National Organization for Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy

1337 West Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60622-6490; 312/226-1890; Fax 312/829-8915; NOCERCC@cmnonline.com

Rev. Francis S. Tebbe, O.F.M., President; Rev. Michael J. Cronin, Executive Director

From the National Office

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoyed the feasting. It has been something of a feasting for me these two months. I have been attending the regional gatherings and meeting members whom I only knew by name or voice or email. I am very impressed with how eager most directors are to meet each other for the exchange of program information and persons conducting workshops and convocations and retreats, and for prayer and camaraderie (and most everybody enjoys going out for a good dinner).

I heard much talk about programs for new pastors, the desire for models of mentoring programs, both for new pastors and newly-ordained, and the search for convocation programs which work, retreat directors who are good and workshops which their priests need and appreciate.

Region XI had a presentation about a successful program to help young men make the transition from seminary to first parish. Region IX appointed a committee to research programs for those ordained five years and less. Region II has just developed such a program. Some of these regions have only a few young priests in each diocese and they feel isolated, so having a regional program is a help for them. As you will notice, I have also asked Tom Mullin of Philadelphia (new Board member from Region III) to write an article for this edition of the NewsNotes explaining the successful program in his diocese for those “ordained in the nineties.”

In regard to projects of this kind, recall that in the September NewsNotes we announced that Board member Bill Hopkins (Fort Worth, Region X), on behalf of the Standing Committee on Research and Promotion, is collecting information about diocesan and provincial mentoring programs for the newly ordained. He has had a number of responses (and a few inquiries from directors wanting to develop such a program). He asked me to issue a second (and last) call. So, if you have such a program in your diocese or province, please send a copy of the information to Fr. William J. Hopkins, Catholic Center, 800 W. Loop 820 South, Fort Worth, TX 76108-2919. Since time is running out, here is his Fax number and email adress also: Fax 817-244-8839; email bhopkins@fwdioc.org. Please submit programs descriptions to him before Christmas.

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About the 1999 Convention -- registrations are coming in to the National Office and Kathleen Glynn (our efficient administrative assistant) is sending a letter of confirmation as soon as your registration is received. Also, she is sending a form from Dietrich: Destination Consultants, Inc., to see if you would be interested in any tours while you are in New Orleans. The tours are not being coordinated by our office. If you are interested, simply return the form to the company at the address on the form.

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About the Pre-Convention Workshop -- the convention is preceded by a two-day workshop for new directors. This is for people who have recently been appointed as education director (or chair or vicar) for priests in their diocese or province. Members of their ministry committee are also welcome to attend. Seasoned directors and their committee members will also find this workshop most helpful. In this issue, see the comments from some of last year’s participants in the workshop.

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A number of our Associate members have signed up for exhibit space at the national convention and some will be sponsoring the evening socials or the coffee and refreshment breaks. If there are any others interested in doing this, please contact us at the National Office.

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R.P.I. --- at the regional meetings, some new members were introduced to the fact that NOCERCC administers the Renewing Priestly Identity convocation program. In the last two weeks, three dioceses have called to schedule dates (usually their regular priests’ convocation dates) for 1999 and 2000. Any director who may be interested in exploring the possiblity of having an R.P.I. for their presbyterate, just call me at the National Office and I will send you some preliminary materials to share with your bishop or ministry committee. I will include more information about the program in the next issue.

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Note the insert for this issue. I have put together some of the recommendations that were shared at the regional meetings. I will include some information about retreats and recommendations for retreat directors in the January/February issue!

May Advent and Christmas be a holy time for each of you. My prayers for your ministry during this season of peace and faith and love.

NewsNotes

Published bi-monthly by the National Organization

for Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy

Subscriptions free to all members.

NOCERCC

1337 West Ohio Street

Chicago, IL 60622-6490

312-226-1890 Fax: 312-829-8915

e-mail: NOCERCC @cmnonline.com

To schedule the convocation or for further information, contact the NOCERCC National Office.

