors from administration (normally by age 75) is a concern that requires good mentoring and a variety of experiences for our younger priests.  On the other hand, as a priest grows older and nears the age at which retirement  becomes an option (68 years old), he may be extended by a Bishop to serve his parish for some time after normal term of office if health, ministry, ability, and willingness permit.