Posted on 09/03/2007 4:38:35 PM PDT by NYer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Clergymen struggling to comfort the afflicted in New Orleans are finding they, too, need someone to listen to their troubles.
The sight of misery all around them — and the combined burden of helping others put their lives back together while repairing their own homes and places of worship — are taking a spiritual and psychological toll on the city's ministers, priests and rabbis, many of whom are in counseling two years after Hurricane Katrina.
Almost every local Episcopal minister is in counseling, including Bishop Charles Jenkins himself, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Jenkins, whose home in suburban Slidell was so badly damaged by Katrina that it was 10 months before he and his wife could move back in, said he has suffered from depression, faulty short-term memory, and difficulty concentrating or sleeping.
Low-flying helicopters sometimes cause flashbacks to the near-despair — the "dark night of the soul" — into which he was once plunged, he said. He said the experience felt "like the absence of God" — a lonely and frightening sensation.
Churches and synagogues have played an important role in New Orleans' recovery, supplying money and thousands of volunteers to rebuild homes and resettle families. But an April survey found 444 places of worship in metropolitan New Orleans — about 30 percent — were still closed 20 months after the storm because they were damaged or their congregations scattered.
As for the clergymen, "sometimes they're having to hold it together and put up a great front to give people permission to fall apart, so they can be the great rock that their congregation can depend upon," said Barney Self, who operates a counseling hot line for Southern Baptist ministers.
Still, Self said, he has received relatively few calls from New Orleans ministers, probably because it is hard to think about your own needs "when you're up to your bahootie in alligators."
Freddie Arnold, mission strategist with the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, said Baptist organizations have been dispensing financial aid to pastors, sending them and their wives on weekend retreats, and dispatching substitute ministers so that they can take some time off.
He said those efforts may have eased the ministers' need for counseling.
Roman Catholic priests have not reported any unusual counseling needs, said the Rev. William Maestri, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He said one possible reason is that priests do not have wives or children to support and protect.
For more than a year, Rabbi Bob Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer has been part of an interfaith clergy support group, whose members share the frustrations involved in trying to comfort their congregants and deal with their own problems, too.
For a while, formal counseling was part of every meeting of the region's rabbinic council, Loewy said. "Recently, every meeting's always had some level of debriefing and sharing," he said.
Many clergymen are reluctant to ask for help, keeping their feelings bottled up the way doctors and firefighters often do, said Karen Binder-Brynes, a New York psychologist who specializes in post-traumatic stress and whose clients include the Episcopal Diocese of New Orleans.
She and others worry that that clergy members who do not get help could fall ill or resort to drinking or other "self-medication" for relief, and their marriages and other family relationships could suffer.
For some members of the clergy, Katrina caused a spiritual crisis.
"I found myself praying, `My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' as Jesus did," said the Rev. Susan Gaumer, whose own home was destroyed and who has also had to help with more problems — and officiate at more funerals — than ever before among her congregants at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. "I felt distanced from God, but God wasn't the problem. I'm the problem. My prayer was, `My God, my God, why have I forsaken you?'
"Then with some time, healing time and some grieving of my own, and some good checking in with a therapist ... my prayer began to be a prayer of thanksgiving, for strength and for what I call the graces of the storm."
Jenkins, the Episcopal bishop, said he felt that the catastrophe exposed his failure before the storm to do enough to fight such evils as racism, poverty and poor education.
But helping rebuild lives proved to be a life-altering experience, he said: "This is the best time for the most authentic ministry as bishop that I've had in my 10 years."
At the Greater Antioch Full Gospel Baptist Church, Bishop Lester Love said the storm has changed his sermons: "My focus now is, we've got to continue to have the faith that God is going to help us get out of this."
Precisely what our Lord suggested - a celibate lifestyle removes the worries and concerns that come with marriage.
That's the truth. G-d never abandons us but we abandon Him.
and they ARE ALREADY MARRIED TO THE CHURCH, THE ONE BRIDE OF CHRIST.
wonder how much the catholic priests angle will be played up, if at all...
**Roman Catholic priests have not reported any unusual counseling needs, said the Rev. William Maestri, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He said one possible reason is that priests do not have wives or children to support and protect.**
In addition to the celibacy, most Catholic priests, already have a spiritual afvisor, maybe at a nearby seminary, to whom they can go and talk.
In addition to that — and I think this is the biggest reason of all — Catholic priests have the Sacrament of Reconciliation with added graces. They can confess these sins of despair, receive individual words from the confessor, repent, and know that they are forgiven. Thus the load get lightened, probably monthly, if not more often.
As did St.Paul.
"But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided." 1 Corinthians 7:32-33
Whereby, the married priest has a wife, not to divide his ministry between Christ-life and world, but to face those worries and problems, to deal with these things together with his life-long partner in life.
“Make their life together a sign of Christ’s love to this sinful and broken world, that unity may overcome estrangement, forgiveness heal guilt, and joy conquer despair.”
One very practical reason for priests to remain celibate.
Listen folks. If I were to completely give over my life to Christ as a Catholic priest, that would also include being a martyr. I could not handle the distraction of what would become of my wife and children. It's bad enough for priests as it is when members of congregations are tortured to coerce them.