- For New Directors! -

The new director’s workshop was an excellent presentation containing practical as well as inspirational forums. The use of various styles of presentations always kept our interest high and helped us retain more information. Anyone who is newly involved in continuing education needs to tell their bishop they must attend this workshop.

The new director’s workshop was an excellent introduction to clergy continuing education, NOCERCC and other directors. Without any previous training or expertise in continuing education, this workshop put my mind and heart at ease--just knowing about available resources and meeting new colleagues.

Fr. Ralph Zimmerman, St. Cloud, MN

I would heartily recommend the Pre-Convention Workshop to the newly-appointed directors of continuing education for clergy. It was an excellent introduction to this specialized ministry. Well worth it!

Fr. John Guthrie, Bismarck, ND

I certainly would encourage any and all new directors to attend the Pre-Convention Workshop. I found it extremely useful not only for input regarding history, programs and resources of NOCERCC but particularly for stimulating a solid vision for what might be accomplished in education and ongoing formation in the lives of those whom we serve.

If you are new in your responsibility with continuing education or formation of priests, the Pre-Convention Workshop is an excellent opportunity to learn about what you could be doing in your diocese or province. More importantly, the chance to meet other new directors and discover how much you have in common is a real blessing. Best of all, the workshop provides an overall view of what you can be doing in your new ministry.

I had been doing continuing education work for almost two years before I had a chance to go to a NOCERCC convention and the pre-convention workshop for new directors. It wasn’t until that time that everything clicked for me as to what I was supposed to be doing. It wasn’t until then that I truly understood the vast resource that the NOCERCC national office could be to me as a director of continuing education. The pre-convention provided the opportunity for me to get to know other people who were just getting started. I highly recommend this experience to everyone who can attend--it is two days well spent.

In the fall of 1995, a planning team was established from among those priests ordained for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since 1990, under the direction of the Director for Continuing Formation for Diocesan Priests, to develop a plan for continuing formation designed specifically for priests in the early years of their priestly ministry. One representative of each class ordained since 1990 was recruited by the DCF Director to serve on the planning team. This initiative was made in response to the concerns raised by a number of recently ordained priests during the course of Philadelphia’s Program for Priestly Renewal (1992-1995) that many of the issues of concern identified by the presbyterate as a whole were not of equal significance to them and were at times much less immediately connected to the interests and needs of those in their early years of ministry.

As a result of the team’s initial meetings, a Forum for Priests Ordained in the Nineties was established as a vehicle for implementing a continuing formation plan for recently ordained priests in the archdiocese. The structure and format of programs offered through the Nineties Forum reflect the four key dimensions of continuing formation identified in Pastores Dabo Vobis; during each gathering, time is allotted for social interaction and priestly fellowship, for spiritual reflection and prayer, for theological input, and for attention to practical skills in service to pastoral ministry. At the present time, the Nineties Forum provides a one-day program each fall and an overnight program each spring for all priests ordained since 1990. In addition, our recently ordained priests are invited to participate in the full slate of continuing formation programs offered to all the priests of the archdiocese on a regular basis throughout the year. Newly ordained priests are not normally invited to programs of the Nineties Forum, since there are several continuing formation gatherings designed specifically for each newly ordained class throughout their first year of priesthood.

The goals of the Forum for Priests Ordained in the Nineties are:

1) to provide opportunities for the priests ordained since 1990 to build more consistent relations, solidarity and priestly fellowship, both with one another and with other priests of the local presbyterate as a whole;

2) to foster continued spiritual growth, renewal in priestly identity, and more developed pastoral skills among the priests ordained since 1990;

3) to provide a forum through which the particular formational concerns and interests of the priests ordained since 1990 might be addressed, with the support and resources of the Department of Continuing Formation for Diocesan Priests.

