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Press Release - Convention 2005
NEWS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE: April 2005
ANNUAL CONVENTION FOCUSES ON BRIDGING GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES
The power of the priesthood and its importance for the future of the church was affirmed repeatedly as over 250 priest leaders from dioceses across the United States gathered in Portland in mid-April for their annual convention.
Held during those days of uncertainty between the death of Pope John Paul II and just before the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, NFPC's two keynote speakers – both laymen – praised the organization and emphasized its need at this important time for the Church
In a pre-convention workshop on the Reform of the Papacy, retired San Francisco Archbishop John Quinn said Pope John Paul II's call for greater de-centralization in the church had not been effectively implemented and that the ways bishops are now being appointed has undermined the message of his encyclical Gaudium et Spes.
Journalist and author, David Gibson, author of The Coming Catholic Church, told the priest leaders that whoever was elected Pope, the future of the church will be played out in parishes. He also suggested that the sexual abuse crisis had had the effect of actually bringing priests and their parishioners closer together.
Focusing on the theme of the convention, "From Generation to Generation," Santa Clara university professor Tom Beaudoin, said that priests and the church can connect with young people if tell the truth about the church and its problems and are honest about its problems. "They don't want sugar-coating," he said, "they want the real world."
In his report to convention delegates, NFPC President, Father Robert J. Silva said that in the church today "we find ourselves ... struggling with contradictions. To name a few: collegiality versus monarchy; subsidiarity versus centralization; primus inter pares versus autocrat; ecumenism versus Catholic identity."
Fr. Silva said current research shows clearly ...that, in spite of the difficulties, struggles and tensions in the church, including the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the laity is strongly committed to the Church and to their faith. Some issues that concern them are: the decline in vocations, less than optimal participation by young adults, restoration of confidence in epsicopal leadership, lay involvement in church decisions, being Catholic while appreciating other religious traditions.
Silva laid out eight agenda items for American priests:
- Formation of evangelizing communities, so the next generation can come to understand the sustaining strength of the Church.
- The promotion of vocations to the priesthood. We must work to make the great value of the priesthood evident to mothers and fathers," he said. "Parents must be convinced that the priesthood is a powerful life filled with purpose, meaning and influence so that they might encourage their sons to listen for God's call."
- The renewal of priest's confidence in the priestly life they live. Priests are symbols, sacraments even, of a God- presence that brings order out of chaos, spirit to lifeless forms and peace to warring and dissenting forces.
- The priest does not act in a vacuum. He is priest in the midst of the human community with all its joys and foibles. There must be strong ongoing formation programs that provide opportunities for priests to grow and mature as strong public spiritual leaders.
- There is a tremendous need for priests to engage in the formation of presbyteral communities in which they come to experience faithfulness, trustworthiness, truth telling and sacrifice. The need to become "fratres in unum" is deep in the priests of the country. This must become an intentional part of the agenda.
- Care for the integrity and life of the Church. Priests must come to the realization that they not only serve the institution but, in so many ways, they are the institution. The charism of priestly service becomes incarnate within the given institutional elements of the Church.
- Priests will need to embrace shared ministry fully in collaborative efforts that support and enhance the pastoral ministry of the Church.
- The need for the pastoral care of priests by priests.
Delegates at the convention also elected Father. Richard Vega, a parish priest from the diocese of Los Angeles, as NFPC's 13th president. Vega, 47, the organization's first bi-lingual Latino president, will begin his term in July of 2006. He was unopposed.
Father Clete Kiley, the executive secretary of the USCCB's Priestly Life and Ministry Committee received the 2005 NFPC President?s Award. In accepting the award, Fr. Kiley called the change in the papacy "a unique moment for the Church...and unique opportunity for us priests." Kiley called on priests to "wake up, make up cough-up and shake-up." Fr. Kiley called on NFPC's leadership to seize the moment. "Never underestimate the importance of this organization (NFPC) in the life of the Church in this country!" he said. Fr. Kiley called on members to "wake up and stop wasting our energies. Let's focus on things that are really important," he said. "That wooden box out there in the piazza – where John Paul lay – is waiting for all of us." In addition, he said, NFPC's 26,000 members should each send $100 to keep NFPC viable. "It is too important to lose," he said.
Fr. Kiley urged NFPC to seize the moment. "Keep us from partial visions and small thinking," he said. Help us priests to stay focused.
In addition, the priests' council of Evansville and the dioceses of the New York Province received Council Achievement awards for their work in strengthening council effectiveness.
Also, NFPC delegates approved a 2005/06 budget of $875,000, down $90,000 from the 2004/05 budget. The 2006 Convention of the National Federation of Priests' Councils will be held from April 24-27 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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