1.Introduction

The Catholic Church believes that she exists to evangelise. This core mission for the Church is as oxygen is for the body. The Catholic Church lives because of her mission. It is not just about the transmitting of the Christian faith, but a sign of God’s presence in human society and, thus a challenge to make it a place of solidarity, of justice and equality, and of peaceful co-existence with other religions and nature. Consequently, the mission of the Church must continue despite all the difficulties, problems, and new challenges.Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation EvangeliiGaudium, 24 November 2013, No 20, in (2013) 105 AAS 1028. ‘Today, the Church must face other challenges and push forward to new frontiers’.Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, 7 December 1990, No 30, in (1991) 83 AAS 276.

These challenges and obstacles are within and outside the Church. Much discussionFor example, the documents like the Apostolic exhortation, EvangeliiNuntiandi, the Encylical RedemptorisMissio etc speak about the mission of the Church and the difficulties that are involved to carry out the mission. has been undertaken on the church’s difficulties in carrying out her mission. However, one particular challenge is not found in those discussions: some priests from the mission countries do not return to their dioceses after finishing their studies in developed countries and continue to stay and work there because of the higher standard of living and economic gain.

The Church has called the attention to this situation in an instruction which was published on 25 April 2001 by the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, entitled, ‘Instruction on the sending abroad and Sojourn of Diocesan Priests from Mission Territories’.Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Instruction De Vitanda Quorundam Clericorum Vagatione, 25 April 2001 in (2001) 93 AAS 641-647. English translation in, ‘When Priests from Mission Countries Study or Work Abroad’, in The Pope Speaks, 46 (Nov/Dec 2001) 344-348. [Hereafter, this will be cited as ‘The instruction’]. The instruction provides norms for those diocesan priests from mission countries who go to study in developed countries, and do not wish to return to their home dioceses but continue to stay and work there for personal reasons.

The Church in the Netherlands is not excluded from the scope of the instruction, since the dioceses like Haarlem-Amsterdam and Roermond and many religious congregations are receiving help from foreign priests. These dioceses or religious congregations have made contracts with the different mission dioceses or congregations to provide priests. As the Church marks 20 years of the promulgation of this instruction, it is analysed from the perspective of the mission of the Church and has suggested a meanFor the sake of the article, we have focused only on one mean to enhance the instruction. to enhance it by way of providing priests on loanI do not underestimate or downplay in any way the contribution of lay faithful, permanent deacons and catechism teachers in the Church. Only for the sake of the article, I emphasise on the distribution of the priests. which is not mentioned in the instruction. How can the mission of the Church be enhanced in the Netherlands without suffocating the mission of the Church in the missionary dioceses through the fruitful ways of sharing of priests? This recommendation or suggestion is provided for enhancing the mission of the Church in the Dutch dioceses and mission territories to strengthen a fruitful collaboration between dioceses in different countries in a different mission context.

2.The Missionary Aspects of the Instruction

The focus of the instruction is the mission of the Church, specifically strengthening human resources in the mission of the Church. Even though the Instruction is ‘modest and unassuming in appearance’,J Tomko, ‘Comments by Cardinal Jozef Tomko on the Sending Abroad and Sojourn of Diocesan Priests from Mission Territories’ <http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cevang/documents/rc_con_cevang_ doc_20010612_istruzione-tomko_en.html> accessed 22 June 2021. it attempts to solve an issue that is at stake that is quite serious in regard to the Church’s mission. The modest appearance of the instruction does not devalue the seriousness of the issue.

This exchange of priests among the Churches, the fruit of universal communion, must preserve a strong missionary thrust to counteract the prevalent trend of a certain number of diocesan priests who, incardinated in their particular Churches in mission territories, want to leave their own country and reside in Europe or North America, often with the intention of further studies or for other reasons that are not actually missionary (No. 3).

Thus, the instruction states its purpose that mission dioceses who are ‘already short of personnel, and in particular of priests, are not deprived of ample apostolic strength that is indispensable for their Christian life, and for the ongoing development of evangelisation among those people who for the most part are not yet baptised’ (No. 4). Therefore, the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples had already warned that the exchange of priests should be ‘limited and reordered’ because it should not hinder the growth and mission of missionary dioceses.Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Instruction Cooperatio Missionalis, No 20, 1 October 1998, in (1999) 91 AAS 323. John R Allen has pointed out with statistical data how these priests are badly needed in their own home countries to minister to their people.JL Allen, ‘Importing Foreign Priests May Not Be the Best Solution’, (2010) 46 National Catholic Reporter 11 and 19. The term ‘shortage of priests’ is a leitmotif of the Catholic Church in recent years but should be seen from the present context. One observation in this regard is that ‘Catholic growth is occurring in the poor countries, and the concentration of priests is in the wealthy continents’,D R Hoge – A P Okure, ‘International Priests in America: Two Coming Issues’ in (2006) 19 New Theology Review 31. even though the wealthy countries have a shortage of vocations.

