Case 9. Different Ideals of Parochial Work

Titius and Caius, each a missionary in England, converse about the duties of a priest upon whom the care of souls devolves. Titius says that it belongs to such a priest, by the law of residence, to remain at home and there await the parishioners, who may come to him if they wish. Accordingly, on Sunday indeed the priest will not lack external labor; on the other days he will very properly devote himself to preparing his sermon with the greatest care and to sacred studies, without ever leaving home except when expressly called to a sick person or to perform some other similar duty, or for the sake of honorable recreation. Caius, on the contrary, says that the best priest is at home only to take necessary food or sleep, and that throughout the rest of the day he ought to visit the parishioners, seek the lost sheep, even those that are outside the fold, and on Sunday, in place of a formal sermon, as it is called, he can well give in familiar discourse the substance of his morning meditation or even read something from some pious author. Since they cannot in any way reconcile such diverse opinions, by mutual consent they approach a theologian to determine the matter according to theological principles and the mind of the Church. They therefore ask:

1. Do the states of parish priest and missionary among us differ, and how?

2. What are the principal obligations of such a missionary?

3. What is to be said of the case?

1. Does the status of parish priests differ from that of missionary priests in England, and how?

Parish priests are canonically instituted to their parishes, from which they can not be removed except for canonical causes and by canonical process. They have ordinary jurisdiction in the internal forum. On the other hand our missionaries are nominated by the bishop whose delegates they are, and they can be more easily removed than can parish priests. With regard to their duties, parish priests and missionaries are on the same footing, except that parish priests are bound on Sundays and holidays of obligation to say Mass for their flocks, which missionaries are not strictly bound to do.¹

1 Manual of Moral Theology, vol. i, p. 626 ff. The decree Maxima Cura, 25 Aug., 1910, must now be consulted.

2. What are the chief duties of a missionary priest?

He is bound to residence, to preach on Sundays and solemn feasts, to catechize, to administer the sacraments to those who reasonably ask for them, to visit his people, and to look after the sick.²

2 Manual of Moral Theology, vol. i, p. 627.

3. The case. Titius and Caius have different notions of the duty of a parish priest and neither of them has quite the right notion. To get at the correct notion according to the mind of the Church, we must join them both together. The parish priest, as Titius maintains, should find some time for study, he should have a fixed time for it every day as far as possible. Of course he can not make a cast-iron rule on the subject, never to be broken; but he should keep the fixed time sacred for study unless a more urgent duty prevents it. During this time he should prepare his sermons and catechisms. On the other hand, there are other duties which the parish priest must not neglect. He must visit his flock, and especially the sick, without waiting to be called; he must seek out those who are straying from the fold, and promote the good of his people in other ways, which zeal and charity will suggest according to the wants of his mission. Caius should raise his standard of what preaching the Gospel demands, and he is altogether wrong in saying that the parish priest satisfies his obligation of preaching by reading a pious book.