By Gretchen Keiser

In a continuing effort to shape the relationship between the archdiocese and the parishes, Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, S.S.J. has decided to name a “moderator of the curia.”

Father Edward Dillon, the pastor of Holy Spirit parish, Atlanta, and the vicar general of the archdiocese, will be moderator.

This post, which was created when the Code of Canon (Church) Law was revised in 1983, will be new to many Catholics. It is a post designed to help the bishop of a diocese coordinate his administrative work so that he can be freer to carry out pastoral duties.

Archbishop Marino said that this was the motivation for his appointment of Father Dillon to the post.

The archbishop, who will celebrate his first anniversary in the archdiocese on May 5, said that he wants more flexibility in his schedule to visit parishes more frequently and for other than ceremonial and sacramental events. He also would like the time to take more initiatives in the archdiocese and the city of Atlanta as the shepherd of the diocese.

While certain aspects of a bishop’s role can only be carried out by him, others can be delegated. The new Code of Canon Law, recognizing this as need in many dioceses, proposed the post of moderator of the curia.

Under the code, the office is to be filled by a priest, and usually by the priest who already serves as vicar general of the archdiocese.

While the volume of work varies from diocese to diocese, in Atlanta the assignment will not be a full-time position. Archbishop Marino said that Father Dillon would continue to be pastor of Holy Spirit and would take on this new responsibility on a part-time basis. When the annual assignment of priests is made shortly, Father Dillon will be given assistance at the parish, the archbishop said, and some of his responsibilities will be shifted.

The archbishop described the arrangement as one that will be adapted and refined according to the needs and the experience of the archdiocese. While the Washington, D.C. archdiocese had a moderator of the curia, Archbishop Marino said that he tried to observe the workings of the central offices of the archdiocese of Atlanta over the last year rather than being guided by his previous experience alone.

The term “curia” refers to the diocesan agencies that serve as an extension of the archbishop’s mandate to pastor the archdiocese. For example, the “curia” would include the archdiocesan Department of Education, the Chancery, the Finance Department, the Office for Black Catholics and the Hispanic Apostolate, Catholic Communications and The Georgia Bulletin, the Metropolitan Tribunal and Catholic Social Services.

All of these departments and offices are based at the Catholic Center at 600 West Peachtree St.

The post, which is an optional one under the Code of Canon Law, is distinct from that of the chancellor, Monsignor E. Peter Ludden is the chancellor of the archdiocese and continues to hold that post, Archbishop Marino pointed out.

Father Dillon, 45, was appointed vicar general in October 1988 and has worked in the archdiocesan offices for most of the 22 years that he has been a priest in Atlanta.

A canon (church) lawyer, who has been associated with the Marriage Tribunal of the archdiocese since 1968, he saw three aspects to the post, all of which involve administration and coordination.

They are: coordinating the departments within the Catholic center, helping coordinate the relationship between those departments and the pastors and parishes; and helping to coordinate the deaneries-regional groupings of parishes that attempt to bridge between single parishes, on the one hand, and the archdiocese as a whole, on the other.

Both the archbishop and Father Dillon noted that the departments and offices are to serve the parishes where the sacramental life of the Church is lived and experienced by people.

“We must always see ourselves as serving the needs of the people by serving the parish community,” Archbishop Marino said, referring to the archdiocesan offices.

“People have that concept” of serving the parishes, he said, “but we have to translate our way of offering services so that the concept becomes a reality.”

Father Dillon is beginning to meet with the heads of departments and agencies on a one-on-one basis this week and plans to meet with them collectively as needed.

He also foresaw a need to strengthen ties between the central offices of the archdiocese and the pastors and parishes.

Based upon his experience working at the Catholic Center for 19 years, he saw a need for “a greater measure of ownership of diocesan policies, programs and offices by the pastors and priests of the diocese and, of course, the people, too.”

He said he would like to hear from the departments what their immediate concerns are and then to receive some kind of feedback from priests and Religious about the way the present programs and departments are functioning. From that point, Father Dillon said, he would like to respond to the perceived concerns of all and move toward serious long-term planning.

He acknowledged that a means of providing feedback was not really in place, although to some extent the Council of Priests, the Consultors and the Priest Personnel Board provide a process of hearing from pastors and priests. The Atlanta Conference of Sisters is also a means of receiving feedback from women Religious, he said, but no particular means exists for hearing from men Religious in the archdiocese.

Father Dillon stressed that his role is to assist the archbishop in carrying out the archbishop’s vision. “I’m not implementing my agenda,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is implement his agenda.”

Should a circumstance arise in which as moderator of the curia he would be asked to develop a new agenda, Father Dillon said, “I would like to make it as representative as possible of priests, Religious and the people of the archdiocese, not just narrowly focused groups.”

But generally the moderator would be a bridge between the archbishop’s vision and the daily workings of his archdiocesan administration, he said. “The bishop would establish general policy and set up the parameters of the policy. The moderator’s job is to see the policy is implemented.”

Some areas of sensitivity are the relationship between the diocesan offices and the parishes, and the relationship among various geographic regions of the diocese, Father Dillon acknowledged.

Speaking of the relationship between parishes and the diocese, he said he would see his role as including trying to reconcile specific difficulties. “I certainly want to be available in that (kind of) situation,” he said. “Some balance has to be achieved. It doesn’t mean I’m going to side with the person in the parish. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to side with the diocese. We’re all on the same team. We don’t always pull together the way we should. By and large we do a pretty good job, but there are some rough spots.”

In an interview, Archbishop Marino said that he hoped the post of a moderator would free some of his time for absorption in some of the issues confronting the Atlanta community, including the plight of the homeless.

At the same time he said he did not want to “abandon my presence, my availability” to those in administration.

“I want to have more flexibility in my schedule to go out to the parishes for other than Confirmation” and church dedications and blessings, he said. “I have not had the freedom to go and visit my priests where they live and work.”

“I have not had the opportunity to drop in on institutions, either Catholic or public, that I would like to have,” he said.

“I have to be somewhat more present to and even to address issues that affect our community” as a religious leader in metropolitan Atlanta, he added, citing, as an example, the fact that “we should be beginning to plan now how we’re going to shelter the homeless for the next winter.”

Being freed from a portion of administrative work will permit him to carry out more pastoral work, the archbishop said.

The precise way in which that will work will have to be refined, he said. “We will have to be patient and open to change, which is always difficult.”