3.Priests on Loan

The instruction deals with three situations when a priest can move to developed countries to work: (1) study; (2) for the service of the migrant people; and (3) as a refugee priest. However, there is a fourth possibility that is not mentioned in the instruction, which is being practised in the Netherlands and other parts of the world, ie, priests are given on loan to other dioceses for a certain period.

‘Priests on loan’ is sharing of priests from one diocese or country who have good number of vocations to the dioceses or countries who suffer a shortage of priests. This concept is deeply rooted in the evangelical mission of the Church and has been in practice from the ancient times specially where ‘because of the small number of priests, the faithful are in danger of falling away from the precepts of the Christian life, and even of losing the faith itself’.Sacred Congregation for Clergy, Notae Directivae de Mutuae Ecclesiasrum Particularium Cooperatione Promovenda ac Praesertim de Aptiore Cleri Distributione, PostquamApostoli, 25 March 1980, No 1, in (1980) 72/1 AAS, 344.

‘Shortage of priests’ means insufficient number of ordained ministers required to cater to the spiritual needs of the faithful. The shortage of priests is not a new phenomenon in the Church. In fact, it was already foreshadowed in the words of Christ when He sent out the seventy-two disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few’ (Lk 10:2). The Church has seen this shortage and shared her ministers from her inception as even, the early Christian community had sent messengers to the young churches.

Through priests on loan, the dioceses or religious congregations who have an abundance of vocations, or some economically poor diocesan bishops or religious superiors who find it difficult to support their numerous priests because of a lack of economic resources in their respective dioceses or congregations, share their priests with other dioceses or their own religious congregation.D R Hoge, ‘Addressing the Priest “Shortage”’ in D Dietrich (ed) Priests for the 21^st Century (The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York 2006) 140. These bishops or religious congregations send their priests to work in developed countries so that those priests can help the dioceses or congregations in their spiritual and other apostolates and in return, help their own poor dioceses or congregations financially.The Society of Heralds of the Good News has its priests working in the Netherlands, who help their congregation financially. For example, the diocese of Roermond, in the Netherlands, has an agreement with some dioceses in India and Sri Lanka, like the Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum, Kottar. According to their agreement, the priest must work in the diocese of Roermond for ten years.My personal interview with Fr Rijo Muprappallil from India who works in the Diocese of Roermond for last five years. He will be working there for 10 years. The years of working in the Netherlands are not fixed. It differs in each diocese.

4.The Ecclesiological and Canonical Necessity of Providing Priests on Loan

The idea of sharing of the priests is not new. The Church has been practicing it for many centuries. We look at this concept from the perspective of the instruction.

4.1.The Oneness of the Church

The Church is a communion of particular churches, ‘in and from which churches comes into being the one and only Catholic Church’.The Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964, No 23, in (1965) 57 AAS 27. Therefore, each particular church has responsibility to contribute for the benefit of the whole universal Catholic Church. Lumen Gentium, No 13. Their communion with universal Church will be realised when they actively partake in missionary works in the other nations. AdGentes, No 20. This also extends to share their own resources with the universal Church. Thus, some rich dioceses help poor dioceses financially, or where there is some natural calamity, the whole Church contributes to help affected people.

The duty of the diocesan bishop is to ‘show due solicitude for the whole Church’ and contribute to the welfare of the whole People of God by assisting the dioceses who are struggling with shortage of priests through fideidonum priests.Congregation for Bishops, Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops, Apostolorum Successores, February 22, 2004, No 13 and 17. The mutual relationship and exchange of human and material resources between the universal Church and local churches is beneficial to both and help to fulfil the mandate of Christ without jeopardising the mission of each other. Hence, as the head of a diocese, the diocesan bishop has to show special concern to the universal ChurchThe Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Christus Dominus, 28 October 1965, No 3, in (1966) 58 AAS 674. Congregation for Bishops, Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops, Apostolorum Successores, February 22, 2004, No 13-21 <https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ cbishops/documents/rc_con_cbishops_doc_20040309_pastorale-vescovi_it.html> accessed 03 November 2021. and provide his priests for the universal mission of the Church.The Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, PresbyterorumOrdinis, 7 December 1965, No 10-11, in (1966) 58 AAS 1007-1008. Redemptoris Missio, No 62.

