Appointments reflect continual changes
By Fabvienen Taylor
JACKSON — Earlier this month when the new appointments for priests were announced, several things — besides the calming of curiosity about which priest was going to what parish — were obvious.
First, effective Jan. 28, 2009, Father Walter Brown, current pastor of West Point Immaculate Conception Parish, will become the new pastor of three parishes: Yazoo City St. Francis and St. Mary and Belzoni All Saints and its mission, Anguilla Our Mother of Mercy.
A priest with three parishes may not be unheard of in the history of our mission diocese, but it is noteworthy.
Second, no new priest was appointed to Immaculate Conception in West Point.
Third, the pastor in Belzoni, Father James O’Reardon, did not receive a new appointment to a parish.
Each of the above appointments were revealed, but not decided, through the Office of Vicar General, Msgr. Elvin Sunds.
He releases news of the appointments and answers questions concerning them.
Father Brown, he said, must pastor three parishes and a mission because of the on-going shortage of priests in the Diocese of Jackson.
In Belzoni, Father O’Reardon, 68, is retiring this year. He is one of several.
“It is simply a question of numbers,” Msgr. Sunds said. “In 2004 we had 40 diocesan priests under the age of 70. In 2005 there were 39. Come Jan. 31, we will have 34 under 70.
“We will have five priests over the age of 70 continuing to serve but who are eligible to retire at anytime. So we are going from 39 in 2005 to 34 in 2009, and that is going to accelerate,” he said.
In West Point, Immaculate Conception Parish and its sister parishes are implementing the area plan they devised for the Mission and Ministry Report of the Jackson diocese, which was approved by Bishop Joseph Latino in 2005.
“The area planners worked on how to provide the Eucharist in the parishes and missions in that area when they were reduced from three priests to two priests,” said Msgr. Sunds, “which is what will happen in January.”
Over the past two years Area 17 parishioners were asked to review those plans to make sure they were still current and to decide what they intended to do, he said.
“They planned for that eventuality,” Msgr. Sunds said.
In addition to Immaculate Conception, Area 17, consists of Ackerman St. Mark and Eupora St. John Neumann missions, Columbus Annunciation Parish, and Starkville St. Joseph Parish and its mission, Macon Corpus Christi.
The diocese is divided into 20 areas.
Msgr. Sunds said Father John Bohn of St. Joseph and Father Robert Dore of Annunciation are in the process of working out Sunday Mass schedules for each of those places.
On a related note, in the Northwest part of the diocese, an additional Society of Divine Word (SVD) priest was appointed to several parishes no longer served by diocesan priests.
On July 1, Father Thomas Mullally was named pastor of Greenville Sacred Heart, Shaw St. Francis of Assisi and Indianola St. Benedict the Moor and Immaculate Conception parishes.
In addition, Father Tarsisius Pulling was named associate pastor.
“If it were not for those Divine Word priests, some of those places would not have Mass every Sunday,” Msgr. Sunds said.
One of priests Msgr. Sunds mentioned who continues to minister even though he could retire, right now, is Father Thomas Delaney, 75.
Instead he accepted the appointment of pastor of Crystal Springs St. John and its mission, Hazlehurst St. Martin of Tours.
Already on staff at St. John is Janice Stansill, pastoral minister.
“Father Delaney has senior priest status,” Msgr. Sunds said, “and he will be relying much more on the pastoral minister, Janice.”
Stansill is one of many trained laity serving in parish positions — as pastoral ministers or lay ecclessial ministers — as leadership in parishes continues to change.
