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dialogue of renewal committee surfaces topics for annual priests' meetings

Story by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

“Hope,” ever present in life is shared by six priests serving on a committee for Dialogue of Renewal in the Belleville diocese.

Bishop Edward K. Braxton contracted with the Reid Group, an organization of consultants that facilitate dialogue between and among people in organizations experiencing difficulties and differences.

Priests selected for the committee were appointed by the bishop. Two were selected by the Presbyteral Council, two by the bishop and the remaining two are the vicar general and the chairman of the council.

In a statement released Aug. 11, the bishop said he made the decision to focus on the Dialogue of Renewal during the convocation in the hope that these days would be the "engine" generating the initial energy and openness need for the ongoing Dialogue of Renewal in the months ahead.

The priests on the committee include: Father Jack McEvilly, VG and pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace and Blessed Sacrament, both in Belleville; Father Jerry Wirth, chairman of the council and pastor of St. Joseph in Olney; Msgr. Jim Buerster of St. Boniface in Germantown; Father Dan Jurek of St. Joseph in Prairie du Rocher; Father John Myler of St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville; and Father Dennis Voss of St. Liborius in St. Libory.

All of the priests were interviewed for this story, and all expressed hope that the discussions held in their Aug. 5-6 meetings will lead to greater understanding and cooperation with and among the priests and the bishop.

“The point of the meetings is to begin a dialogue with the bishop,” Msgr. Buerster said. “There are huge issues of trust with the bishop. It plays out with finances and accountability.”

Father Jurek said these issues affect all of the people, priests and the people in the pews.
“There are some serious problems here,” Father Jurek said. “People are suffering over this and taking sides, and that’s not the way the church is supposed to be. It’s about time we act like Christian people and spread the Gospel.”
Conflict, which began soon after Bishop Braxton’s appointment, was intensified with questions about the expenditure of money on a conference table and chairs and vestments in 2007.

The Reid group contacted Bishop Braxton to offer its services, and later, the bishop invited the group to the diocese. Tom Reid and Maureen Gallagher met with the six priests and the bishop to surface issues of concern that can be taken to the annual Convocation of Priests, this year Sept. 15-18, for discussion.

Some of the topics discussed at the committee meeting included genuine communication, mutual trust, appropriate collaboration, transparency, financial issues and accountability.

“The Reid Group proposed a process to us and they will manage the process” at the Convocation, Father McEvilly said.

Father McEvilly said the Convocation will be a combination of looking at the issues surfaced by the committee while “others will be surfaced through the process.”

However, none of the priests believes everything will be resolved through the Convocation. In fact, follow up meetings will be scheduled to continue the dialogue at a regional or deanery level.

The diocese has contracted with the Reid Group and budgeted for