Bishop Louis Tylka addresses his priests at their spring assembly day on March 5 at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria. The focus of the day was on the ongoing Growing Disciples process. The Catholic Post/ Paul Thomas Moore

By Paul Thomas Moore
of the Catholic Post

The priests of the Diocese of Peoria gathered for their annual spring assembly day on March 5 in Peoria. The agenda was largely given over to continuing discussion of Growing Disciples, the two-year pastoral planning process that will reach another significant milestone on Sunday, March 10 at 6 p.m. when the proposed Round Three parish models will be posted on the diocesan website at growingdisciplescdop.org.

During morning Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral before the assembly, Bishop Louis Tylka reflected on the day’s gospel (Matthew 18:21-35), in the context of maintaining and renewing relationships “from the heart.”

The priests of the Diocese of Peoria join in morning prayer (Liturgy of the Hours), prior to the day’s agenda at their spring assembly day on March 5 at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria. The Catholic Post/ Paul Thomas Moore

Later, while addressing his priests at the Spalding Pastoral Center prior to the start of the day’s agenda, he got to the heart of the matter again as he discussed the challenges of asking people to make big changes to the well-loved patterns of their parishes.

Wrestling with realities

He related that when he had conducted a listening tour of the diocese, a parish representative had shared with him, “I know you’re going to have to close parishes, and I know that my parish is probably one of them. I know what needs to be done, but I don’t want it to happen to my parish.”

Bishop Tylka recalled how tears rose in the man’s eyes, and in his own eyes “when I listened to him wrestle with that reality.” Following the release of the Round Two proposed parish models last October, the Bishop’s office received over 200 letters directly (over and above the feedback received through the Growing Disciples website). “I read every letter that came to my office, and so I know the challenge between the head and heart.”

Still, through the tears and challenges, Bishop Tylka relayed his hope and confidence in the aspirational impact of Growing Disciples, and he pointed to an unexpected result of the process. In his discussions with parish leaders, he was told that although people were initially energized by the impulse to “save my church,” for many it had gone beyond that.

Hearts afire

“There is a fire in the hearts of our people . . . that wants to see the change that’s necessary to take place so that we can indeed go and make disciples. That’s wonderful to see and we have to move that momentum forward.”

He commended the Presbyteral Council (comprised of priests from each vicariate of the diocese), for their feedback into the Round Three recommendations. “It was not a rubber stamp by any means,” he said, reiterating, “Everything is still a proposal. No decisions have been made.”

However, he was clear that final decisions will be made and communicated on Pentecost Sunday, May 19. “I have a lot of praying to do,” he acknowledged, adding, “I do really feel the Spirit has been at work . . . and that the changes that will ultimately have to take place, difficult as they will be in the short term, are what is necessary for us to grow disciples for the future.”