Bishop says taking on 3 parishes part of a 'living experiment of synodality'

(OSV News) -- Bishop Douglas J. Lucia of Syracuse, New York, made the recent decision -- almost unheard of for a contemporary bishop -- to serve as pastor of three diocesan parishes in addition to his episcopal duties.

Bishop Lucia shared his thoughts with OSV News on how the demanding new assignment reflects both very real challenges presented by clerical shortages and religious worker visa restrictions, and the opportunity to find creative ways to meet pastoral needs.
This interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity.

OSV News: What is the priestly staffing situation currently like in the Diocese of Syracuse?
Bishop Lucia: Well, we have 78 active priests -- but that's to serve 102 parishes and 133 worship sites.

OSV News: Is this priestly shortage something that will eventually be alleviated, at least in part, by upcoming ordinations?

Bishop Lucia: We have very fine young men (in seminary formation). Since I've been here, most years we've been ordaining two or three new priests a year. I've been here six years, and we've been able to ordain as low as one (seminarian), but I had one year where I had four.
But what offsets that, to be honest with you, is (priestly) retirement. And even today, I still have priests well above the age of 75. I have a couple of priests -- one who's 88, another one who's 86 -- who are still serving as pastors.

OSV News: Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, has previously advised the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that about 90% of the nation's dioceses rely on foreign-born clergy to address some of these gaps. Is that an option you've been able to invoke here, or have current difficulties with obtaining religious worker visas under the Trump administration precluded that solution?

Bishop Lucia: Well, it's a "both-and" (situation). Certainly we've been able to have help. In fact, we have the Dominicans of St. Joseph (with the province spanning from the New England states down to Kentucky), who just came to the diocese in June.

But on the other side, the (religious worker) visa process does affect us right now.

We have a couple of our priests who are ordained for our diocese, but one of them had to go away for a year until we could get his visa renewed.

And I have a young Polish priest, where it's the same thing. I have to worry about another two-year period of whether we can get his visa renewed.

So that's where we run into (issues) even with the foreign-born clergy who serve in our diocese. It's (a question of) how long they're able to be here. And then we have to deal with that particular situation as well.

OSV News: Can you say that if you didn't have the religious visa issue -- with this period of foreign-born clergy having to leave at points -- you wouldn't have had to take on the role of pastor at these three parishes?

Bishop Lucia: Well, yes and no question. It might have helped, but the problem is the visa situation itself doesn't allow us really to, I would say, actively pursue other candidates, because we're always having to worry about immigration and getting visas through.

So it could have possibly helped us, but right now it's so difficult to just process them.
And as you noted, Bishop Seitz has talked about it, but it's something that all dioceses are experiencing more or less.

OSV News: Given all that, when did it hit you that the Lord was saying, "All right, I need you to take on these parishes"?

Bishop Lucia: Well, to back up a little bit, even in my own priesthood, before I ever became a bishop, I always was used to having a parish and then working in diocesan offices. Before I became a bishop, it was about 20 years that I had been doing that. So it's not totally foreign to me.

And yet, in becoming bishop, I hadn't really thought of it. But then we ran into a situation with one of our parishes, so I did serve as pastor (there) for about a three year period, because it needed a priest and I needed to work with the parish.

This one was a little bit more unexpected, because of a request that was made of us to have one of our priests (who had been pastor of the three parishes) become the vice rector of Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

And also what made it different was that it happened after July 1, which is the date by which we try to finalize our clergy transfers. Everything had just been put in place, and it was sort of like, "OK, what do we do now?" There was a parochial vicar, but he has only been ordained one year, so you're not going to give the poor guy three parishes.

And so I prayed over it. I reflected upon it. And truthfully, I think that what it came down to for me was, "What's going to be the least disruptive (solution)?" And I felt like I could still do it.

Also, before I ever became bishop, the diocese had begun to form what it called pastoral care areas, and it just so happened that these three parishes were a pastoral care area. The idea (behind that model) looks at how we can provide care with the personnel we have, but it might be a little bit beyond what we used to know as traditional parishes.

OSV News: Do you see this arrangement as an opportunity to live out synodality in some way, or even to convene a diocesan synod?

Bishop Lucia: We have been trying to convene a diocesan synod for maybe three years now. And every time (we tried), Pope Francis made an announcement about some part of the synod, and we didn't want to do a synod without being in sync with the other synods.

So of course the newest phase for the synodal process is the idea of "how does this apply to parishes?"

And I think this is a real opportunity to be a living experiment of synodality, in the sense of helping parishes really to listen to each other and start working together even more.

OSV News: How do you envision your typical day as you're balancing your episcopal and parish ministries?

Bishop Lucia: I'm going to try to devote Monday to going to each of the parishes, to check in with all the parish staff, and to be present to offer daily Mass and visit the school. And also in that way, I can give the parochial vicar time off.

It's more of a thing of schedules. The new Mass schedule that I put into place allows me as bishop to still take care of confirmations in the afternoon, on Sundays, and to handle other events.

So I'm just trying to be very practical in that way. In Syracuse, the blessing of the diocese is I can be to most places in the diocese within one hour.

OSV News: In terms of kind of spiritual and physical self-care -- and even though you said you've done this before -- are you doubling down on some particular devotions or prayer or wellness care?

Bishop Lucia: Well, the first thing for me is the daily Holy Hour. That is always important. I try to do that first thing in the morning -- take time for a daily Holy Hour so I can ground myself.

And then I believe in physical exercise, so I try to work out at least four times a week. And I do try to take Friday off.

OSV News: Do you have any hobbies?

Bishop Lucia: Actually, I like to kayak and to bike. And for these three parishes, the Erie Canal is right in that area, so I'll probably have a chance to do some of that.

OSV News: Do you think this double-duty is a long-term strategy, and are you hoping to get other bishops and dioceses to think creatively about how we can meet pastoral needs amid the challenges?

Bishop Lucia: I would never presume to tell my brother bishops what to do whatsoever. But the reason why I'm doing this: It's more for my priests. I'm really trying to model the idea of a pastoral team. That way, if we work together, as priests and deacons and lay faithful, and share the ministries -- to me, that's what's going to allow the church to flourish, even as we face challenges.