St. Saviour Church 10/20/09
On a Friday evening, September the 25th, a group of around 16 parishioners arrived at the Parish Hall at St. Saviour to attend a Pastoral Planning Council meeting. It was the first of two meetings intended to select three parishioners for the PPC and was advertised in the St. Saviour Bulletin on September 13th. The Pastoral Planning Council is defined in the bulletin as “Formed in 2006 through the discernment process, St. Saviour’s PPC conducted one-to-one interviews with many parishioners, held two parish assemblies and drafted the parish’s pastoral plan which was submitted to the diocese and subsequently approved by the Bishop. Working with other parishioners, progress on the various objectives and goals is being made and reported to the diocese on a yearly basis. The next step in the diocesan vision is pastoral plans for the clusters of parishes. St. Saviour is in a cluster with Holy Name, Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Francis Xavier and St. Augustine.”
Parents and Parishioners are concerned with what will become of St. Saviour Elementary School when the transition from a parish school to an academy take place. They are also deeply concerned with the unquestionable fracture of their parish, as acknowledged by both Father Murphy and the remaining members of the Pastoral Planning Council. Considering the untimely firing of St. Saviour Elementary’s Principal, the unwarranted firing of the church music director, and the fact that the new principal was on the PPC and continues to be on the council, Parents and Parishioners felt called to dedicate their time and talents to be part of this important and influential council to their parish and school. The Parents and Parishioners also recognize the key role the PPC could play in healing the troubled parish.
The Diocese sent Ellen Rhatigan to lead the September 25th meeting. By the time Miss Rhatigan arrived, any tensions that initially existed between the parishioners and Father Murphy’s staff had abated and the meeting went smoothly. The next meeting was scheduled for October 2nd, and was intended to be for those still interested in being on the PPC. This meeting would entail a discernment process to select the three parishioners most suited to be on the council as decided by Father Murphy and other members of the PPC. These Parishioners who were willing to commit their time, feeling that they had been chosen by the Holy Spirit to step forward, were surprised to receive an email from Father Murphy on October 1st saying;
Attached to the email from Father Murphy was a note from Robert Choiniere, the director of Pastoral Planning Councils for the Diocese. In his letter he suggested that the procedures followed by Father Murphy were not the recommended ones and may have hampered the procedures. Robert Choiniere mentioned that perhaps people who showed up for discernment were lacking in leadership gifts, which stung people who showed up to devote themselves to this group. He suggested that the discernment could take place after a reconciliation of parishioners. Mr. Choiniere mentioned that he has never had to cancel a discernment meeting and felt that our situation was very serious.
As of yet, Parents and Parishioners are left to wonder if they will have a voice in their church. They are left to wonder if their pastor is hoping they will move to another school and parish and they are left to wonder if the Diocese will be able to resolve these painful issues. It seems pretty clear to parishioners that there should be room for everyone’s voice to be heard. As one recent protester’s sign read, “We need to be loved, not ignored.”
