Priests rarely retire for good

By FR KEVIN REYNOLDS

The interesting on-going series of articles on priesthood and ministry by Mgr Paul Nadal got me thinking about a  ministry that one hears very little about: that of retired priests.

Canon Law requires bishops and priests to offer their resignation at the age of 75. Some may retire at a younger age, usually owing to health problems. I believe that there are few bishops and priests who ever retire fully. Perhaps “semi-retirement” would be a more accurate description because bishops and priests never seem to stop practising some form of ministry.

One of the best examples of a bishop who retired at 77-years but then continued a formal ministry was the late Archbishop Denis Hurley OMI. After stepping down as archbishop of Durban he became a very effective parish priest of Emmanuel cathedral parish for ten years. When he left that position to live in an Oblate retirement home in Durban he continued to pursue his unique ministry by writing his memoirs and attending functions where he loved to interact warmly with people.

Significantly, Archbishop Hurley died in February 2004 while on his way home from participating in a special function; the golden jubilee celebrations of the Durban North convent school which he had originally opened.

Archbishop George Daniel of Pretoria is another bishop who has been busy in his retirement. Since he retired from the office he had held for nearly 34 years in January 2009, he has accepted the chaplaincy to the Bapsfontein campus of Little Eden.

However, when his successor, Archbishop Paul Khumalo, resigned ten months later, Archbishop Daniel was invited by Pretoria’s apostolic administrator, Mgr Abel Gabuza (now bishop of Kimberley), to assist with confirmations until a new archbishop was appointed. Thus, Archbishop Daniel was kept busy with this ministry virtually every weekend throughout 2010.

Some retired priests continue to practise a particular aspect of the overall priestly ministry in which they excel. This might be ministering to the sick and elderly, giving retreats or writing research papers and articles.

Usually retired priests have rendered several decades to serving God’s people. In doing so they have developed sensitive skills in ministering to people and a keen awareness of our fragile human condition. This is something that develops over time and cannot be learned only from books.

Such interaction requires unhurried time that those in the active ministry might not always have. It is also something less formal than how busy parish priests usually serve their parishioners.

Because retired priests tend to be of advanced age they find themselves visiting and being entertained by former parishioners who have known them for many years. These parishioners have often grown old along with such priests who are regarded more as friends than as official representatives of the Church.

This naturally creates a special bond between them, a closeness that facilitates easy rapport which can be useful when these priest-friends are asked to intervene in problems of the extended family.

Of course, because such priests have been associated with different generations of families they are often requested to officiate at baptisms, weddings and funerals of such families’ members.

This can cause tension with some parish priests who assert their “right” to perform these ceremonies. This is an issue requiring delicacy on the part of retired priests who should never trespass on others’ areas and affairs. By always respecting parish priests’ rights and gently negotiating matters with them, such tension need not exist.

Without a doubt, retired priests play a unique role in the Church’s overall ministry.

Once bishops and priests retire, hopefully their former flocks continue to pray for them, particularly that in retirement they still feel valued by God and his people.

Reciprocally, as retired priests enjoy more time for reading, reflection and prayer they, too, should not forget parishioners who enriched and accompanied them on their ministerial life journey.

Fr Kevin Reynolds is a retired priest of the archdiocese of Pretoria.