WALDRON - It's no secret that there's been a shortage of priests in the Catholic church for years,but what you may not know is because of that, many of them must serve multiple parishes--particularly in rural areas. 5NEWS sat down with a priest who speaks from experience.
"For a couple years I pastored in Heavener at Sacred Heart. Here at St. Jude's in waldron, and St. Andrew's in Danville," Father Neil Pezzulo said.
But these days his load is a little lighter. He only shepherds two flocks instead of three. Father Pezzulo is with the Glenmary missionaries. His job is to build rural Catholic churches into strong parishes so they can be turned back to the care of the diocese. Arkansas Bishop Anthony Taylor admits there is a need for more priests, but others are filling the gap.
"I'm very grateful to the international priests we have serving in Arkansas," Bishop Taylor told 5NEWS. "We've got I think 24, 25 international priests and they're very generous to come to our country, but if they weren't here there'd be many places where we would not be able to offer mass on a regular basis."
However, the Bishop says he senses a change in the tide.
"It looks like the situation in arkansas is improving dramatically," the Bishop explained.
Arkansas has close to 30 seminarians, while Bishop Taylor says Oklahoma, a similar size diocese, has half that many. He credits ordinary Arkansas Catholics who are living out their faith for communicating the need to their children. But part of the problem may be where these parishes are located.
"Rural ministry is very different from inner city ministry so come to a rural area, minister in a rural context for a year or two and see," Father Pezzulo said.
Father Pezzulo says the country is not for everyone, but he grew up in a small town in upstate New York, so it's kind of like home to him. One point the priest makes is that it's impossible to do it all alone.
"I think the future of the Catholic church and the future of any church that's in this kind of situation with multi parishes and one pastor is you have to work in teams."
A major challenge facing priests with multiple parishes is the different dynamics of every congregation. For instance, Father Pezzulo explains that waldron has both English and Spanishing speaking members, alongside Laotians, Vietnamese, and Filipinos. Both danville and heavener are primarily hispanic congregations.
St. Andrew's in Danville is also a younger crowd, which means more infant baptisms and fewer funerals. While he agrees that there is a need for more priests, Father Pezzulo refuses to give parishioners a reprieve from serving.
"Not to the extent that we have to forego other ministries that lay people are involved in. It's a both and proposition not an either or. Just because there's a priest in the room doesn't mean other ministries should stop."
As for the 28 international priests, they are from the countries of Nigeria, India, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, South Africa, and Vietnam. Some serve in nine local cities: Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Tontitown, Hunstville, Fort Smith, Barling, Jenny Lind.
"For a couple years I pastored in Heavener at Sacred Heart. Here at St. Jude's in waldron, and St. Andrew's in Danville," Father Neil Pezzulo said.
But these days his load is a little lighter. He only shepherds two flocks instead of three. Father Pezzulo is with the Glenmary missionaries. His job is to build rural Catholic churches into strong parishes so they can be turned back to the care of the diocese. Arkansas Bishop Anthony Taylor admits there is a need for more priests, but others are filling the gap.
"I'm very grateful to the international priests we have serving in Arkansas," Bishop Taylor told 5NEWS. "We've got I think 24, 25 international priests and they're very generous to come to our country, but if they weren't here there'd be many places where we would not be able to offer mass on a regular basis."
However, the Bishop says he senses a change in the tide.
"It looks like the situation in arkansas is improving dramatically," the Bishop explained.
Arkansas has close to 30 seminarians, while Bishop Taylor says Oklahoma, a similar size diocese, has half that many. He credits ordinary Arkansas Catholics who are living out their faith for communicating the need to their children. But part of the problem may be where these parishes are located.
"Rural ministry is very different from inner city ministry so come to a rural area, minister in a rural context for a year or two and see," Father Pezzulo said.
Father Pezzulo says the country is not for everyone, but he grew up in a small town in upstate New York, so it's kind of like home to him. One point the priest makes is that it's impossible to do it all alone.
"I think the future of the Catholic church and the future of any church that's in this kind of situation with multi parishes and one pastor is you have to work in teams."
A major challenge facing priests with multiple parishes is the different dynamics of every congregation. For instance, Father Pezzulo explains that waldron has both English and Spanishing speaking members, alongside Laotians, Vietnamese, and Filipinos. Both danville and heavener are primarily hispanic congregations.
St. Andrew's in Danville is also a younger crowd, which means more infant baptisms and fewer funerals. While he agrees that there is a need for more priests, Father Pezzulo refuses to give parishioners a reprieve from serving.
"Not to the extent that we have to forego other ministries that lay people are involved in. It's a both and proposition not an either or. Just because there's a priest in the room doesn't mean other ministries should stop."
As for the 28 international priests, they are from the countries of Nigeria, India, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, South Africa, and Vietnam. Some serve in nine local cities: Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Tontitown, Hunstville, Fort Smith, Barling, Jenny Lind.
