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Incognitus is right. Every parish should split and go separate ways at least once in peace and without question. Its the only proper way to handle disagreements if they arise in our parishes.

My one former Protestant classmate from highschool had his congregation split when they couldn't agree if they should share a common cup or individual cups (kept in the pews for individual use), so their community split into two. This was twenty-two years ago and the communities split several more times over small issues that were disturbing the peace. Now I hear that most of the daughter congregations can't afford a full-time minister, so some are thinking of closing their doors or merging with other like-minded communities. None of the daughter communities were missions.

Question: Do the faithful "belong" solely to individual priests?

Joe

Axios wrote:
Maybe that's better put as the Greek Catholic Church of Hungary.

US the oddity? Of course. It's the unique story of slow-melting after very rapid, mass-immigration into the pot.

I'm intrigued the the Administrator has not chipped in on this thread. ISTM that his paradigm of a unified Greek Catholic Church of America, would have obviated some of the touchier problems here. (Likewise in Orthodox jursdictional problems, Axios.) At the same I think it's clear that we don't seem quite ready for that. So in the meantime we suffer a little.
(I'm looking for an emoticon of shrugging shoulders.)

I don't think parishes should split over parochial disputes. It ain't healthy.

I think in this case though (only my opinion) it wasn't exactly like that. I believe that the other parish was in the works for a while, and when the project got off the ground Archbishop Chaput recalled his presbyter.

I also think (only my opinion) that this parish has had festering problems for a long time and if the pastor had left but the other parish had not opened the members would not have left at about the same time but in dribs and drabs. Normal leakage from a parish dominated by a recalcitrant bunch.

However I think that parishes that are evangelizing and healthy should plan for growth by budding out into new locations. They could still share things if necessary but that kind of organic growth could work.

Look at it this way, when we have seen these problems ocurring in the past what has happened? The disaffected members form a sort of ad hoc commitee and add up all the resources available to them. If they figure they have the money to go it alone they make a deposit on an empty lot and start with the pancake breakfasts and pirohi sales. It's important to them because they're pissed off. The new church is within a few miles of the old one and pretty soon they're both doing OK.

Why can't they do that for the love of Christ? Plan to establish a new parish and work hard for it? Eventually the new parish will take on a new character from the old one because they will both have voices on their parish councils that weren't heard before, and a lot of crises (not all) will be avoided because they would be addressed in the planning stages.

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Question: Do the faithful "belong" solely to individual priests?

Never. In a big diocese priests transfers across town are pretty routine. The congregation should bloom where they are planted. That doesn't mean that people won't visit the old pastors new parish, it happens all the time. And people will transfer from one parish to another for any number of reasons. I'll bet there's a surge in transfers every time a pastor changes, but not necessarily to the old pastors new parish, just out in every direction.

Priests shouldn't have groupies, priests should have friends.

Michael

Michael,

I was being silly. I was hoping that my example of how such silliness can get out of hand would prove that.

Can we send a Byz priest to a Latin parish and then call him back to start a new Latin community with former Latin parishioners?

Joe

Since the discussions in this thread have wandered and there are now several discussions that have nothing to do with the original topic I am closing this thread. Participants are welcome to continue these discussions by beginning new discussions in the appropriate forums and with appropriate titles.

Please join me in asking the Lord to bless all the Byzantine parishes in Denver so that they may effectively witness the Gospel and win many to Christ and form them in our Byzantine Tradition. Please also join me in praying for healing for those who have been hurt.

Please also see the information given at:

New Russian Catholic community

Admin