Catholic Parish Ministry in Australia: Facing Disaster?

Catholic Parish Ministry in Australia: Facing Disaster? Peter J. Wilkinson 2011 Catholic Parish Ministry in Australia: Facing Disaster? Peter J Wilkinson Catholics for Ministry Women and the Australian Church 2011 1 Introduction 3 Dioceses & Bishops 3 Catholic Population 4 Parishes 5 Priests 9 Migrant Chaplains 12 Seminarians 13 Priests recruited from overseas 16 Permanent Deacons 19 Religious Sisters 20 Lay Pastoral Associates/Pastoral Workers 20 Religious Brothers 21 Mass Attendance 21 Parish Schools 22 Priests in parish ministry: 2010-2025 23 Parish ministry disaster? 25 Options for action 26 Recruiting autochthonous or local priests 26 Recruiting overseas priests 28 Do nothing 31 Rethinking parish ministry 31 Rethinking the identity of priest 33 Conclusion 34 Sources 36 Summary Table: Catholic Dioceses in July 2009 and July 2010 37 ISBN 978-0-646-55026-8 Publication of this work was funded by Women and the Australian Church. Copyright: Peter Wilkinson and Catholics for Ministry. Catholics for Ministry, PO Box 4053, Manuka. ACT. 2603. www.catholicsforministry.com.au 2 Introduction At July 2010 Catholics in Australia were estimated to number 5.6 million, some 470,000 more (+9.3%) than at the 2006 Census. To provide them with pastoral care the Catholic Church has an organizational structure of 28 territorial dioceses under the leadership of 36 bishops and, within these, 1282 parishes where 1523 priests minister. To see how the structure was coping at mid-2010, a desk-top examination of parishes and parish ministers was undertaken to evaluate their capacity to offer adequate pastoral care. The findings of that examination give cause for serious concern, for the following reasons: one in four Australian parishes is without a full-time resident priest very few new parishes are being established, despite a rapidly increasing Catholic population 184 existing parishes have been merged since 1994, with more likely to follow since 1995 autochthonous* or local home-grown vocations to the priesthood have been few the average age of priests actively ministering in parishes is 60 years and rising only 600 autochthonous or local priests are likely to be available for parish ministry by 2025 an annual average net shortfall of 40 autochthonous priests is likely over the next 15 years since 1997 parish ministry has become increasingly reliant on priests sourced from overseas parishes are generally having to care for an increasing number of Catholics; from an average 3481 Catholics per parish in 2000 to an average 4368 in 2010 (+25%) just 13.8 percent of Catholics regularly attended Mass in 2006. In 2010 the percentage is probably lower fewer students from poorer and Catholic families are enrolled in Catholic schools. This document examines in some detail each of the above areas in the territorial dioceses, relying principally on data in The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia, July 2010-July 2011. 1. Dioceses and Bishops The Church in Australia was officially established in 1834 with the creation of the Vicariate Apostolic of New Holland. The first dioceses of Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide were erected in 1842. Australia now has 28 territorial dioceses with defined geographical and administrative boundaries, and six non-territorial divisions covering the whole country: four which care for the Maronite, Melchite Greek, Ukrainian and Chaldean Catholics, as well as a Military Ordinariate and a Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. At July 2010 there were 36 active bishops in the territorial dioceses, with one diocese vacant. The bishops were predominantly local diocesan clergy, with just four from religious institutes and three born overseas. Since 1834 few bishops have come from non-English-speaking backgrounds, though the Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life, in its 2007 Graced by Migration blueprint for pastoral care in a multicultural church, recommended that 'the Australian episcopacy continue to be broadened in its cultural and linguistic profile to better reflect the changing demographic profile of the Australian Church' (Strategy I). By 2020 at least 22 (61%) of the current bishops must retire due to age alone. * The word 'autochthonous' (from Greek αὐτόχθων, meaning 'sprung from the land itself') is used throughout this paper to denote persons whose primordial culture, acquired in childhood through the process of 3 enculturation, is Australian. It is not intended to be interchangeable with 'indigenous', may include persons born outside Australia, but does not include persons whose primordial culture is other than Australian. All bishops exercise official leadership within their own dioceses. However, since 'it is almost impossible … for bishops to exercise their office suitably and fruitfully unless they establish closer understanding and cooperation with other bishops' (Christus Dominus,n. 37), the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) was established in 1976. It consists of the bishops of all dioceses and ordinariates, together with the auxiliary bishops, but not the Personal Prelate of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. 