Notes on the Transitions,
Number 6 in a Series

Here is the text of the Q & A documents we handed out earlier this weekend. It includes the new Sunday Mass schedules for Holy Rosary and Visitation.

Coming Together in Christ

Transitions at Holy Rosary and Visitation, No. 2

The parish transition teams are committed to answering your questions about the upcoming changes at Visitation and Holy Rosary. Over the next few weeks, we plan to print out sheets like this addressing the most common questions. If you have a question, ask a member of the transition team! If we don’t know the answer, we’ll find it.

Here are a few common comments that were expressed, and responses to them.

What other areas of the Archdiocese are required to share priests?

There are many! The Pastor in Lewis County where Fr. Maurer is going is currently Pastor of nine parishes / missions / stations. Fr. Maurer will be receiving seven of those when he transitions to the area in September.

The coast also has a number of parishes combined under two Pastors. There are five parishes under one Pastor in the Skagit valley, three under Fr. Tuan here in Tacoma, three under Fr. Peter here in Tacoma, two in Everett under one Pastor, three under one Pastor in Seattle, and a number of other places that have parishes with missions attached to them where there is only one pastor.

Why isn’t St. Joseph included in the updates?
(i.e. the plans for their Mass schedule in the Extraordinary Form)

The Pastor that will be coming from the FSSP has not yet been formally appointed by the Archbishop. Once that happens, which will be soon, then they can begin to communicate the schedule for the Extraordinary form Masses. Fr. Maurer and Fr. Wichert have no say in the scheduling for the Masses that will be held at St. Joseph in October.

When will the Mass schedules actually change?

As of right now the Mass times will change on the third weekend of September, because we don’t have a priest to cover all the Masses, even though we have tried desperately to find one.

We are still working diligently to try and find coverage to help out so that the new Mass time changes would not take place until the first weekend in October. Our inability to find coverage has been another reminder about our shortage of priests.

New Mass Times

Dear friends,

The new Mass times chosen were not easy to arrive at. As I took into account the Mass counts, feedback from many people including the transition teams, the survey results, the collections, the knowledge of all communities from the perspective of Fr. Maurer and myself, the limitations of what is allowed for in Church Law, the reality of the situation (that everyone couldn’t get what they wanted because it was physically impossible), I have tried to make the best decision possible for the good of the people from St. Joseph, Holy Rosary, and Visitation. It is not perfect, but no option could be.

The Mass times will be:

Holy Rosary
Saturday 5:00pm
Sunday 12:00 Noon

Visitation
Sunday 8:00 am
Sunday 10:00 am

I will get you the daily Mass and Confession schedule soon.

These Mass times allow Holy Rosary to be able to keep one of their Mass times, out of their two Masses. Visitation’s early Mass remains more or less the same, moving a half an hour earlier. The people from St. Joseph, if they do not desire to remain at St. Joseph for the Latin Mass, have both of their Mass times provided for at other parishes, one at Visitation and one at Holy Rosary.

I realize that this comes with difficulty for the people of all three parishes.

My commitment is to serve the Lord in serving you as best as I can with the circumstances we now face together. My hope and prayer is that we will come through this together recognizing that we can become stronger because of these changes. It is a decision on the part of each of us to do so in the strength, power and grace of Christ.

In the peace of Christ,

Fr. Wichert