I think I’ve mentioned a couple times before that one of my best friends from college is now a Catholic priest. Yes, I went to a Catholic school with a seminary on the grounds and everything!
Anyway, I was talking to this guy the other day, and it appears that he’s getting ready to move again. I guess priests are frequently moved around to different parishes so they don’t have a chance to develop a “cult of personality”. In other words, if one priest stays in the same place for too long, there’s a possibility that parishioners will become attached to the man instead of the message. So my friend is on his way to his fourth parish in 10 years.
This sounds as bad as the whole military relocation system as far as not being able to get truly settled in one place. At least priests are usually able to stay within the same state and don’t have to worry about moving across the country or overseas.
But still… it must be so hard to deal with a major move every couple of years!