This initiative draws its fundamental rationale from the Directory for the Life and Ministry of Priests, #93, which affirms:

During the first years after ordination, priests must be eager to find those conditions of life and ministry which permit them to put into practice those ideals learned during the formation period in the seminary. These first years of priesthood, which make up a necessary confirmation of the initial formation following the first difficult contact with reality, are most decisive for the future. These years, therefore, require a harmonious maturity in order to face difficult moments with faith and courage....

 

.... It is necessary to organize, in the first years of priesthood, annual meetings in which appropriate themes in theology, law, spirituality and culture are studied and dealt with in greater depth, as well as those special sessions dedicated to problemsi n morality, pastoral care and liturgy. .... It should be beneficial also that during these days, fraternity between the young priests and also with the more experienced ones he encouraged, allowing the exchange of experiences, greater friendship and the refined evangelical practice of fraternal correction.

 

Finally, it is essential for the young clergy to grow in a spiritual environment of genuine and refined fraternity, manifested in concern for one another, including their physical health and other material aspects of life.

 

The inaugural gathering of the Nineties Forum was held at a local retreat house in April of 1996. About 80% of the sixty-some priests ordained for the archdiocese between 1990 and 1994 participated in that gathering, at which one of our diocesan priests addressed the topic: Priestly Ministry and Priestly Spirituality in Today’s Church. After lunch, the DCF Director led an inductive reflection process to identify the continuing formation interests and needs of the recently ordained priests in attendance. On the basis of this initial discussion and the suggestions by participants at each subsequent gathering, the planning team has designed two programs per year since 1996.

In the fall of 1996, the Nineties Forum gathering featured a spiritual presentation on the topic: The Daily Eucharist as Prayer for the Priest-Celebrant, along with two optional pastoral tracks for the afternoon session: one on making pastoral judgments in difficult marriage preparation cases and the other on developing practical skills for leading and moderating parish groups. For the spring of 1997 the program included an evening of recollection, with a presentation on the topic: The Priest as Penitent: Sacramental & Non-Sacramental Penitential Practices; a morning session on the topic: Moral Principles Involved in the Care of the Terminally Ill; and then two optional tracks for the afternoon session: the first, a continuation of the fall track on making pastoral judgments in difficult marriage preparation cases; and the second, on making pastoral judgments in the care of the terminally ill. The presenters for both these programs were drawn from more experienced priests of the archdiocese, together with several faculty members from the archdiocesan seminary.

In the fall of 1997, the one-day workshop included presentations by Rev. Kevin Irwin of Catholic University on Celebrating Advent & Christmas with the Parish Community and on Celebrating Lent & Holy Week with the Parish Community. The overnight workshop in the spring of 1998 included three presentations by Rev. Stephen Rossetti of St. Luke’s Institute on the topic: The Multiple Relationships of the Diocesan Priest: with Family & Friends; with Staff Members & Individual Parishioners; with Brother-Priests. Most recently, the Nineties Forum offered a pastoral workshop in October of 1998 on the Role of Priest in Catholic Youth Ministry and in Liturgies for Young People. Rev. Thomas Higgins, Director of Philadelphia’s Office for Youth & Young Adults, and Mr. Thomas Tomaszek, campus minister at Alverno College in Milwaukee, jointly conducted this one-day workshop for about forty recently ordained priests, again at a local retreat center.

Overall, the typical attendance rate for our recently ordained priests hovers around 50% for each individual gathering. Priests ordained since 1995 are expected to participate in Nineties Forum programs, while those ordained between 1990 and 1994 are more generally invited to attend. At present there are no specified consequences for non-participation; motivation and encouragement are typically generated by the planning team members among their own ordination classmates. The quality of programming and the credibility of the presenters naturally foster more consistent participation in the Nineties Forum. All in all, those who have participated regularly have responded very positively to the gatherings and in particular, frequently express their appreciation for the opportunity to meet as a group with their contemporaries in the priesthood.

