I am asked many times what does it mean not being the chaplain to the German speaking Catholic Community in Cape Town in the near future? Does it mean to give up priesthood? to be thrown out of priesthood?
No – being a chaplain to an immigration community means to be assigned to that post by the local bishop on recommendation of the German Catholic Bishop’s Conference. They organise the recommendation of such positions. As a diocesan priest, you are ordained and consequently attached to your diocese. Ending the position as a chaplain to an immigration community anywhere in the world means that you are falling back to your dicoese and that your bishop as your superior must now decided how to position you for the future.
If you are a religious, meaning belonging to an order, the same rules apply, but instead of a diocesan bishop, your superior within the order will decide on your repositioning.
Filed under: Uncategorized, bishops conference, catholic church, catholic priest, Church Matters, immigration chaplaincy, Roman-Catholic
