THE BIGGEST SHORTAGE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.......

.......IS NOT PRIESTS OR MONEY, IT'S

IMAGINATION

"The biggest shortage in the Catholic Church is not priests or money, it's imagination!" I believe this so much that I have said it in innumerable homilies, various presentations and in over 140 priest retreats in 10 countries. Every time I have repeated it, I am reminded of a story in one of my favorite Harvard Business School books from 26 years ago, THE ART OF POSSIBILITY. 

"A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back a telegram saying, "SITUATION HOPELESS! NO ONE WEARS SHOES!" The other writes back triumphantly, "GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY! THEY HAVE NO SHOES!" 

In the situation mentioned above, for one the evidence he saw pointed to hopelessness, for the other the evidence he saw pointed to abundance and possibility.  Experiments in neuroscience have demonstrated that our understanding of the world comes into our consciousness as a construction of our own making. 

Maybe this is why some of us today turn to one of two possibilities as we look at the same reality in front of us. One group tries to go back in time to recover some former reality, while another sees shrinking the old construct to fit the new reality as the solution going forward. We see it when some see the solution to our shrinking Church in returning to the pre-Vatican II Church, while some see the solution in closing more and more parishes.  Neither see the future in terms of encouraging imaginative new solutions for passing on the non-negotiable essentials of the faith, "the great treasure inside the earthenware jar," as St. Paul put it! Both seem to fall into the idolatry of focusing more on handing on the jar that holds the treasure rather than the treasure itself!  Pope Francis frequently remarked that people who cling to certainty have created their own idol.  

I find the recent trend of nostalgia for an irretrievable past obviously fear-based with a misguided attempt to avoid fearful uncertainty. While it is true, that some of the attempts to "update" after Vatican Council II were childish and immature, they were good faith attempts without a map to go by, but their shortcomings are poor excuses for running back to some imagined "good old days." Half of my twelve year seminary training were pre-Vatican II. I lived in those days and, believe me, I certainly do not want to "go back" there! From observation, I also know that many of those who want to "go back" did not actually go through the days they want to "go back to" and many of those who want to "go back" do not always want to "go all the way back." They too have a tendency to pick and choose practices from the past actually becoming the "cafeteria Catholics" they condemn.  Besides, as an old quote puts it, “Tradition is not about preserving the ashes, but about passing on the flame.” Tradition has always been a living, developing dynamism.

I find the recent trend of simply closing parishes to keep an old church model alive just as distressing. I have noted and written about the fact that we keep producing fancy binders and suggestions on "how to close a parish," but never a pamphlet on "how to keep a parish from having to close." That trend seems to be more about how to downsize the old model to fit the priest shortage, rather than creating imaginative new models of how to expand the church's ability to "hand over" the "great treasure" inside the old jar. We ought to be growing, not shrinking, even in today's culture!

I have offered at least four ideas that have gone "nowhere" so far. (1) I suggested that we create a "diocesan missionary" program. It would be very similar to a "rescue team" whereby trained volunteer "missionaries" from a thriving parish become members of a struggling parish for a short period of time to help it "get back on it's feet." I believe it could "revive" both the struggling parish and the "volunteer missionaries." (2) I have suggested that one of the Annual Presbyteral Assemblies be designed as an "Idea Festival" where "bright ideas" on a range of subjects are presented by as many "volunteer presenters" as possible. The understanding would be that no idea would "have to be implemented," but one idea might trigger another idea that "would work." This idea could be adapted for other stake holders in the archdiocese. This would expand the "creativity pool" instead of having all the ideas having to come out of the Chancery Office (the old model). (3) I have suggested that the concept of a "Catholic Megachurch" be offered to (not forced upon) a region or area of the archdiocese that would welcome it. In a "priest-shortage," this could be led by one talented pastor and a large energetic lay staff able to offer more comprehensive programing, better music and life-long educational programs, as well as new energy efficient buildings. The Archdiocese could then, not only help it come to reality, but offer its services to help "make it work." (4) I established an Endowment at St. Meinrad Seminary to teach "Parish Revitalization" with the funds I made conducting over 140 Priest Retreats in 10 countries. I have learned the hard way that a few of these ideas were not necessarily useless and wrong-headed, they just needed some time to percolate or be presented again under somebody else's name!  

I have accepted the fact that some of my own ideas may not work, but I am convinced that there are hundreds and hundreds of unexplored ideas out there waiting to be heard! The problem may not be a "hopeless situation," but "hopeless talk and hopeless thinking!" The path forward is not 'preserving the ashes of past organizational thinking, but protecting the flame of faith for future generations' by facing the realities right in front of us with courage and imagination! 

Let me end this by saying that I am encouraged by the new Archdiocesan Parish Planning Process 2025-2026: Phase I, Phase II and Phase III. It's a sign, at least, that we recognize that we are in trouble! It's a good start, organizationally, but we need a lot more than an organizational shuffle. We need a dramatic infusion of bold, visionary and inspirational leadership that will turn us into a "missionary church" with a focus on "growing the faith" and with an ability to spark or rekindle the fire of faith in the hearts of Catholics in this diocese, not just salvaging what's left over from the past!