Editor’s note: A series on holy orders continues with this column on the ministries of priests.
Parish ministry: The primary work of priests is parish ministry. The parish is the spiritual center of the local Catholic community, and priests foster the faith of parishioners, visitors, and the wider community as pastors and parochial vicars or associate pastors.
Parish priests preside and preach for Sunday and weekday Masses, school Masses, funerals and weddings, and Masses at senior care facilities.
Priests also foster devotion to the Eucharist, hear confessions, officiate at baptisms, visit the homebound and hospitals, administer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, provide spiritual consultation and direction, train liturgical ministers, and promote faithful stewardship.
Priests teach the faith to children and adults in partnership with staff and catechists, and offer sacramental preparation, faith formation, study groups, Bible study, workshops and retreats. Priests are evangelizers, make the name of Jesus known and loved, and welcome new members into the Church by assisting individuals with their discernment and participation in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.
Priests also coordinate parish administration by hiring and directing pastoral staff, ensuring a safe environment, the management of finances and facilities, and oversight of school operations.
Education: Some priests specialize in education ministry. A few serve as presidents of colleges or universities or the principals or headmasters of high schools.
Pastors are the superintendents of their parish schools. Priests serve as college professors, particularly in theology, philosophy, ethics, and history, or as religion teachers in Catholic high schools, middle schools and elementary schools.
Priests also serve as chaplains or campus ministers and provide the Mass and the sacraments, retreats, spiritual direction, consultation, leadership in policy and values, and a strong Catholic presence on campus.
The formation of priests: Some priests are entrusted with the sacred responsibility of nurturing the vocations of future priests in college seminaries and graduate schools of theology.
A priest serves as the rector of the seminary, the spiritual, academic, and administrative head of the school. Priests serve as professors of Scripture, liturgy and sacraments, systematic or dogmatic theology, homiletics, canon law, Church history, Christian morality and ethics, and pastoral care. Priests also serve as the director of pastoral formation, the dean of men, formation directors and spiritual directors.
Diocesan administration: Priests assist the bishop in his care for the diocese. The vicar general is the bishop’s right-hand man and representative in spiritual and administrative matters. The judicial vicar directs the marriage tribunal. The chancellor for canonical affairs may also be a priest.
The bishop may appoint priests as vicars to coordinate other diocesan ministries such as a vicar for clergy, retired priests, worship, evangelization, education, Latino ministry or other areas. The director of vocations coordinates the promotion and recruitment of vocations to the priesthood and manages the admissions process.
Chaplain ministry: Chaplains provide for the spiritual care of a specific group of people. There are priests who serve as chaplains for Newman Centers, hospitals and health care facilities, the military, local police and fire departments, Catholic groups such as the Knights of Columbus or the Serra Club, or women’s or men’s groups. Some priests focus on prison ministry and serve as the chaplain for a federal or state penitentiary, or a county jail or workhouse.
Specialized ministries: Priests serve in other ways, such as domestic and foreign missionaries, retreat directors, authors, composers, artists and scientists.
Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
