And now, for something completely different: British priest makes new home in Albany Diocese

Plunk a British seminary professor down in a rural parish on the western edge of an American diocese: It could be the plot of a fish-out-of-water TV sitcom.

But for Rev. Anthony Barratt of London, England, becoming pastor of Annunciation parish in Ilion feels like a natural progression.

"It must seem strange, but it doesn't seem strange to me," the new pastor remarked as he settled into his Herkimer County rectory.

Globe-hopping

Ordained in 1985 in Kent, England, Father Barratt is no stranger to foreign countries: He did his training for the priesthood in Rome, Italy, and has been to South Africa and India. His previous assignments included a suburban parish in Surrey and St. George's Cathedral in London, which he described as "a beautiful Capuchin church."

He was also a hospital chaplain, and worked with Britain's bishops' conference and with deacons.

Most of Father Barratt's ministry, however, was spent as a vice-rector and theology professor at St. John's Seminary, an "inter-diocesan" seminary that covers the entire south of England. He trained future priests at the seminary in four areas of formation: pastoral, spiritual, intellectual and human development.

Linking to Albany

Father Barratt told The Evangelist he loved his "most enjoyable, demanding" job; but after nine years of it, he was ready for a change.

That opportunity arose many years before he even left his home country. When Rev. Erwin Schweigardt, pastor of St. Patrick's parish in Watervliet, happened to visit St. George's from the Albany Diocese, Father Barratt told his American counterpart that he'd like to spend a month doing something entirely different from his usual ministry.

Father Schweigardt connected him with Rev. David Noone, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Loudonville. Soon, Father Barratt was flying over the Atlantic for the first of 12 summers of spending five weeks helping out at the Albany County parish.

Back to parish

Father Barratt always felt most at home in parish work, even though he did more teaching than pastoral ministry. His five weeks a year at St. Francis de Sales were "a bit of a lifeline to me," he noted.

In 2000, when he began thinking about leaving his position at St. John's Seminary, Father Barratt immediately considered moving to the Albany Diocese full-time. For one thing, he saw a need for his services: The U.S. has more of priest shortage than Britain. In fact, Father Barratt's home diocese has about the same number of parishes as the Albany Diocese, but twice the number of priests.

In addition, "I [thought] I'd be happy and be able to offer something" to the Albany Diocese, Father Barratt explained. He also believed that ministering in the U.S. would add to his personal growth.

Across the pond

Eventually, he requested and received permission to make the change. Father Barratt was excited to be placed at Annunciation parish in Ilion, which had been without a pastor for several months.

"I've gotten a great welcome," he stated. "There's a lot of good will."

The new pastor joked that while he likes to get to know a parish by strolling around it, it's taken him three times longer to reach any destinations lately, because he's so busy stopping to meet parishioners.

"The people are very friendly," he said.

Acclimation

Father Barratt is still getting acclimated to some unnerving American customs: for example, driving on the other side of the road than he's used to, surviving the ordeal of buying a car and getting parish accounts switched over to his name when he's unfamiliar with the U.S. banking system.

He described the latter wryly as "wrestling with various financial systems."

The priest said that American religious education will be a new experience for him, since England's "church schools" are set up differently and funded by the government.

On his own

Still, his greatest concern was not cultural differences, but loneliness. Parishes in the Albany Diocese are larger than those in his home diocese, he said, and priests tend to be more isolated, since it's rare for more than one priest to serve a parish.

But "I take things as they come," he concluded. "That's how I've always done things."

Besides, wherever he has been, "people's needs are very much the same."

(Father Barratt will be formally installed as pastor on Oct. 3 at 4 p.m.)

(8/19/04)