By Gretchen Keiser

Within the past two weeks, three archdiocesan parishes have learned that they will be staffed not by diocesan priests, but by religious order priests, in June.

In addition, the orders are new to the archdiocese: Capuchin Franciscans who will staff St. Anthony’s and Our Lady of Lourdes in Atlanta, and Claretians who will staff Corpus Christi in Stone Mountain.

They join a number of orders that have long had a presence in North Georgia: The LaSalettes, who staff eight archdiocesan parishes; the Dominicans at Holy Cross; Passionist at St. Paul of the Cross; Glenmarys in St. Mark’s, Clarkesville, St. Francis of Assisi, Blairsville and two missions; Redemptorists in Griffin, Newnan, and Fort Oglethorpe among other parishes; Marists at Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Joseph’s, Marietta; Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales at St. Patrick’s, Norcross and St. Lawrence, Lawrenceville. More recently Conventual Franciscans came to St. Philip Benizi, Jonesboro and its mission, and they had already been serving at St. John Vianney, Lithia Springs.

In addition, Jesuits and Franciscans of the Order of Friars Minor serve the archdiocese in retreat houses and campus ministries at Georgia Tech and UGA. The archbishop himself is religious order priest.

According to Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM, there is an ebb and flow to the staffing of parishes by religious orders. Over the years some parishes have been turned back to the archdiocese by orders, even as others have been given to orders.

For example, it is part of the Glenmary approach to return a parish to diocesan staffing when the parish has reached a certain stage of maturity, and for the Glenmary priest to move on to a priestless county in the South to start a Catholic presence.

Some religious orders have had to turn back parishes to the diocese when declining numbers of priests made it necessary or when the order discerned that its resources were needed elsewhere. For example, the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was staffed by Franciscans and is now staffed by diocesan priests.

Right now the archdiocese of Atlanta is benefiting from the fact that the Catholic population is shifting from the North to the South. As religious orders reexamine their placement of priests some are deciding to send the priests where the Catholic population is growing rather than declining. “In a sense, it’s a kind of natural redistribution of the clergy,” the archbishop said.

Both the Capuchin Franciscans and the Claretians voted as provinces in favor of sending priests to the archdiocese and had written to the archbishop inquiring about coming to North Georgia and received encouragement form him.

Most religious communities want to send three members at least, so that they can form a living community together and support one another with prayer and brotherhood, according to the charism of their order.

As a result, living accommodations are among the practical facts that come into play as the archdiocese seeks to match a parish with an order. The facilities must be large enough to house several priests.

Sometimes the order might also be seeking to work in a particular setting. The Capuchin Franciscans, for example, wanted both an urban setting and work with black Catholics, according to the archbishop. The Claretians wanted to diversify their parish ministry.

Pairing St. Anthony’s and Our Lady of Lourdes came about as the two are geographically close, linked by I-20, and both are downtown parishes primarily serving black Catholics. The Franciscan emphasis upon peacemaking, which stems from St. Francis, may provide a commonality with the King Center, which is located near Lourdes.

From a practical perspective, the archbishop said he has encouraged religious orders to consider staffing archdiocesan parishes because he wishes to free up diocesan priests for sabbaticals, for rest, and for continuing education. He found that priests frequently could not be given any opportunity for such breaks or study because they were indispensable in the parishes. Right now, for example, he has no priest studying canon law to supplement those with doctorates and licentiates in church law, skills essential to the archdiocese and to the Marriage Tribunal.

Priests with graduate degrees in theology are also needed as specialists to help the archbishop, and to enrich the catechetical dimension of church to church life. Such study is also needed for the church to stay current with the application of moral theology to changes in medical ethics and other contemporary questions.

The archbishop said he also had to recognize that the archdiocese is growing rapidly and that new parishes will have to be opened and large parishes will eventually have to be divided. With the help of religious orders, there will be enough priests to staff the parish configuration of the future.

“My first responsibility to the people is to provide pastoral care for them,” Archbishop Lyke said. “I want to provide good pastoral care. So the first question I ask is can this religious community provide good pastoral care to the people?”