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PAGE 6 - The Georgia Bulletin, August 2, 1990
Conyers' Abbot Grateful
For Monastic Predecessors
BY GRETCHEN KEISER
The new abbot of the Monastery of the
Holy Spirit in Conyers spoke of Mary and
of his predecessors at the monastery on
his day of installation.
Dom Bernard Johnson, who is 65 years
old, became the fifth abbot in July after
he was elected by the monks to serve a
six-year term. He came from Rome,
where he has been procurator general of
the Trappist-Cistercian Order since 1977.
His roots are in the Conyers community,
which he entered in 1946, and where he
became a brother in 1948 and a priest in
1954. He was elected abbot of the Vina,
Calif, community in 1968, before going
on to serve the order in Rome on the
Abbot General’s Permanent Council.
Returning to Conyers July 24, he was
installed as the abbot the following day in
a ceremony in the Chapter room while the
monks gathered in rows under the simple
carved wood figure of Christ.
Dom Timothy Kelly, abbot of the
monastery of Our Lady of Gethsemane,
Kentucky, the founding community for
Conyers, read from St. Benedict’s Rule
the description of the role and responsi
bilities of the abbot. Dom Bernard then
made a profession of faith and oath of
fidelity to the Catholic Church and was
given the keys symbolically of the monas
tery.
Each monk knelt before him individual
ly and made a promise of obedience to
his new abbot, and the two embraced.
Dom Bernard said that before coming
to Conyers he followed a practice he had
developed of visiting the place in Paris
where Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine
Laboure.
In the church there is a chair where
Mary is believed to have been seated
“and the faithful from all over the world
leave a note on that chair” with heartfelt
concerns and prayers. “For many years I
have left a note there and I did it this
time. I wrote a little note saying, ‘Watch
over my community,’ so we are in good
hands,” Dom Bernard said.
At Mass following the installation,
Dom Bernard encouraged the community
“to be always grateful for those who
went before us” particularly the abbots
who have made their mark upon the
monastery. He noted his satisfaction that
his installation took place on the feast of
St. James, the namesake of the first abbot,
Dom James. Of him, Dom Bernard said,
“He put his stamp on me, a mark that
will never wear off.” Dom Robert, he
said, had given him “what spiritual life I
have.” Dom Augustine “formed the
spirit” of the community of Holy Spirit,
which was known around the world “for
its spirit of tolerance and acceptance,”
Dom Bernard said. Dom Arm and, his
immediate predecessor, had led the com
munity to bring the Cistercian life to
other cultures and languages, he said, as
the community made the first Trappist
foundation in Venezuela.
“We have much to be grateful for,” he
said.
RE'
URN
Dom Bernard Johnson,
left, returns to his
roots at the Monastery
of the Holy Spirit in
Conyers where he now
serves as its fifth ab
bot. During his instal
lation ceremony, be
low, Dom Bernard
receives vows of obedi
ence from his brother
monks. Dom Timothy
Kelly, Gethsemane
abbot, stands at left.
g
52
£
Lay, Religious Lead As Priest Shortage Grows
BY TOM KELLY
TOLEDO, Ohio (CNS) - It’s another sign of the
growing priest shortage in the United States: A year ago
die Diocese of Toledo had two parishes headed by
non-priests. Now it has seven.
The latest non-ordained parish leaders were:
— Franciscan Sister Virginia Welsh, installed July 15 at
St. Mary Parish in Toledo.
-- Little Company of Mary Sister Kathleen M. Scott,
appointed July 1 to St. Francis de Sales Parish in Toledo
and scheduled for installation there July 30.
The canonical pastor, also called "presbyteral modera
tor," of both parishes is Father Robert Wilhelm, who is
resident pastor of St John the Baptist Parish.
Jesuit Father James O’Reilly has been named "sacra
mental minister/parish chaplain" for both parishes.
The two parishes are part of the Riverside group of four
churches in Toledo’s central city which work together in
various ways.
Both other parishes in the group also have received
non-priests as pastoral leaders within the past year.
Matt Scheiber, a layman who recendy returned from
two years as a missionary in Venezuela, was named
administrator of SS. Peter and Paul Parish in March. A
few months earlier permanent deacon David Vrooman
became administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish.
The fifth new parish to receive its first non-priest leader
was St. Louis in East Toledo, where Franciscan Sister
Betty Glemboski was appointed in June after the death of
the pastor.
At the annual Toledo Diocesan Assembly in March,
parish representatives from throughout the diocese listed
greater lay involvement and ministry in parish life as the
top priority among church concerns in the diocese.
Their statement said many parishes "have not yet
implemented the diocesan guidelines that would prepare
them for the eventual loss of a full-time priest."
Last fall the Toledo Diocese, headed by Bishop James
R. Hoffman, began its first formation program to train
non-priests as pastoral administrators. Of more than 100
applicants, 10 sisters and two laywomen were accepted.
Sister Welsh, who holds a master’s degree from the
Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University in
Chicago and has been a pastoral associate at St. Mary
since 1984, was the first graduate of the program to be
assigned as a parish administrator.
Precious Blood Sister Helen Weber, diocesan director
of Christian formation and director of the new program,
said the fact that the first class was all-female does not
signal a swing to female parish leadership.
In starting the program, she said, the diocese accepted
only those who already met the prerequisites of full-time
service as pastoral associates and a master’s degree in
theology or its equivalent.
She said the diocese is working with area Catholic
colleges and the University of Dayton to provide the
undergraduate and graduate programs candidates will need.
It is also making efforts to recruit deacons and other men
and get them the academic training and pastoral experi
ence needed to qualify, she said.
Sister Weber said she prefers to describe the non-priest
head of a parish as a “pastoral leader” rather than
“parish administrator” or “pastoral administrator.”
To many people "administrator" means a "business
manager," she said, and that is not what a pastoral admin
istrator is.
"We’re talking about a leader of the parish ... in every
sense of the word except sacramental ministry," she said.
Msgr. Donald Heintschel, diocesan personnel director
and a nationally known canon law expert, said the emer
gence of new forms of parish leadership is leading to new
terminology.
The church, he said, is "taking the canonical concept of
pastor and dividing it into parts," which in turn requires
new terms so that "the names themselves will clarify the
office."
Because the priest charged with sacramental ministry in
a parish has a responsibility for spiritual nurturing as well
as liturgical leadership, "parish chaplain" may convey the
whole idea better than "sacramental minister," he said.
Two other parishes in the Toledo Diocese have had a
non-priest pastoral leader for several years. They are St.
Mary in Wakeman, headed by permanent deacon John
Kinder, and St. Joseph in Plymouth, headed by Sister
Phyllis Paquette of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus
and Mary.
Both Kinder and Sister Paquette are “second-
generation” non-priest leaders. Each succeeeded a nun as
pastoral leader.