Notebook
Once upon a time in the Diocese of Cork, before retirement became a ‘thing’ for Church leaders, a parish priest went to his heavenly reward, aged well over 90. The bishop prevailed upon another parish priest to take over as pastor, even though this man was in his mid-seventies. And the people of the parish said, employing magnificent Cork irony: “We’re getting a ‘fine young man’ as our new PP!”
That was many years ago, and times have changed much in the meantime, in two contrasting ways. On the one hand, the Church’s 1983 Code of Canon Law introduced a procedure which means that priests now submit a letter of resignation from the office of parish priest at the age of 75 (and bishops too). So a priest remaining as parish priest till his nineties now would be a rare occurrence.
Challenging
On the other hand, old age is not as challenging as it used to be. The new squeaky-clean President of the United States, Joe Biden, is a youthful 78 years. And Pope Francis, at 84, shows no sign of slowing down and putting his feet up. Extended life expectancy and enormous improvements in healthcare mean that people can expect to live engaged, productive lives well into their eighties.
So does this mean the Church should ease or modify its retirement suggestions to its pastors? I don’t think so.
In implementing a 75-years-of-age retirement age for parish priests, the Church has freed pastors in good health to live active pastoral lives, bringing their years of experience with them, while leaving the pain of administration behind them. The country is full of priests with suffixes like PE (Pastor Emeritus) or AP (Assistant Priest), who reside in parishes and help out, but have none of the worries that attach to being the actual pastor.
Benefits
This system benefits both the PP and the retired. The PP has a back-up who can stand in during days off and annual holidays, someone who can bring a variety of homilies to the regular Masses for parishioners too. The present PP will keep an eye on the older man and ensure his health and other needs are taken care of.
The retired priest has the security and friendship of being part of a community, with none of the administrative worries than can plague current PPs. He need not concern himself with GDPR, safeguarding challenges or maintaining parish finances, the trinity of administrative woes of parish life today. But he brings to his task the learnings of his years, which may well show in the wisdom and compassion of his preaching and his care for those who approach him. His prayers can support the mission of the parish and can carry along members of the community who are sick or troubled (including sometimes the pastor). And all the while, he knows that if an issue that comes to him is too heavy to bear, he can call in the current parish priest, whose responsibility the parish ultimately is.
A daily lockdown schedule
We’re all supposed to follow a daily schedule in lockdown. Here’s mine: Morning prayer and readings precede breakfast. Mass is concelebrated with the RTÉ News Now Mass at 10.30am, followed by quiet prayer and ‘Prayer During the Day’.
There follows a few hours administration (letters and emails), a half hours walk, an hour’s reading and two hours preparing and eating dinner. Evening prayer and TV follow, and then – eventually – bed!
On Sundays and on my day off, there’s no administration and more time for everything else, not forgetting Democritus’ saying that “a life without celebration is a long road without an inn!”
Receiving the perfect letter
I got a letter once from a person who attended a funeral I presided over. It was one of those perfect letters you come across a few times in a lifetime. It captured the essence of what a priest can do and showed appreciation of my efforts. The writer, who was unknown to me, introduced herself a good while later. It turned out I was not the only recipient of her kindness: she wrote and posted a letter of appreciation every single day. I can only imagine the good this person has done. I can only try to imitate it.