2. Catholic Population Statistics in the 2010 Directory show Catholics numbered 5,126,885 at the 2006 Census. They constituted 25.8 percent of the total Australian population of 19,855,287. At July 2010 Catholics were estimated to number 5,600,000 from a total population of 22.4 million (see Population Clock, www.abs.gov.au). Since 2006 Catholics have been increasing at an estimated average of 118,000 per year, significantly surpassing the 25,000 annualized growth between 2001 and 2006. Much of this increase derives from unusually high immigration inflows which in the year to 30 June 2009 contributed 64 percent to total population growth (ABS Cat. 3101.0). Figure 2.1 Australian Catholic population: actual, estimated and projected, 1871-2049 10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1911 1971 1871 1891 1901 1921 1933 1947 1954 1961 1966 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2040 projected 2040 2020 projected 2020 projected 2030 projected 2049 2010 estimated2010 Catholic Population ('000s) Sources: ABS, various Censuses 1870-2006. Projections: ABS and Australian Treasury, 2010 Large scale immigration over a long period has made Australia a nation rich in cultures, languages and ethnicities. The 2006 Census revealed that more than any other group, Catholics reflect this diversity, with 22.7 percent born overseas (www.ppo.catholic.org.au ). In the immediate post-WWII years most Catholic immigrants came from Europe, particularly Italy, UK, Poland, Hungary, Ireland, Malta and the former Yugoslavia. More recently they have come from Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, South Korea, China, Indonesia, the Middle East and Hispanic 4 countries. The demographic profile of the Church in Australia is one of increasing diversity, and 'Pentecostal' in the true meaning of the event (Graced by Migration, 11, 15). Progressively, it is becoming a multi-ethnic church with an Anglo-Irish remnant (Cahill, 2008). The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Federal Treasury have forecast an Australian population of 35 million by 2049, while the 3rd Intergenerational Report (February 2010) has forecast 35.9 million by 2050. If Catholics continue to constitute around one quarter of the total population, they are likely to number around 8.75 million by 2049, an increase of 3.25 million (+59%) over the 2006 total (Figure 2.1). 3. Parishes The parish, as the basic unit of church structure, derives from the rural environment which emerged after the collapse of the Roman Empire, an empire of cities. In the early church, the parish (Greek paroikia meaning sojourning, or temporary residence) was the entire body of Christians in a city under the care of a bishop. In the 4th century, when Christianity in Europe spread to the countryside, Christians in important outlying villages were organized into a 'parish' with their own priest, under the jurisdiction of the bishop of the nearest city. This model was not substantially reformed until the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which made it more responsive to the needs of the people. Figure 3.1 Establishment of new parishes in Territorial Dioceses: 1820-2009 250 200 150 100 50 0 Newly established parishes Source: The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia 2010-2011. Note: The 2010 Directory provides no establishment date for 59 parishes. The 1917 Code of Canon Law decreed that 'the territory of every diocese is to be divided into distinct territorial parts; to each part a specific church and determined population are assigned, with its own rector as its pastor, who is over it for the necessary care of souls' (C. 216.1). It also made provision for 'parishes based on the diversity of language or nationality of the faithful found in the same city or territory …' (C. 216.4). Bishops in the USA used this provision to establish so-called 'ethnic parishes'. Australia's bishops rejected the provision and ethnic parishes. The 1983 Revised Code defines a parish as 'a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a particular church, 5 whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop' (C. 515.1). The first Catholic parish in Australia, St Mary's Sydney, was established in 1821. Since then some 1500 new parishes have been established in the territorial dioceses. Figure 3.1 shows new parish establishments in 10-years periods from 1820 to 2009. Figure 3.2 Total Catholic parishes in Territorial Dioceses: 1829-2010 1500 1000 500 0 Total Parishes Source: The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia 2010-2011; Annuario Pontificio, various years. Note: The 2010 Directory total of 1305 parishes includes multiple listings of merged parishes. In 1955 over 100 new parishes were established, but since 1975 newly established parishes have been few and existing ones increasingly subject to merger.

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