by Ed Wilkinson

On the newly designated Feast of St. John Paul II, the priests of Brooklyn and Queens were told to use the new saint as a role model for their priesthood.

“If the Lord is going to renew His flock in the Diocese of Brooklyn, He is going to do it through the parish priest,” said Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Newark, N.J.

“The heart of the Catholic Church in the United States lies in the parish priest who is so much involved in the lives of his parishioners.”

The archbishop was the keynote speaker at a convocation of the priests of the diocese Oct. 22 at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I. Each priest was asked to attend a three-day session, either Monday to Wednesday or Wednesday to Friday. On Wednesday when the two groups overlapped, a plenary session was held with the archbishop. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio also addressed the presbyterate.

The priests took part in communal prayer and socialization while attending conferences on spirituality, and physical and mental health. They heard talks on eating properly as well as stress management.

Archbishop Hebda told the men that “Brooklyn priests have a great reputation. You are hard-working, well-educated and humble.”

He listed among a priest’s duties the willingness to gather people together and to lead them in the name of Jesus. His challenge was how to be “an authentic representative of Christ.”

He urged them to start with personal renewal. “We all are in need of greater conversion,” he explained. “Check the pulse, and see where there is room for growth.”

His checklist also included attention to prayer, charity, openness to renewal, recitation of the Litany of the Hours, being a builder of community, living chaste celibacy, detachment from self in order to serve others and devotion to the Blessed Mother.

“The call is to be a pastor as a shepherd of souls, to live the kind of holiness that our people expect of us, that the Church expects of us,” he said.

“It is most evident when the priest is serving in the parish, preaching and teaching. The parish is the priest’s natural habitat.”

He also warned that the ministry of the priest does not come without cost. “There are so many challenges to being a good priest,” he said. “The pastor of souls must die daily to self for his flock.”

Bishop DiMarzio addressed the group as his brothers and told them that they must be integral parts of the community. “It used to be that priests were thought of as separate from other men,” he said. “We have to be men among men.”

He said that priests are foremost concerned about the spiritual life and they need to see how that relates to the culture in which they live. “How can we make Brooklyn and Queens a better place to live?” he said.

He remarked about the fraternity that exists among priests when they are all together. “We have to find ways to keep us together,” he said.

He suggested greater use of the deanery system to help priests work more closely together. He also recommended small support groups in which priest-friends can pray and socialize with one another.

The bishop asked the priests for their suggestions on how to better minister to the newcomers in the diocese, and he urged them to “think outside the box” when it comes to new models of ministry.

He explained that the diocese is about to launch the San Damiano Project at Holy Family (Slovak) Church in Greenpoint-Williamsburg. It will initially be staffed by two Franciscan brothers who will reach out to the new young population of the Northside.

“It doesn’t fit into the traditional parish mold,” he said. “There is a need to be flexible. There is a difference between the young and the old. We’re a big Church. There should be room for everybody.”

Bishop DiMarzio praised the work of the priests. “There’s a lot of success in this diocese,” he pointed out. “We minister to 30 immigrant groups, all of which celebrate Mass in their own language every weekend. That’s an amazing achievement. We have a kind of miracle here. It’s unique in many ways.”

The bishop also said that it was necessary for bishops and priests to work together. He also praised the retired priests of the diocese. “We have 160 retired guys,” he said. “We really do appreciate them. We’re really happy to have many of them still in the parishes.”

He reported that 12 men will be ordained to the diocesan priesthood this spring but that the numbers in later years are lean. “You have to find the men and women who will come after you,” he urged the men.

“You must meet people where they are at. You have to seek them out. You have to challenge them.”

The Priests’ Convocation was organized by the Office of Priestly Life and Ministry under the direction of Father Joseph Fonti.