The Church is aware of her responsibility to have equal distribution of her human resources. Pope Paul VI in his motu proprio, EcclesiaeSanctae I, No 2, in 1966, wished to establish a special commission to study the requirements in the dioceses and sharing of priests based on the needs of the dioceses.Paul VI, Motu Proprio, Ecclesiae Sanctae I, 6 August 1966, No 2, in (1966) 58 AAS 759. Later, the same Pope through Apostolic Constitution, Regimini Ecclesiae Universae, No 68 § 2, asked the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy to be responsible to have a special council to make general principles for the fair distribution of priests.Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution, Regimini Ecclesiae Universae, 15 August 1967, No 68 § 2, in (1967) 59 AAS 909. Later, the Congregation for Clergy issued the ‘Directive Norms for Cooperation among Local Churches and for a Better Distribution of the Clergy’ on 25 March 1980.Please refer above foot note No 11. Pope John Paul II also suggested a priestly formation programme and to set up national or international seminaries to prepare priests for international mission.John Paul II, ‘Redistributing Priests Worldwide’ in (1991) 20 Origins: CNS Documentary Service 682-685.

The Code of Canon Law, 1983 has foreseen the problem of the shortage of priests and has made some provision. The term ‘sacerdotumpenuria’ (shortage of priests) is specifically mentioned three times in the Code of Canon Law, 1983 in its can. 517 § 2A person or persons can be entrusted with a share in the exercise of the pastoral care of a parish., 526 § 1One priest can be given the care of many neighbouring parishes. and 905A priest can celebrate the Eucharist more than twice in a day. § 2, whereas in many places, the lay faithful or permanent deacons as extraordinary ministers are allowed to perform certain acts or rituals in the absence of priests or deacons.Cann. 230 § 3, 861 § 2, 943, 910 § 2, 911 § 2, 1112 § 1, 1421 § 2 etc.

4.2.Incardination of the Priest

A diocesan priest is incardinated in the diocese basically for the service of the people of a particular diocese.L. Chiappetta, Il Codice di Diritto Canonico: Commento Giuridico-Pastorale, Vol. I (Edizioni Dehoniane, Bologna 2011) 349. Incardination binds the diocesan priest to a particular church for whom he is ordained (can. 266 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law, 1983). Yet, incardination does not hinder the priest absolutely from working in another diocese. A priest is ordained for the whole Church and for her universal mission. The Second Vatican Council reminded them that ‘their very life is consecrated to the service of the missions’.The Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, AdGentes, 7 December 1965, No 39, in (1966) 58 AAS 986-987. As Cardinal Tomko has indicated, the assignment of the priest to a diocese does not cancel the ‘missionary dimension of the priesthood’.Tomko, ‘Comments by Cardinal Jozef Tomko on the Sending Abroad and Sojourn of Diocesan Priests[return]from mission territories’, < https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cevang/documents/rc_con_cevang_doc_20010612_istruzione-tomko_en.html> accessed 30 May 2022. Thus, there is a tension between the priest’s call for the universal mission of the Church and the mission in his diocese. The Church, time and again, has emphasised the universal missionary aspect of priestly vocation. By his ordination, the priest shares in the priesthood of Christ, which is intended for the universal mission. Yet, the priest is ordained to work in a particular diocese. The Church never fails to remind the priests that they are ordained for a particular diocese (can. 266 § 1).

The concept of incardination has gone through a drastic change in its meaning and application from ancient times until the present day. The Church forbade priests from moving one place to another seeking more lucrative remuneration.JE Lynch, ‘Historical Notes: The Clergy and the Diocese’, in RR Calvo and NJ Klinger (eds), Clergy Procedural Handbook (Canon Law Society of America, Washington DC 1992) 10. The Code of Canon Law, 1983, in its cann. 265, 267, and 269, has kept the ancient institution of incardination and excardination intact, while looking at the need for the distribution of priests, innovated cann. 268 § 1 and 271. Can. 268 § 1 deals with the procedure of incardination of a priest who has lawfully moved from one diocese to another. Thus, while remaining faithful to the ancient practice of incardination, the Church, after the Second Vatican Council, made provisions for the transfer of priests from one diocese to another to serve the universal mission.