Our Nineties Forum planning team is currently addressing two significant matters: first, the design of a one-day workshop for priests ordained one to three years together with their pastors. The primary focus of this gathering is to explore the rational dynamics between pastors and parochial vicars in sharing pastoral responsibilities and in living together in the rectory. A second major project is the restructuring of the Nineties Forum in light of our coming to the end of the decade and the experiential gap developing between priests ordained in the early 90’s and those ordained since 1995. The former group is increasingly incorporated into the presbyterate as a whole, while the latter retains a set of specific needs and concerns regarding continuing formation. So here’s to our newest venture: a Forum for Priests Ordained in the Twenty-First Century! For more information about Philadelphia’s continuing formation efforts for recently ordained priests, please call our office at 215-587-4532.

From The President

Welcome. We are pleased to announce and welcome the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, as a full member of NOCERCC. Twelve of the seventeen dioceses of Region X are now members! Our full membership is now 223 (156 of the 177 Latin rite dioceses, 66 religious provinces or congregations, and the Ukranian Diocese of St. Josephat).

President’s Distinguished Service Award. I am pleased to announce that the fifth annual President’s Award will be given to Sulpician Father Raymond E. Brown posthumously.

Established in 1994, this NOCERCC award is presented to a person who, in the view of the President of NOCERCC, is one whose service of the Gospel and Church exemplifies NOCERCC’s mission and goals. As Jesuit Father Daniel Harrington’s moving tribute in the August 29, 1998, issue of America states so well: “Brown was a teacher for us all. He taught thousands of people about the Bible and its interpretation through his nearly 49 books and hundreds of articles, his lectures at seminaries and universities and his personal example.” Father Brown touched the lives of thousands of priests, religious and career ministers in their continuing education efforts. I feel honored to be among the graduate students he taught.

Father Ronald Witherup, S.S., the provincial superior of the Society of St. Sulpice, will join us at the 1999 convention awards dinner to accept this award and offer a short presentation on his beloved confrere, Father Raymond Brown.

Pope John XXIII Award. It is my privilege to announce that Rev. Thomas J. Singer, O.M.I., is the 1999 recipient of the Pope John XXIII award.

Established in 1983, this NOCERCC award is “ordinarily presented to a director of continuing education/formation person who, in the view of the Board of Directors, is one whose active participation in NOCERCC exemplifies the mission and goals of the organization and whose leadership supports the life and ministry of priests and religious.”

With the amalgamation of the O.M.I. Provinces in the United States in 1999, Tom will complete his term as Personnel Director as well as his term on the NOCERCC Board of Directors. Tom was recently elected General Councilor for the U.S. Region of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

His commitment to the ministry of continuing formation of priests and dedication to the mission and goals of NOCERCC are witnessed to in several ways: as Vicar Provincial and Personnel Director for the Central Province of the Missionary Oblates with responsibilities for continuing education for the Central Province of the Missionary Oblates; service on the NOCERCC Board of Directors (1994-1999) as a religious representative; an active member of NOCERCC Region VIII; service on the Task Force for Priestly Relationships: Freedom through Boundaries, the Research Committee and other NOCERCC committees; service on the Bishops’ Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry (1983-1988) as the representative for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men; service as a member of the Board of Directors for CARA; and was the facilitator for the reconciliation session in Colombo, Sri Lanka, that led to the lifting of the excommunication of Missionary Oblate Father Tissa Balasuriya.

Regional Elections. Because regional elections are opportunities to cultivate persons who might be able to move into other leadership roles within the organization, I continue to encourage the membership to think about the future when electing Board members and Alternates. Regions III, VI, IX, XII were scheduled for elections this fall.

Congratulations to the following elected or re-elected Board members and Alternates: Thomas M. Mullin (Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Board Member for Region III), Charles Parr (Diocese of Paterson, Alternate for Region III), Edward Estok (Diocese of Cleveland, Board member for Region VI), Eugene Krzeminski (Archdiocese of Detroit, Alternate for Region VI), Melvin Long (Diocese of Salina, Board member for Region IX), and David Kampschneider (Archdiocese of Omaha, Alternate for Region IX).

