St. Augustine Parish Complains to Archdiocese

Recently, parishioners told Archdiocese of Baltimore officials how they really felt about the decision to transfer .

The March 31 meeting was designed to get parish input in choosing a new pastor for the church, said officials. But members of the parish wanted to vent how unhappy they were instead.

Msgr. Lloyd Aiken and Rev. Chris Moore, representatives of the archdiocese priest personnel board, said they hoped through the meeting to learn the strengths of the parish, its challenges and qualities sought in a future pastor.

Many parishioners said they came to St. Augustine because of Bowen, who was recently transferred after 17 years at the Elkridge church. Some predicted that parishioners would leave St. Augustine for St. John the Evangelist in Columbia, where Bowen has been transferred. In addition, parishioners said they believed the archdiocese already has chosen Bowen's successor and won't tell the parish until July. They also vocalized fear that the archdiocese will require one priest to be pastor of St. Augustine and another parish, reducing his ability to lead and comfort members of the Elkridge church.

Aiken and Moore denied these charges. They explained that the March 31 meeting was the first step in the process. Input from the meeting will be written into a report and given to the personnel board, they said. After that, the board will create a short list of candidates. From that list, the archbishop will make the final decision on a pastor.

“We're here to listen to your input so we may have a better idea who would make good candidates,” Moore said.

Parishioners told the representatives they wanted a new pastor who met the following criteria:

• A champion of Catholic education
• A people person
• Someone understanding of all levels of life
• Someone good with children
• Someone who is fiscally responsible
• Someone who is a good manager that can delegate tasks
• Someone who is a visionary
• Someone who is available in a crisis at all hours
• Someone who understands technology and can use it effectively
• Someone who is traditional in Catholic teaching
• Someone who is devoted to Mary
• Someone who can deal with growth
• Someone who can make the Gospels come alive
• Someone who can pastor to all the needs of all the parish members

Critics at the meeting said it was impossible for the archbishop to choose someone with all those wish-list qualifications. Others pointed out that replacing Bowen with another person exactly like him wasn't going to happen, as everyone is an individual with his own way of doing things.

A list of possible candidates should be known in May or June, Moore said, but he couldn't say whether those candidates' names would be available to parishioners.