Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Anσnymσus Posts Allowed => Topic started by: Änσnymσus on February 13, 2023, 07:29:39 AM
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I’ve read in the lives of the saints how they knew their flock and visited them to their houses, knew them personally etc.
But was this a duty imposed on all priests? On some priests? Parish priests only?
I know that in a small town/community this may be feasible, but if there are thousands or tens of thousands, then it might be impossible for a priest to know each person or visit them etc.
I’m not even sure I’m asking the question correctly. The reason I ask is because the church I go to, it seems the priests don’t mingle with the laity that much, even though its a smallish congregation (couple hundred). They don’t seem to have a way or process of getting to know newcomers.
Of course I understand they may be busy and have a lot of things going on and just don’t have the time, so I don’t want to say they just don’t care because I don’t know.
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Yes, obviously the feasibility would depend on the size of the congregation.
I'm actually on the fence about whether this is always a good thing, for a priest to get TOO familiar with the lay faithful. It's one thing if the priest is a saint, but otherwise an excessive familiarity might lead to loss of respect, an unwillingness to approach the priest for Confession, etc. Also, there's a potential that if the priest might even APPEAR to favor one family over another of resentment and accusations of favoritism. I've seen all of these play out in various Traditional chapels.
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Shepherds need to tend to all God’s flock.
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As far as I know, parish priests have the duty to care spiritually for the people under their authority. If visiting people's house helps them to do it, them it is a good thing. I don't have profound knowledge about this, but I don't think that they have the moral and formal obligation to go to people's houses.
It is also important to remember that Traditionalist priests are not parish priests. They have no authority, no formal obligations towards any of the laity.
In my opinion, it is a good thing if the priests know the people, know their names, their families, etc...but it has to be done carefully. If the priest acts like a star and doesn't talk to anybody outside of the confessional, people might start to resent him. On the other hand, if he is too close to the people, some problems might arise.
I don't want to play tennis and drink beer with the man that hears my confessions. Know what I mean?
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One need only peruse many of the threads on this forum to know the dangers of priests fraternizing too much with particular laypersons. No preferences should be shown. I've never known a priest to refuse a homecooked meal. Perhaps one can issue an invitation if you want the priest to visit your home? They aren't going to show up uninvited.
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Two priests and one bishop have been to my house. The priests came to bring the Sacraments to sick, housebound, elderly. The bishop was a Navy buddy of my father’s before he entered the seminary. He ate lunch with us and Dad drove him to the airport.