newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Dubbed “Priestless Sunday,” next weekend will find parish leaders filling the pulpits at Roman Catholic churches all around Fairbanks and the road systems.

No, the urban parish priests haven’t all taken vacations at the same time. Instead, they will be ministering in rural parishes across the sprawling Fairbanks Catholic Diocese, which encompasses almost a half million square miles north of the Alaska Range to the Arctic Ocean and west to the Bering Sea.

Priestless Sunday is the product of “thinking outside the box,” and a creative attempt to deal with the acute shortage of Roman Catholic priests, explained Robert Hannon, special assistant to the Bishop Donald Kettler.

Deacons and lay presiders will be conducting communion services — Celebration of the Word with Holy Communion — both Saturday and Sunday. It is not Mass but will satisfy the Catholic obligation to attend Mass.

Kettler has personally been preparing urban parishioners for next weekend, visiting each of the local parishes for town meeting style gatherings and explaining the twofold goal of Priestless Sunday: to establish a sister parish program that is not just priest to community but community to community.

“I can’t say they were happy about doing this, but they understood the necessity of it because of the shortage of priests,” Kettler said.

The diocese has only 17 priests, but serves approximately 16,000 Catholics spread out across 47 parishes, the vast majority of which are only reachable by airplane most of the year. It’s the norm for priests serving in outlying areas to divide their ministry among six to eight rural parishes. Rural churches will have a visiting priest to celebrate Mass about once every six weeks, Kettler said.

The idea and decision to conduct an urban Priestless Sunday evolved from pastoral and priest council meetings, Kettler said.

“It’s a one-time thing. However, we hope that the (urban) priests will make arrangements with parishes they are visiting and go out to them periodically,” Kettler said. “I really hope that the priests here will see this as part of their mission.”

Kettler said he would like to see parishioners become involved, perhaps in catechetical exchange programs as well.

“We hope this will be a way that we will be able to continue to serve most of our diocese and not have most of our priests here in Fairbanks,” he said.

A few decades ago, there were many more priests serving the huge missionary diocese.

“The Jesuits always supplied the diocese,” Kettler said. “At one time there were 50 Jesuits, and now there are just eight Jesuits in the whole state.”

The bishop continues to actively seek priests from many other dioceses and has developed and is distributing a recruitment brochure and video for that purpose. Alaska’s climate, winter darkness and remote location add to the recruitment challenge.

Kettler and eight local priests will be flying out at the end of next week to spend three or four days in Bush ministry.

Considering fuel costs have doubled since last year, the weekend program is not inexpensive.

The bishop will travel to McGrath, the Revs. Robert Fath will go to Alakunuk; Gerald Ornowski to Stebbins and St. Michael; Norman Pepin to St. Marys; Patrick Bergquist to Tanana; Mirek Woznica to Kalskag; Ross Tozzi to Nulato; Jack de Verteuil to Galena; and Kaspar Mallavarapu to Barrow.

Betty Johnson, diocesan office of worship director, also has been involved in preparing for Priestless Sunday, training local parish laity to take over liturgical responsibilities next weekend.

A couple of parishes will be led by ordained deacons and the others by lay presiders, Johnson said.

“For some of the lay presiders, it’s a little scary. They haven’t had much practice doing this, but they are responding very well.”

Johnson said enthusiasm is building for sharing parish to parish as well.

“I think it is a wonderful idea. We have been fortunate to have priests all the time. We need to share the priests and come to know the people out there in the Bush better,” she said. “It can open everybody’s minds and hearts. It’s a great opportunity to do that.”