As previous columns have mentioned, some Catholic Bishops are pushing for a layer of management between themselves and their priests. This “vicariate” is believed by some to be “just what we need to make things better”. Many in favor of it also support the Vatican II changes that they believe has greatly improved The Church in some unique way that defines success as having fewer priests, seminarians, sisters, parishes, and parishioners.
A question comes to mind for those in favor of adding an extra layer of administration with the vicariates; “If a bishop cannot deal effectively with a hundred priests, isn’t it unfair to expect a priest to deal with several hundred familes and thousands of people?”
To achieve “administrative fairness”, people in a parish could be divided into several groups. Each of these “sub-vicariates” would report to a “sub-vicar”. Between three and five sub-vicars in each parish would attend Mass, take Communion, go to Confession, and receive The Sacraments for the rest of the parishioners.
This would give each parish priest more time to focus on vital administrative duties. The plan is tentatively called “The Church Alive!”.