The Truth speaks in actions and grace. Christ gave his entire body, soul and spirit for His Church. Aye. Aye.
Amen.
You probably know this, but to be clear to anyone reading this:
Sprpitual Advisors and Confessors are NOT therapists or counsellors. They are not trained to be such, nor are the skills they are trained as useful for such matters as many might imagine. Further, the closer the usage of a confessor becomes similar to a counsellor, the less likely he is to function in his proper role; it isn’t possible to be a confessor, and then put aside the role of confessor and be a counsellor to the same person.
Frankly, I suspect those confessors who imagined themselves counsellors to mentally sick priests may have been an ingredient to the pedophile problem. Pedophilia is NOT a problem which valid confession could have covered up. A priest who is a pedophile either never confesses his sin or his confession is to another priest who is not doing confession right.
That said, it is not surprising that competent confessors can prevent the need for counselling, in the way that dieticians can lessen the need for heart surgeons, even though a dietician isn’t competent to perform open heart surgery.
This is true but celibacy is a discipline and one the Catholic priest embraces out of love for our Lord. The Church community becomes his family. This is why we call our pastors 'Father', because he provides for our spiritual needs.
“The Church community becomes his family. This is why we call our pastors ‘Father’, because he provides for our spiritual needs.”
True celibacy is a special calling and to be honored and celebrated by all.
But aren’t married pastors called by God? Doesn’t the married pastor also become family with his flock? Doesn’t he also provide for the spiritual needs?
Yes, of course, but the demands made on the Catholic priest are far greater than on the protestant minister. It may surprise you to learn that there are married Catholic priests. These include priests in the Eastern Catholic Churches, and converts from certain Protestant denominations. Speaking to the 11th General Synod Fathers, gathered in October 2005 for their eighth meeting at the Vatican, Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, who is Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon--a Catholic rite which allows for married priests--addressed the issue of the celibate priesthood.
Vatican City, Oct. 07, 2005 (CNA) - The Cardinal defended the practice of the celibate priesthood and discussed the beauty of the tradition, calling it the "most precious jewel in the treasury of the Catholic Church."
While pointing out that "the Maronite Church admits married priests" and that "half of our diocesan priests are married", the Cardinal Patriarch said that "it must be recognized that if admitting married men resolves one problem, it creates others just as serious."
"A married priest", he said, "has the duty to look after his wife and family, ensuring his children receive a good education and overseeing their entry into society. ... Another difficulty facing a married priest arises if he does not enjoy a good relationship with his parishioners; his bishop cannot transfer him because of the difficulty of transferring his whole family.
He noted that "married priests have perpetuated the faith among people whose difficult lives they shared, and without them this faith would no longer exist."
"On the other hand," he said, "celibacy is the most precious jewel in the treasury of the Catholic Church,"
Lamenting a culture which is all but outright opposed to purity, the Cardinal asked: "How can [celibacy] be conserved in an atmosphere laden with eroticism? Newspapers, Internet, billboards, shows, everything appears shameless and constantly offends the virtue of chastity."
Suggesting that there are no easy solutions to the problem of priest shortages in the Church--an oft brought up point during the Synod--he noted that, "Of course a priest, once ordained, can no longer get married. Sending priests to countries where they are lacking, taking them from a country that has many, is not the ideal solution if one bears in mind the question of tradition, customs and mentality. The problem remains."
The great advantage, as St. Paul pointed out:
But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of this world how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your profit, not to cast a snare upon you, but for that which is decent and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord without impediment. (1 Corinthians 7:7-8 and 32-35)
My pastor is Maronite Catholic. Though his great grandfather was a married priest, he chose the celibate priesthood. As previously mentioned, it is a discipline.
I too would defend the practice of the celibate priesthood and the beauty of the tradition, it is indeed a precious jewel in the treasury of the Catholic Church, as well as any other church where celibacy is embraced.
But in certain ways the married priest or clergy are called to make great sacrifices, and the demands take even a heavier toll because they do have wife and children as part of their spiritual entity. A supporting family can also be a precious jewel which may well make him a spiritual force to do great and wonderful things in the Name of the Lord.
And immediately disqualifies a single male from counseling anyone except other single men...
Of course...The first 'pope' had a wife and probably a herd of kids...Plus, he supported his mother-in-law...
Well taken. I think the spiritual advisors and confessors just provide someone to listen and forgive according to the rules of the Church. Granted — they often do point the advisee/priest back to God and Jesus Christ. (And in my case, often to Scripture.)
**And immediately disqualifies a single male from counseling anyone except other single men...**
Don’t you think that priests came from families? They know about marriage and the different things that happen there. Your arguement does hold water for me.
Another thing, now many priests have worked out in the secular world. Ours worked in the airline industry, everything from ticket counter to lost luggage. I think he got a good education on dealing with others than single men, don’t you?
A specious, at best, statement. Using your flawed logic, only a recovered heroin addict, cokehead, pothead, tweaker, alcoholic, nymphomaniac, adulterer, fornicator, thief, etc. can counsel an active heroin addict, cokehead, pothead, tweaker, alcoholic, nymphomaniac, adulterer, fornicator, thief, etc. that their behavior is sinful and they need to amend their lives and expiate their sins.
Obviously you know nothing about the lives of the vast majority of Priests prior to their ordination.
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