The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest [Paperback]

Donald B Cozzens (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Behind the drop in seminarians and the declining numbers of priests, behind the sexual misconduct scandals shaking the confidence and trust once readily given to priests, a spiritual deepening and maturing is quietly renewing the spirit and confidence of the diocesan priest. In this collection, twelve priests and bishops reflect on the spirituality of the diocesan priest from their personal and pastoral experience. Have diocesan priests finally transcended the monastic and religious order spiritualities that have shaped their prayer and interior lives for centuries? Is a spirituality proper to the diocesan priest emerging precisely at a time when the priesthood is under such close scrutiny? The contributors - pastors, theologians, poets, and bishops - grapple with the maturing of the diocesan priest's soul.

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: The Liturgical Press (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814624219
• ISBN-13: 978-0814624210
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,041,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An ordinary holiness, April 25, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest (Paperback)

I first happened upon the book The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest at a Sursum Corda event held a few years ago in Techny, outside of Chicago. Sursum Corda is a gathering of Old Catholic clergy and lay leaders who come together to explore and share areas of common interest and struggles with each other. Because there is no overarching hierarchy or community/institutional structure that binds them altogether, the Old Catholics must look for other ways to be in fellowship and communication with each other. To a certain extent, that made the find of Donald Cozzens' book at this event so apropos. One of the issues for diocesan priests in the Roman Catholic church is similar - what structures and community is there for support of a spiritual life?

First, perhaps a bit of structural knowledge is required. Not all priests in the Roman Catholic church are diocesan priests. Many belong to monastic orders, or various other orders that provide spiritual support, guidelines and community. Jesuits, Dominicans and others have differing kinds of communities that encourage, through rules and practices, gatherings and accountability systems, spiritual development in their members. The `ordinary' diocesan priest rarely has these kinds of supports. To work in the `secular' world becomes a distraction, sometimes a definite hindrance to spiritual growth and practice.

In this sense, it is analogous to the situation in which many Old Catholic priests find themselves. Most Old Catholic clergy have to be `tent-maker' clerics. The label `tent-maker' hearkens back to the apostle Paul, who did not see, nor did he use, his ministry as a means for making money, but rather preferred to continue to ply his trade (tent-making) during his journeys. Most Old Catholics have no choice but to continue to make a living through another means, as they do not have parishes and dioceses and community/institutional structures that provide financial benefits.

`The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest,' edited by Donald Cozzens, is written by and about Roman Catholic hierarchs. This, however, is merely a starting point, and not a final word. Clergy and lay leaders of many denominations can find through this analysis insights into their own situations. There are a dozen contributors to this text: Donald Cozzens, Denis Edwards, William Hammer, Robert Morneau, Frank McNully, Edward Pfnausch, James Provost, Sylvester Ryan, Robert Schwartz, William Shannon, Richard Skelba, and Kenneth Untener. Almost all have direct experience as diocesan priests, past or present. All are men who are experienced with the experiences of and the training of diocesan priests. If there is one shortcoming with the text, it is that there is no female voice reflecting on the issue - a contributor such as Joan Chittister, who has written extensively on Benedictine spirituality, might be a welcome perspective.

The first chapter, with the wonderful title of `Servant of the Servants of God: A Pastor's Spirituality,' Robert Schwartz addresses in a wonderful way some of the insights that have come from his experience as a parish minister, out among the people.

`I have learned theology and the spiritual exercises from the Jesuits, and I have been guided in contemplative prayer among the Trappists, for this I will be forever grateful. Yet, there are some things that only those who are committed to a spiritual life in the midst of the ups and downs of secular realities can teach one another. It is one thing to seek God in an environment ordered around religious concerns. It is a very different experience to find God amid the disorder and distractions of a world that often does its best to shut God out.'

This is a point of relation - lay persons understand this juggle full well. Diocesan and tent-maker priests are in a better position in many ways to relate to such day-to-day struggles.

`Most surprising to me as a pastor is the powerful way that the lay community cares for me. They call forth the best from me, as I attempt to do the same for them.'

There is a sort of mutual inspiration for the people and the minister in this dynamic that communities of all religious persuasions can relate to. Yet, ultimately there must be an intention and a recognition on the part of the minister that this can happen, and an openness toward the `other servants'.

`A spirituality that is truly `priestly' comes to be as a priest surrenders himself to his role in the community, ministers to it, and allows himself to be enriched and enlivened by the people he serves.'

Each of the chapters in this text offer a similar blessing. Kenneth Untener asks us to change the criteria by which we judge spirituality, for ourselves and for others. James Provost looks at spiritual `rules' with a precision of a canon lawyer, yet with compassion and pastoral insight. Richard Sklba develops the idea I mentioned earlier regarding Paul's ministry in the world and its relation to diocesan priestly spirituality today.

Donald Cozzens' own chapter looks to issues of identity, intimacy and integrity as primary in the development of priestly spirituality.

`Karl Rahner has observed that `priestly spirituality is not (at least, not primarily) a kind of extra to a normal Christian life, but (while, of course, determined by the concrete life task of the priest as distinct from other Christians) the spiritual, Christian life of a Christian purely and simply.'

This spirituality is not `special' or hard to attain, but rather is related to and, perhaps, identical with the kind of spirituality to which all Christians, clergy or lay, are called through their baptismal covenants and constant communion with the Holy Spirit.

Other chapters similarly develop aspects of spirituality with a particular focus on diocesan priests, but this focus can lend insight to any search for spirituality. If ever a spiritual support for the `ordinary' diocesan priest is needed, it is today. This book will help toward that goal.

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ILLUMINATING SERIES OF ESSAYS BY/ABOUT DIOCESAN PRIESTS, October 27, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest (Paperback)

Donald Cozzens is a pastoral psychologist, and president-rector of St. Mary's Seminary of the Diocese of Cleveland. He has written other books such as Freeing Celibacy, The Changing Face of the Priesthood: A Reflection on the Priest's Crisis of Soul, and Faith That Dares To Speak.

He writes in the Preface to this 1997 book, "I began putting this book together believing that I knew something about the priesthood. And I thought I knew priests. I had counseled priests, directed their spiritual journeys, and preached their retreats. As a former vicar for the clergy, I knew the wounds of the priesthood, the pain of it, the unspeakable privilege of it. But the past few years seem to have laid bare, more than anything else, the unfathomable mystery of the priesthood." There follow twelve essays (one by Cozzens) and an Afterword.

Here are some quotations from the book:

"Often, nothing happens while I am praying. Regularly enough to rule out coincidence, insight into the Scriptures comes crashing in on me while I am actively involved with the people of the parish... God often speaks to me more strongly in the midst of the lives we share than in prayer itself." (Pg. 7)
"Nearly twenty years ago I made a thirty-day retreat. Not your usual Jesuit-directed retreat, but thirty days in a Trappist monastry where I was introduced by a very understanding and patient abbot to the riches of our Catholic spiritual tradition. In one sense, I felt cheated that this did not come sooner in my life... On the other hand, the riches were always there; it was I who needed to change, to pause and discover the resources which mark our tradition." (Pg. 29)
"A significant part of the spirituality of a diocesan priest is closeness to the people. Preaching is one means of achieving this bonding, but it must be a type of preaching that is appropriate." (Pg. 110)