Fewer associate pastors mean they wear more hats

When many Catholics in the Albany Diocese talk about the role of the associate pastor, it might be with reference to the curates of yore: energetic, twenty-something priests at the beginning of their clerical journeys who populated most of the parishes.

But the role of the associate pastor in a time of fewer clergy has changed.

Only 11 diocesan priests are currently assigned to parishes as assistants. Some are the newly ordained priests learning the ropes of day-to-day parish life. Others are older men who support life in larger parishes while holding outside chaplaincies or diocesan positions. Still others are foreign priests working in the Diocese as part of cultural exchange programs.

Learning process

The Diocese's newest priest, Rev. Thomas Babiuch, is associate pastor at St. Mary's Church in Oneonta. There, he's had to "learn everything from scratch. What you learn from books and professors, you have to revise. You have to be sensitive to the customs of the parish."

In the past, young priests like Father Babiuch might have held an associate pastor's position for up to 15 years. These days, said Rev. Tony Childs, associate pastor at Blessed Sacrament in Albany, things are radically different.

"There's no doubt that I'll be jumped into a pastorate sooner," he said, noting that the timetable for promotion has now been pushed up because of the need for pastors to cover the Diocese's nearly 200 parishes.

"I guess no one is ever 100-percent ready for it," he said. "When it happens, I will trust in God and the people that I'm working with to do my best."

Making the grade

Younger associate pastors can have a tendency towards over-achievement, Father Childs warned.

"We do more than we really should be doing and have to be careful not to be burned out or stressed out. We're trying to make the grade, trying to keep up."

Associates, like other pastors, wear numerous hats within parish life. Aside from his chaplaincy at Catholic Central High School in Troy, Father Childs celebrates Mass, attends committee meetings, visits the sick, witnesses weddings, baptizes babies, meets with families in crisis, and works in a food pantry.

"We have to be mindful of ourselves and our own limits," he said, in order not to become "supermen and overextend ourselves."

Hectic life

Sometimes, though, overextending yourself is part of the bargain, according to Rev. Anthony Curran, associate pastor at St. John the Evangelist Church in Schenectady. He describes a particularly hectic weekend in his cluster when he filled in for absent and vacationing pastors: seven Masses at four different parishes, plus Saturday afternoon confessions and a funeral.

"The pressures," he said, are sometimes "just making sure you're going to the right churches at the right time!"

St. John the Evangelist is "a busy place," he said. "Masses, weddings, funerals, confessions -- an associate basically does parish work. We're available to the people when they need us."

Difference

Rev. Laurenti Magesa, a native of Tanzania who is associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in Glenville, said that "the difference between the pastor and the associate is mainly administrative."

Of all his responsibilities, Father Magesa enjoys direct ministry to his parishioners most.

"I like everything I do as a priest," he said. "I do a lot of ministry to the homebound, and I like talking with them about their situations and how they feel. I just do things as they come."

People person

Rev. James Walsh, associate pastor at Saint Pius X parish in Loudonville, agrees. "I really like being grounded in parish work," he said. "I like being around people and being a part of their lives. It's very meaningful for me to be able to live in a parish."

However, he doesn't often get to be at his parish on the weekends as much as he'd like because of other duties as a member of the diocesan Vocations Team. When at St. Pius, he assists the pastor "with the things he needs the most," such as weddings, funerals, Masses and helping out with children at the parish school.

What's ahead

In the future, Father Walsh envisions that new associates will have to take on increasingly split responsibilities such as his.

"It's hard when you're not [at the parish] full-time," he said. "You have the idea that there's so much more you could be doing. You just have to balance yourself and do what is most important."

Part of that balance, says Father Babiuch, involves the very people he serves, mentioning that he is grateful for the role of lay people in ministry at St. Mary's.

"It's a good thing that we are able to include the laity in living the Gospel," he said. "I hope they are able to understand that everybody is called by our baptismal call, and that each one of us has the responsibility to build the Church and try to be a part of this community."

(3/20/2003) [[In-content Ad]]