Posted: Monday, March 26, 2012 1:29 am

Archbishop Longley

Birmingham Archbishop Bishop Longley, has sent a letter to parishioners announcing the launch of a discussion document on a reorganisation of the diocese to take into account the diminishing number of priests. Archbishop Longley writes: "Changing patterns for our diocesan mission may in future require a different deployment of our priests and deacons. This may in turn mean that I cannot guarantee that every parish in the diocese will have its own resident priest."
 
The full text follows:
 
REVIEWING THE LIFE AND MISSION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BIRMINGHAM
PASTORAL LETTER FROM ARCHBISHOP BERNARD LONGLEY
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, 24-25 MARCH 2012

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Wherever I am, my servant will be there too.

 I am writing to you today about something that concerns all of us as members of the Church, the Body of Christ, in the deaneries and parishes that make up the Archdiocese of Birmingham.  As the Catholic Church serving a significant part of the Midlands we have received our mission to be the presence of Christ in the world today.  St John’s Gospel has just reminded us:  Wherever I am, my servant will be there too.  During this Lenten season of repentance it is appropriate to ask how we are going to undertake that mission now and in the future, not just as individual parish communities but as a diocesan family of 224 parishes, forming eighteen deaneries.  How can we best plan for our mission together?

The season of Lent has been calling us to repentance and offering us an opportunity to purify and refocus our lives through the traditional means of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  I want to invite you to join with our priests and deacons in a similar undertaking for the benefit of the Church across our diocese.  Prayer deepens our relationship with God in Christ and in this relationship we find our true identity.  Fasting enables us to assess our true needs and to recognise our dependence on God.  Almsgiving sharpens our awareness of our relationships with others, especially with those who are in greater need than ourselves.

These three ways of repentance and renewal can also assist us in reviewing the life and mission of our diocese.  Over the coming weeks I want to ask you, within each deanery, to consider how we might share our resources more generously with one another across existing parish boundaries, and to understand our parish communities as part of a network that is held together by faith and by a common mission.  I shall look to you to help me and those who advise me to make wise decisions about the future shape of our pastoral provision within each deanery.

I should first explain why I am asking these questions now and what has happened to make this a priority for me and for our diocese.  Every succeeding generation of Catholics has to become part of the life and mission of the local Church in its own way and for its own time.  We need to look carefully at our customs and practices to discern whether they are truly serving the Church’s mission in a way that is faithful to the Gospel and that meets contemporary needs.

At the same time I cannot ignore the diminishing number of priests we have to serve the present number of churches and parishes. These stand alongside those chaplaincies and other important ministries to which our clergy are dedicated.  It is my duty to see that the energy, talents and enthusiasm of our deacons and priests are used to best effect for the preaching of the Gospel, the sacramental care and the spiritual nourishment of the people.

Changing patterns for our diocesan mission may in future require a different deployment of our priests and deacons.  This may in turn mean that I cannot guarantee that every parish in the diocese will have its own resident priest.  To help us face these challenges with confidence we need to reflect on them together at deanery level.  I believe that this prayerful process of reflection will help me to fulfil my duty both to care for the wider mission and pastoral needs of the diocese and to appreciate and support the priests and deacons who are my closest co-workers in this task.

I am also mindful of the Religious Congregations of men and women who serve the Church in this diocese and of our network of Catholic Schools.  They bring the Gospel and an experience of Catholicism to families and communities that might otherwise remain untouched by the witness of faith.  The Religious who witness and work in each deanery and the leadership of our local Catholic schools have a significant contribution to make to this important discussion. At the same time, we are blessed with a number of parish and diocesan projects which reach out effectively and bring the love of Christ to those in most need.

Our priests and deacons have been reflecting for some time on the bonds of communion that hold us together and on our mission.  Those who have pastoral responsibility for our parishes and chaplaincies have begun exploring new ways of organising our mission and of providing pastoral care for all the faithful.  I am now asking them, under the leadership of each local Dean, to take this discussion to its next stage and to provide opportunities for you, as the lay faithful of the diocese, and sharers in its mission, to meet and to discuss these issues over the coming months.

In order to move this process forward a discussion document has been prepared, highlighting areas for reflection and offering some questions for you to consider.  The discussion document will be available on the diocesan website after Easter, and I would ask parishes to send their responses to the local Dean by the end of June.  I would suggest that existing parish groups and organisations could begin to use the document at their regular meetings as a way of preparing for the discussions across the deaneries. Some parishes may wish to set up a group specifically for this purpose.

These discussions will be vital, but I cannot expect them to provide all the answers.  Once they have taken place, the responsibility lies with me to make the best decisions I can for the good of all.  I realise that some decisions will not be popular with everybody but I know that you will do your best to support your priests and deacons as I ask them to implement plans which these discussions will have helped to shape.

As Archbishop I wish to learn from your insights about how we can shape our communion and mission today, so as to make Christ and his Gospel present in our multi-religious, multi-cultural and increasingly secularised environment.  Please pray for me, for the Assistant Bishops and for all our priests and deacons, especially during Holy Week, that the Holy Spirit will enable us to preach a crucified Christ…who is the power and wisdom of God.

Yours devotedly in Christ,

+Bernard Longley
Archbishop of Birmingham