The Instruction obliges both bishops who enter into agreement, need to be aware of the provisions of can. 271. The rights of the priest in the matter of incardination and excardination should not be hampered. The agreement should be made in such a way that the rights of all the three parties – the a quo bishop, the ad quem bishop and the priest – are respected and upheld. Moreover, there should not be any obstruction to the mission work in the a quo and the ad quem dioceses of the priest.

The Church exhorts the priests specially those where there is abundance of vocation to willingly offer to the places where is shortage of priests, because each priest by his priestly mission becomes the partaker in the whole mission of the Church. Presbyterorum Ordinis, No 10-11.

4.3.The Right of Mobility of the Priest

The priest, as a human person, has a natural right to mobility. The Church also acknowledges the right of mobility for the purposes like the necessities of life such as food, job, shelter, and medical care.Pope Pius XII, Christmas Message, 24 December 1945, in (1946) 38 AAS 15-25. ibid, Letter to Archbishop John McNicholas, 24 December 1948 in (1949) 41 AAS 69-71. Pope Pius XII, Christmas Message, 24 December 1952, in (1953) 45 AAS 33-46. Pope John XIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra, 15 May 1961, in (1961) 53 AAS 401-464. ibid, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris, 11 April 1963, in (1963) 55 AAS 257-304. Christus Dominus, No 18. The Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 7 December 1965, No 26, in (1966) 58 AAS 1046-1047. Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Pastoralis Migratorum Cura, 15 August 1969, in (1969) 61 AAS 601-60. Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 14 September 1981, in (1981) 73 AAS 577-647.

Even though the diocesan priest is incardinated in the diocese, for the mission of the diocese, he also enjoys the right to mobility. The question of the equitable distribution of priests for the universal mission necessitates that a priest may be required to travel from one place to another. Thus, the issue touches upon the right of the mobility of the priests for the mission of the Church. The right to mobility cannot be infringed without some serious and fundamental reason being in play.JI Donlon, The Human Rights of Priests to Equitable Sustenance and Mobility: An Evaluation of Canon Law from the Codex Iuris Canonici to the Proposed Revision of the Code of Canon Law (The Catholic University of America, Washington DC 1983) 152. Of course, no fundamental right is an absolute right. Thus, the instructions do not override the right of the mobility of the priest, as he is subjected to the obedience of his bishop and other legal formulations.

5.The Current Situation in the Netherlands

The Netherlands who used to send large numbers of missionaries to other countries now do not have enough priests to work in its dioceses. They are depending on foreign priests to cater to the spiritual needs of their faithful. Over the past few years, the number of the foreign missionaries has risen.FJS Wijsen, ‘Foreign Priests in the Netherlands: Reversed Mission, Mutual Assistance and Internal Outsourcing’, in (2016) 54 Exchange 72. In 1950, the diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam had 30.6% Catholic population which were served by 1,127 priests making 1,141 Catholics per priest. These numbers drastically declined. In 2019, 14.6% of the population was Catholic and its spiritual needs were catered by 166 priests, thus there were 2,690 Catholics per priest.<https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dhaar.html> accessed 16 March 2022. In the diocese of Roermond, the Catholic population was 92.2 % in 1950 and the number of priests were 902, amounting 724 Catholics per priest. But in 2020, the Catholic population was 96%In 2020, out of 17,407,585 inhabitants, immigrants represented 4,220,705, which is more than 25% <https://www.statista.com/statistics/519912/population-of-the-netherlands-by-background> accessed 04 October 2022. and the number of priests were 423, thus making 2,568 Catholics per priests.ibid. The statistics of these two dioceses clearly shows a decline in the number of priests, and thus, the number of Catholics per priest has increased. These two dioceses are now strongly dependent on foreign priests for the spiritual nourishment of their faithful.

6.Practical Problems Involved in Giving Priests on Loan

Can taking in priests solve the problem shortage of priests in the Netherlands? Do they bring some other challenges with them? Indeed, the foreign priests are doing well to a certain extent to cater to the spiritual ministry but the concept of providing priests on loan appears to be a mirage in the desert. It seems to be an easy solution to tackle the problem of vocation crisis, but it involves several challenges.

