Fellowship key at priests' meeting

The Gospel of Mark, care of the dying and fellowship topped the agenda when the priests of the Albany Diocese met Nov. 6-8 at the Friar Tuck Inn in Catskill for their fourth annual Priests' Convocation.

This year's convocation, an event that brought together nearly 200 priests of the Diocese, was slightly more academic than previous gatherings. Past convocations have dealt with the challenges of pastoral planning and upcoming changes in priestly ministry; the theme for this weekend was "Mark's Gospel and Opportunities for Preaching the Gospel."

The weekend included addresses by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard and a keynote on the Gospel according to St. Mark by Msgr. J. Warren Holleran, a priest of the San Francisco Archdiocese and faculty member of the Vatican II Institute at Menlo Park.

According to Rev. Mark Allman, associate pastor of Christ the King parish in Westmere and a newly ordained priest, the presentation covered the kind of "cutting-edge" theology that has just begun to be taught in seminaries during the past several years.

"Msgr. Holleran gave a superb scriptural presentation," agreed Rev. Joseph Benintende, pastor of Annunciation parish, Ilion. As "a person that tries to keep up with scriptural studies," he said, he enjoyed the opportunity to further his knowledge.

"This has probably committed me to doing Scripture study here in the parish on a regular basis," the pastor stated. "I see a hunger on the part of the people for Bible study."

A talk on vocations was given during the weekend by Rev. John Molyn, Albany diocesan vocations director, and Sister Katherine Hanley, CSJ, director of vocations for the Albany Province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

Death and dying

The convocation also included a presentation on "Compassionate Care of the Dying vs. Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia" by Rev. James McCartney, OSA. As the pastor of a parish made up primarily of senior citizens, Rev. John Riley of St. Anne's parish in Waterford noted that his parishioners would have great interest in hearing the information he learned from that talk.

"It was very good. I'm planning to try to adapt it to a presentation to the people" during an upcoming homily, he said.

Rev. Vincent Ciotoli, pastor of St. Patrick's parish in Ravena, noted the correlations between Father McCartney's presentation and Pope John Paul II's urging Catholics to speak out in favor of life.

"The Holy Father has remarked that there seems to be an encroaching culture of death, and we are a people of life," he affirmed. "This clarified the Church's teaching on compassionate care of the dying."

Father Ciotoli plans to hold an adult education evening in his parish in the spring, where he will "bring that [lesson] back to the people."

Fellowship

While all of the priests interviewed agreed that the convocation offered informative presentations, the chance to spend time with their brother priests took precedence.

"I support having this every year," said Father Benintende, whose parish is located on the western edge of the Diocese. "It gives especially those of us who don't live in the Capital District an opportunity to see people we don't usually get to see."

The pastor remarked on Rev. Michael Farano's (pastor of St. Pius X, Loudonville) homily on the priesthood at one liturgy during the weekend, which covered "keeping Christ in the center of your life. It was superb."

Meeting peers

After attending the convocation for the first time, Father Allman stated that "I liked getting together with the priests. Because the Diocese is so big and we're all so spread out, as a new priest, I hear their names mentioned in conversation, but I don't have faces to put with the names."

The weekend gave him the chance not only to meet his peers, but also to affirm one another in light of the decreasing number of active priests in the Diocese, and to spend time in conversation with others who have the same vocation.

"Sometimes, you have frustrations and the only person who understands in another priest," he said. "We got to tell all our stories."

Both Fathers Allman and Ciotoli remarked on their membership in support groups for priests, which perform a similar function as the convocation in "reaffirming the importance of our ministry and the support that's there."

At St. Joseph's parish in Richfield Springs, Rev. Francis Husselbeck, pastor, summed up the convocation succinctly: "I enjoyed the day."

(11-14-96)

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