Other recent elections were: Bryan Timby (Diocese of Memphis, Alternate for Region V), Mark O’Donnell (Diocese of Norwich, Alternate for Region I), Scott Fobare (Diocese of Ogdensburg, Alternate for Region II), and Michael Lastiri (Diocese of Fresno, Board member for Region XI).

Convention 1999. I look forward to joining you in New Orleans for our next convention at the DoubleTree Hotel on February 8-11, 1999. The convention theme, One Church: A Tapestry of Ecclesiologies, will be addressed by Dr. Monika Hellwig, Sr. Katarina Schuth, O.S.F., Msgr. Philip Murnion, Rev. Michael Himes, Bishop Edward O’Donnell. Be sure to send in your convention registration and make your hotel reservations.

Convention 2000. The Radisson Hotel Berkeley Marina in Berkeley, California, is the convention site for February 28-March 2, 2000. The Executive Committee met there on October 16-18. During that time we had a wonderful meeting with the 2000 Convention Planning Committee Arthur Coyle (Region I, Archdiocese of Boston), Nora Schaefer, O.P. (Region XI, Diocese of Oakland), and Brendan O’Sullivan (Region XI, Diocese of Sacramento). The theme for the convention in 2000 is Celebrating Priesthood.

Convention 2001. Upon investigation of Miami, and then the Savannah and Charleston areas as possible convention sites for February 19-23, 2001, it was discovered that either the hotel prices were too high, or the dates we needed were not available, and/or transportation into the city was too high and inconvenient. San Antonio was the Board’s third site-choice. We will determine the hotel in San Antonio soon.

Preaching Task Force. One of my goals during this term as NOCERCC president is to explore creating a preaching workshop for priests. Coincidentally, one of the goals of the Bishops’ Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry is to seek ways to improve preaching. At the September meeting of the Bishops’ Committee, my goal was supported and endorsed. Their committee is now looking to NOCERCC to create a workshop for priests.

Recently, I established a five-member NOCERCC Task Force to design a model for a two or three day preaching workshop for priests. It is our intention to develop the content and process of the preaching workshop and to identify presenters that could be hired by NOCERCC to go into dioceses and religious provinces to conduct the workshop. The first meeting of this new Task Force was November 21-22 in Chicago.

Grant Writing. I wrote and submitted a grant proposal to the Knights of Columbus and a grant proposal to the Serra International Foundation, asking for money to assist in the design and implementation of the preaching workshop. The Foundation suggested that it would be helpful for NOCERCC members to contact Serra Board members and encourage them to support our grant. Your assistance in contacting your State Deputy on the Board of Directors for the Knights of Columbus and/or Board members of Serra International is requested and appreciated.

CCOP Colloquium. As announced in previous issues of NewsNotes, the Catholic Coalition on Preaching is sponsoring a colloquium on Catholic preaching at the Oblate Renewal Center in San Antonio, Texas, on October 1-3, 1999.

I sent 132 letters of invitation to selected bishops, provincials, officers in national organizations, experts in preaching and others. The goal of this invitational colloquium is to gather 60 church leaders who have influence and decision making authority about preaching, to examine the state of Catholic preaching, to identify areas of greatest need in Catholic preaching, to articulate specific goals for the improvement of preaching, and to motivate various constituencies to implement these goals. I trust this colloquium will be an important event for the preaching ministry of priests.

Francis S. Tebbe, O.F.M.

The NOCERCC 1999 convention is scheduled to be held in New Orleans at the DoubleTree Hotel, February 8-11. Msgr. Philip Murnion, Rev. Michael Himes, Sr. Katarina Schuth, Dr. Monika Hellwig, and Bishop Edward O’Donnell (Lafayette, Louisiana) will be among the featured presenters. The theme of the convention will be One Church: A Tapestry of Ecclesiologies.

convention brochure and registration materials will be mailed to you next week. If you need extra packets, please call the National Office.