First, having of priests from other countries is not a permanent solution to the shortage of priests. It just fills the gaps temporarily. The receiving countries cannot depend over the long term on other countries to supply priests for them. The practice of some developed countries using the priests from other countries to meet the needs of their dioceses is, as P Jenkins calls it, ‘painfully short-sighted, at worst as suicidal for Catholic fortunes’.P Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002) 214. There is some truth in the statement, yet it is not fully right. The truth in the statement is that invited priests could have served in their own countries than in developed countries. Cardinal Tomko has himself acknowledged that out of 1,800 foreign priests in Italy, ‘many new dioceses could be created in mission lands!’Tomko, ‘Comments by Cardinal Jozef Tomko on the Sending Abroad and Sojourn of Diocesan Priests[return]from mission territories’, < https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cevang/documents/rc_con_cevang_doc_20010612_istruzione-tomko_en.html> accessed 30 May 2022.. Therefore, it will be suicidal for the Catholic Church to remove the priest where he is more needed and put in a place where he caters to so few. The reason for saying that Jenkins’ statement is not fully right is that the Church has come a long way. She has seen the situation of a shortage of priests in one part of the world and abundance in another part in the past, yet the Church has survived it. Therefore, the phrase ‘suicidal for Catholic fortunes’ could be a hyperbole to make the reader stop and think.

Second, J Kerkhofs calls into question the complete dedication of foreign priests, saying, ‘moreover these priests who have been provisionally imported are not prepared to devote themselves to a completely different cultural milieu, in contrast to members of the great missionary institutions in the past’.J Kerkhofs, Europe Without Priests? (SCM Press Ltd., London, 1995) 164. Of course, we cannot generalise that all priests serving in other countries do not dedicate themselves completely, yet we cannot underestimate the challenges they face in terms of learning a new language, new culture, new etiquettes, new lifestyle and food habits, different environment, and weather.

Further, these priests are sometimes not completely accepted by the faithful and vice versa. It creates some tension among them. The faithful see the priests more concerned about raising funds than fulfilling their spiritual needs. There is also a problem of understanding the language or accent of the foreign priests. This can create friction between the faithful and priests. Getting priests from another country is a solution given ‘from above or from outside’. Some lay faithful may find it as ‘forced on them’ and thus, find it difficult to accept them. Frans JS Wijsen posed a relevant question while exploring the uneasiness in the relation between foreign priests and Dutch Catholic in economic terms, ‘whose demand is it?’.FJS Wijsen, see fn 36, 77. At this point, let us consider who is the main actors in the Church that are affected by the problem of a shortage of priests. One researchD Hoge, Future of Catholic Leadership: Responses to the Priest Shortage (Sheed and Ward, Kansas City, 1987) 29-30. shows that it was the diocesan bishops who are affected the most, since they are primarily responsible to run the diocese (can. 369) and cater to the spiritual needs of the faithful (can. 387). Thus, one solution is for them to get priests from outside, but these priests may or may not be welcomed by the laity and other priests.

By getting the foreign priests from abroad, the Church in the Netherlands focuses only on running parishes or providing the sacramental ministry or cultic worship and thus, making the Church clerical oriented. Furthermore, many Dutch dioceses have encouraged and invested a lot of resources of money and human power in lay ministers. They are trained to help the Church in many ways. The positive aspect of the shortage of priests that lay faithful are involved in different ways in good numbers. We often look at the decreasing number of priests but forget to notice and appreciate the increasing number of laity and their involvement in the Church. A number of lay faithful getting degrees in theology, teaching in theology faculties, running Church related association, writing and publishing books and articles on theology and other Church related topics. Getting foreign priests will curtail the opportunities and responsibility that are for the laity.FJS Wijsen, see fn 36, 74.

Vocation is an ambivalent phenomenon. The countries who had abundance of vocation and provided missionaries a few decades ago are now struggling with vocation. In the same vein, the countries which claim to have good vocation now, cannot be certain of plentiful vocation in the future. In this scenario, the sharing of priests will have adverse effect.

