Faith & Parish

WASHINGTON
It was simple for Uganda native Father Alfred Onyutha to bring his ministry to America almost four years ago -- he filled out a form and was on his way.
"I didn't have much (of an) interview," Father Onyutha said from his office at St. Margaret's Church in Woodbury Heights, N.J.

But behind the scenes, the Diocese of Camden, N.J., had a lot to consider when reviewing Father Onyutha's credentials. He needed to commit to five years, have a working knowledge of English and bring enough money to buy a car. His sending bishop needed to sign off on things like physical and psychological health, the ability to live and work with people of diverse backgrounds and freedom from demanding family obligations, according to guidelines from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Because dioceses are not required to follow the bishops' guidelines, procedures vary widely for accepting and orientating international priests. Some common steps are background checks, training in the Virtus child protection program, Homeland Security procedures and visa assistance.

Parish Life

In his rule, St. Benedict describes one of the decrees of monastic life. The monk "is to promise, before God and his saints to be stable" -- that is, to settle in a place, one place, for life. It is not an assumption we share. Indeed, the notion of a grown man still living in the house where he was born conjures images of instability, mental and emotional. We imagine Boo Radley, afraid of the world beyond his porch.

Our world is shaped and defined not by stability of place, but by mobility and its partner, consumer choice. The premise of consumer choice is that, somewhere, the perfect fit between product and purchaser exists. It is the responsibility of the producer to offer it, the responsibility of the purchaser to find it. Shop till you drop.

American churchgoers no longer prize stability of place in worship any more than we prize stability of place in the rest of our lives. Accordingly, there is a body of literature on leaving one church and finding another. Little is written about choosing to stay, as sticking with an uncomfortable fit is never thought wise in a consumer culture.

Mission Management

The “environmental crisis,” we are reminded, is a “moral challenge” that requires us “to examine how we use and share the goods of the earth, what we pass on to future generations, and how we live in harmony with God’s creation.”

Just the latest environmental pabulum from the trendy religious left? Hardly. Those words were promulgated by the U.S. bishops in their 1991 statement “Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment in Light of Catholic Social Teaching.”

In the late sixties, for the first time I could remember, priests came to the house for dinner. Fr. Eugene was a favorite because he always performed a few magic tricks over coffee. Fr. Ignatius, who oversaw the altar boys, somehow scrounged up enough money from the modest parish fund one Christmas to buy each of us knock-hockey games.

There was Sr. Richard, of course, who taught us folk songs. Sr. Stephan was her best friend. By 1970, they would be allowed to revert to their birth names: Maryann and Karen -- it was a revelation to know them by their actual names, and picture them as real daughters who once wrote their own book reports and drew their own Mother's Day cards. By 1971, they would lose the face-enveloping nun's habits, too, and wear only a small scarf on their heads. But they were never demystified to me. They were always the face of the church in my eyes: only now that face had cheeks and hair -- and a smile.