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Re: well said...

Posted by Donna on March 08, 2004 at 05:32:40:

In Reply to: well said... posted by Randy ( the heretic) on March 07, 2004 at 13:38:49:

: ; however, there is a lot to be said for receiving feedback from your boss about your performance. How about annual performance reviews? How about being mentored?

: Excellent idea, maybe this is done in the Roman system, I'm not sure. But I know in my area, my pastor, who is seasoned and senior (41 years of ministry) mentors the newly assigned and/or ordained in our area. Both the neophyte and us as a parish benefit from it. Basic practice in most professions, really! I spent my first 3 years as a Social Worker being supervised (closely, in addition to having to be in therapy myself before I could therapize :), first weekly, then monthly!

--Mentoring is one of those things that is [i]supposed[/i] to happen, but I suspect it rarely does. And not with the attention it deserves when it does happen. Much of the neglect has to do with priests and pastors who are carrying too much of a workload, much more of it has to do with pastors who themselves don't have a clue as to how to go about doing it.

--I've watched it happen (or not happen)in my own parishes and have recently watched it happen to my priest friend. Ordained only three years ago, he's now responsible for his own parish, a mission parish, and a Hispanic ministry in a neighboring town. I have spent hours on the phone with him discussing things that would have normally been covered in a basic management class. My advice to him has been to sign up for one. He's ten years younger than I am, is responsible for three separate ministries, has a staff to manage, parishioners to minister to, a community to support. He spent his first two years in two different parishes reporting to two different pastors. That's not mentoring. That won't teach you how manage anything expect maybe for how to manage your own stress.

: One question Donna, as I respect your take and presentation on things here on the boards. How this abuse scandel is being "managed" here, how much is dictated by the American Conference of Bishops and how much is being dictated by Rome?

--How much is being dictated by Rome is difficult to say. There's not much publicity surrounding any informal communications between the Vatican and US bishops. I do think the bulk of the decision making is resting with the US Conference because they have to worry about US civil law which the Vatican is not going to get involved in.

--I was reading an article last night about the publication of some of the names of abusive priests. Some diocese have published lists, most have not. The bishops are citing varying state laws regarding publishing the names of the accused, which is a factor for sure, but they still manage to sound like they're being protective of their own. Of course, the fact that they were not so quick to cite state laws when it came to pursuing a claim of abuse makes this sudden adherence to the law a bit suspect.

--Philadelphia, I know, will not release a list of anything unless the Feds literally come in the office and demand it. Bevilacqua made that pretty clear when he was in charge and I don't see Rigali being inclined to change that position. I guess the overall impression I have is that the word from the Vatican is "do whatever you have to do to fix it with as little fuss as possible" and the US bishops (and their lawyers) are using every nuance of US law to their best advantage in order to accomplish that. My humble opinion.

(and thanks for the kind words!)

Replies:

Re: well said... Mark S. 10:58:15 3/08/04 (2)
- Re: well said... Gabby 18:27:09 3/14/04 (0)
- Re: well said... Donna 12:54:11 3/08/04 (0)
Re: well said... Mike J. 07:45:06 3/08/04 (19)
- Re: well said... Donna 09:40:50 3/08/04 (18)
  - Re: well said... Mike J. 21:08:32 3/08/04 (17)
    - Re: well said... Donna 08:40:29 3/09/04 (16)
      - Re: well said... Mike J. 18:35:34 3/09/04 (15)
        
        Re: well said... Gabby 18:36:06 3/14/04 (0)
        
        Re: well said... Paedophilia has NOTHING to do with homosexuality. 20:50:05 3/13/04 (5)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 11:10:42 3/14/04 (4)
        
        Re: well said... Agreed. 15:19:45 3/14/04 (3)
        
        Thank you...Re: well said... Randy (the heretic) 08:18:42 3/17/04 (1)
        
        Re: Thank you...Re: well said... I had to be. 13:54:28 3/17/04 (0)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 21:52:10 3/14/04 (0)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 05:48:48 3/10/04 (7)
        
        Re: well said... Mike J. 18:28:47 3/10/04 (6)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 21:31:47 3/10/04 (5)
        
        Re: well said... Mike J. 00:02:23 3/11/04 (4)
        
        Mikey, consider this test Wag 14:43:58 3/13/04 (0)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 08:08:00 3/11/04 (2)
        
        Re: well said... Mike J. 18:29:31 3/11/04 (1)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 20:27:40 3/11/04 (0)

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Comments:
: : ; however, there is a lot to be said for receiving feedback from your boss about your performance. How about annual performance reviews? How about being mentored? : : Excellent idea, maybe this is done in the Roman system, I'm not sure. But I know in my area, my pastor, who is seasoned and senior (41 years of ministry) mentors the newly assigned and/or ordained in our area. Both the neophyte and us as a parish benefit from it. Basic practice in most professions, really! I spent my first 3 years as a Social Worker being supervised (closely, in addition to having to be in therapy myself before I could therapize :), first weekly, then monthly! : --Mentoring is one of those things that is [i]supposed[/i] to happen, but I suspect it rarely does. And not with the attention it deserves when it does happen. Much of the neglect has to do with priests and pastors who are carrying too much of a workload, much more of it has to do with pastors who themselves don't have a clue as to how to go about doing it. : --I've watched it happen (or not happen)in my own parishes and have recently watched it happen to my priest friend. Ordained only three years ago, he's now responsible for his own parish, a mission parish, and a Hispanic ministry in a neighboring town. I have spent hours on the phone with him discussing things that would have normally been covered in a basic management class. My advice to him has been to sign up for one. He's ten years younger than I am, is responsible for three separate ministries, has a staff to manage, parishioners to minister to, a community to support. He spent his first two years in two different parishes reporting to two different pastors. That's not mentoring. That won't teach you how manage anything expect maybe for how to manage your own stress. : : One question Donna, as I respect your take and presentation on things here on the boards. How this abuse scandel is being "managed" here, how much is dictated by the American Conference of Bishops and how much is being dictated by Rome? : --How much is being dictated by Rome is difficult to say. There's not much publicity surrounding any informal communications between the Vatican and US bishops. I do think the bulk of the decision making is resting with the US Conference because they have to worry about US civil law which the Vatican is not going to get involved in. : --I was reading an article last night about the publication of some of the names of abusive priests. Some diocese have published lists, most have not. The bishops are citing varying state laws regarding publishing the names of the accused, which is a factor for sure, but they still manage to sound like they're being protective of their own. Of course, the fact that they were not so quick to cite state laws when it came to pursuing a claim of abuse makes this sudden adherence to the law a bit suspect. : --Philadelphia, I know, will not release a list of anything unless the Feds literally come in the office and demand it. Bevilacqua made that pretty clear when he was in charge and I don't see Rigali being inclined to change that position. I guess the overall impression I have is that the word from the Vatican is "do whatever you have to do to fix it with as little fuss as possible" and the US bishops (and their lawyers) are using every nuance of US law to their best advantage in order to accomplish that. My humble opinion. : (and thanks for the kind words!)

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