Providing priests on loan does not seem to be a complete solution to the problem of shortage of priests. Nevertheless, it can help the dioceses and religious congregation in the Netherlands to a certain extent. In the past, several solutions were given to deal with the shortage of priests and importing of priests from other countries, such as relaxing celibacy, married deacons to be promoted to the priesthood, women ordination, lay collaboration, empowering local leadership and merging of parishes. Some of these are already put into practice and some are not possible because of theological and canonical reasons. Indeed, the laity is at forefront in many places. Thus, someone has put it rightly, ‘the Church has a vocations crisis, not a personnel crisis’ or ‘there is no shortage of vocations to the priesthood, but only to the qualification of it.’D Hoge, see fn 44, xiii and 28 p. We need to think differently and creatively. Ronald J Nuzzi puts it beautifully, ‘saying that there is a shortage of priests misses the point. There is perhaps a shortage of ideas, a shortage of vocal leadership, a shortage of new models for ministry.’RJ Nuzzi, ‘There’s no shortage of Priests – Just a Shortage of Ideas’, (1992) 28/11 National Catholic Reporter 21.

7.Some Ways to Tackle the issue of Priests on Loan

As we have said already that importing priests is not a lifetime solution. If this is so, then, how to go about? What is the possible way out to solve the shortage of priests with or without importing them? How can we strengthen the Church in the Netherlands with or without depending on foreign priests? First, we need to consider what the faithful in the Netherlands expect from these foreign priests. Do they want them to perform just cultic worship like celebrate mass, administer the Sacraments, instruct on the faith, or do they expect them to be a witness of Christ and to be salt and light as Jesus commanded His followers to be?M Mihayo, Practical Solutions to the Increasing Crises of Priest Shortage, 1-2. In the first option, the priests can do nothing more than to maintain status quo and run the parish in a traditional way, while the second option opens a lot of opportunities and possibilities.

The directives PostquamApostoli gives a plan to prepare the priests who are going to work in other dioceses. The same policy can be applied to those priests who are coming to work in the Netherlands. The preparation is as follows: the need of special vocation of the priest, his fitness, necessary preparation, agreement of transfer, the duties of both bishops, incorporation in the presbyterate of the foreign diocese and return to home diocese. PostquamApostoli, No 23-31.

A cooperate company will not grow and make profit if it has no proper way of dealing with its human resources. Like the corporate world, there must be a better way of dealing with the ‘outsourcing of human resources,FJS Wijsen, ‘see fn 36, 76-77. and managing these human resources in the Church. One suggestion is that instead of getting readymade priests from other countries, the countries who struggle with vocation like the Netherlands, can get the candidates or brothers in training to their countries and formed them, so that they are linguistically, culturally, and mentally formed and prepared until their ordinations. They will know how to work in different milieux of the Netherlands, how to deal with women, children, and other priests from the Netherlands, what to preach and how to conduct worship in Dutch.

There should be reconsideration of the training of priests to include the present-day circumstances and realities, and address the challenges of globalisation, secularisation, consumerism, and complex family system. It is not just related to intellectual and spiritual training but must adhere to human and emotional formation including emotional maturity and healthy psychosexual development programmes coupled with the ability of discernment and sound judgement,Synod of Bishops, Working Document, ‘Formation of Priests in Circumstances of the Present day’, in (1990) 20 Origins: CNS Documentary Service 149-168. which will help them to face the difficulties when put in different cultural and social milieux. What the Church in the Netherlands needs today is not only ordained priests, but priests who are leaders. ‘An important dimension of priestly leadership is being able to sustain a vision of a renewed Church in a difficult time of transition and change…’T Rausch, ‘Priesthood in the Church of Tomorrow’, in (1997) 27 Origins: CNS Documentary Service 371.

The relationship between the dioceses in the Netherlands who are importing priests and the countries or dioceses who are sending their priests should not be limited to the level of importing the priests. There should be the twining of both diocesesSacred Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and of Propaganda Fide, Instructions, Cooperation between Bishops and Pontifical Missionary Works, 24 February 1969, in (1969) 61 AAS 276-287. – the sending and receiving dioceses – so that the exchange should go beyond mere providing the priests. Both dioceses will have a lot to offer to each other. There must be constant collaboration, communion, and communication between to these dioceses where they can invite to visit their lay faithful, their students, youth, specialised and skilled workers, etc to each other dioceses. The purpose of twining should not be restricted just providing only priests, but also include providing material, human and intellectual exchange like finance, food, human resources like engineers, nurses, doctors, teachers etc, raw materials and other final products to another diocese. There can be the sharing of historical and cultural information between two. This will help both dioceses to know each other at a deeper level and thus can create a kind of bond which will be useful for the ‘imported’ priests to get into the ministry of the Church easily by understanding the faithful and for the faithful, it will be easy to know their pastors.

The shortage of priests is more an institutional issue than spiritual one.Hoge, see fn 44, xiii p. It is certainly different than crisis of faith. Masses, prayers, penances, and abstention are not enough to solve this problem but need to have some institutional actions. We need to have strategies, plans and approaches to tackle this issue.

The time has come for the Church to be a new way of being Church in her mission – a new way of practising and expressing our faith in these difficult times, a new way of participating in the life of the Church, a new way of embracing the mysteries of Christ, a new way of nourishing the faithful by the Word and the Sacraments, and a new way of showing fidelity to our vocation and mission. This applies to the practice of priests going from one country to another to work. The Church must start pondering new ways to nourish the faithful, with or without the priest, especially in the Netherlands. I think the time has come to consider the restructuring the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The structure of the Church is such that the worshipping community mainly depends on its ministers for its performance. The Eucharist cannot be celebrated without ordained ministers. Some Sacraments are to be administered by ordained ministers only. Can we think of a structure where the priests can be dispensable? Hinduism is still flourishing and progressing and its priests play role in some rituals only.

In addition, another consideration can be given to restructuring the lifetime commitment of the priests. The globalised and consumeristic society has a problem with the word ‘commitment’. People have apprehensions when it comes to commitment, and that also lifelong commitment, whether it is by ordination or by marriage. The proclamation of the Good News, administration of Sacraments, catechising the faithful need not be a lifelong task. One can enter it and leave it irrespective of one’s age and sex.

Instead of spending energy, time, and money on importing priests, the Church in the Netherlands needs to get into the lives and struggles of the people by becoming the voice for the voiceless and her preferential option for the least, the last and the lost. The Church cannot limit herself to running the parishes and offering cultic worship but needs to be seen on the streets involved in the fight with her people in their struggles for peace, justice, equality, and fraternity by coming out of the four walls of their churches. She should be part of everyday life struggles of the people, becoming actively involved in movements of workers and of ecology, accompanying the elderly, the sick and the youth, venturing into the fields of medicine and politics, encouraging the unemployed and frustrated youth with counselling and a message of hope, empowering women, fighting for the rights and for equality of the LGBT community, creating a better society and the world for the children of today. The approach of the Church should be wholistic and practical, accompanying people in every walk of life. If these things happen, then the Church needs not to worry about the empty pews, dwindling number and importing priests, because she has lived up to her vocation and her true nature.

Finally, it is not just about increasing the number of priests, but most importantly, improving the credibility of the Church and reducing the ill-effects of the clericalism of the Church that still imbued in the minds of people. The sexual and financial abuses have swept the Church. The Church has lost her integrity and trust. She is no longer seen a beacon of hope, but seen as hierarchical, clerical, and patriarchal. The faithful still see the Church as authoritative and dominated by the clerics who are power and sex hungry and harmful to children and women. Today, more than a problem of vocation or dwindling mass attendance, the Church is facing an issue of credibility. Therefore, we need priests, even in small number, who are to live and work as alterChristus and thereby to be ‘witnesses of Christ’ and be like ‘salt and light in the world’. This task is enormous, particularly in the Netherlands, but constant and unceasing efforts surely will bear the good fruits, fruits that will last forever.

8.Conclusion

The instruction has made a genuine attempt to enhance the mission of the Church. However, this practice of providing priests on loan should be addressed in the instruction so that there is some regularity and order. ‘The issue is complex and not simply a matter of the rich buying priests away from the poor’.Hoge – Okure, see fn 10, 18 p. The instruction could have been more effective in enhancing the missionary work, had it dealt differently and systematically with the issue. Consequently, there is now scope to increase the effectiveness of the instruction by addressing one of the concerns such as equitable distribution of priests.

History bears witness to the unrelenting struggles and challenges in the Church. These difficulties are peculiar to the period and the place. Each period has presented its own set of problems, which the Church has overcome. The instruction is one small attempt to address some of these challenges. These include the challenges of a shortage of priest like in the Netherlands and the need of the home diocese, the universal missionary aspect of the priesthood and local diocesan mission work, and the mobility of the priest and the requirement of residence. The mission of the Church must go on, in the Netherlands or in the mission countries, despite these difficulties.

Importing foreign priests is just one way to cater to the spiritual needs of the faithful in the Netherlands but now, we need to look forward to continuing the mission which Jesus has entrusted to us with creative ways without solely depend on the foreign priests. The mission of the Church in the Netherlands must go on!