Donald Horrigan

UNIVERSAL AVAILABILITY of MINISTRY: NEW MODELS of CATHOLIC MINISTRY

Rev. Donald Horrigan

This is the story of my return to ministry as a married priest through the support of CITI Ministries, Inc. – Rentapriest.com

Put simply, marriage grounded me and helped me experience my life as “real and connected as a human being.” My experience as a canonical priest was and became an increasingly intense experience of abstract disconnected reality that I could no longer live in – married or not. The literal pain of remaining in what I increasingly experienced as a dissonant state of unreality caused me to want to be “out” at whatever cost. I could no longer carry the “head trip” around and maintain it. I put it in a box and attempted not to touch it or open the box until I allowed myself very cautiously to “back into ministry” as a retired husband and father.

I was ordained in 1967 for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, OH, and remained with the diocese serving as an assistant pastor, Catholic high school teacher, and graduate student until 1973. When I left active ministry I was happy to be finished with clerical life. I was set to live a quiet life as a lay Catholic.

In 1974, I got a job as a junior high school teacher with the Prince George’s County public schools and married Patricia. Together we lived an active suburban family life in Bowie, MD. We raised two daughters, were active in the local Catholic parish, had our daughters in and out of Catholic schools, and serve in various volunteer roles with the parish. Although Pat and I had our concerns with the Catholic school and we were often less than satisfied with our experience of parish life, we did nothing to address our concerns beyond what it took to meet our personal and family needs. As far as the Church was concerned, we were content to live below the radar within in the terms of my laicization. Occasionally colleagues who knew of my background would ask me if I would consider officiating at a wedding. My response was a firm and quick “no.” In 1990, Pat and I attended the CORPUS national meeting at the World Trade Center Hotel, NYC.

That experience confirmed my intention to steer clear of ministerial involvement. I did maintain a membership in CORPUS over the years, however.

My return to active ministry has been what I think of as an inside-out process involving people closest to me personally. My long-time across-the-street neighbors, Harriet and Pete had a lot to do with it. Pete had a long struggle with Mesothelioma and died in September 2001. Harriet and their two daughters asked me to help them prepare his memorial service and to officiate. Because they were neighbors and friends I said yes. Pete’s memorial service was my first return step to public ministry, and I did it with shaky knees. Pete was Presbyterian with no formal affiliation. Harriet was culturally Jewish. It all worked, and it was with people in my neighborhood. In August, 2005, I took another step. Close Catholic friends of ours were frustrated when they couldn’t find a priest to do their daughter’s wedding and asked if I would consider doing it. I told them that I was not licensed and had never ventured out into that world, but for them I would investigate to see what it would take to become authorized to do the wedding. My research led me to CITI—Rentapriest.com and its founder, Louise Haggett. Even though our friends’ daughter ultimately said no to her parents attempt to help, I had finally said yes to the possibility of re-credentialing. I knew how it could be done, even though I wasn’t attracted to the name ”rentapriest.”

In late 2006, the forces of the universe aligned (the call of the Holy Spirit and my response) so that I decided to apply to CITI—Rentapriest.com for ministry credentials. My across-the-street Jewish neighbor, Harriet, and my wife, Pat provided the context and incentive. On July 1, 2006, I retired from a 32-year teaching/administrative career with Prince George’s County Public Schools. In early December, 2006, both Pat and Harriet were diagnosed with cancer. Pat had breast cancer and Harriett had lung cancer. Pat and I spent a lot of time taking care of Harriett while doing all the things we had to do as we came to terms with her diagnosis of breast cancer. Harriett’s cancer was stage 4 and she began Hospice care in her home. Pat’s breast cancer was early stage and appeared operable. During this period I was spending a lot of time in prayer and was immersed in the issues of care for the sick and dying. Knowing that she was going to die, Harriett asked me if I would work with her daughters to plan her memorial service as I had done for her husband Pete, 5 years earlier. Of course, I said yes.

Harriett died on January 4, 2007. Pat had successful cancer surgery on January 15, 2012. Out of that time of intense immersion in care for both Harriett and Pat, I decided that I would apply to CITI – Rentapriest.com to be credentialed for re-entering active ministry. CITI-Rentapriest.com made the process simple and direct. I needed to provide evidence that I was validly ordained, pass CITI’s stringent security review and background check, provide character and ministerial effectiveness, and certify that I was willing to provide sacramental services to anyone who would ask or call upon me, consistent with the provisions of Canon Law. CITI – Rentapriest.com provided the kind of baby steps that I needed as well as the organizational scaffolding to make these steps. From the time I was certified and publicly posted for service to CITI – Rentapriest.com, engagement in ministry itself has transformed me and led me forward in my calling.

Weddings and Baptisms: First came a mother requesting baptism for her second child after having been turned away at her local parish. Then came a couple who had been raised Catholic, but wanted a wedding at the City Club in Washington D.C. To date I have performed over 65 weddings, including my own daughter’s. Most of these young couples have been living together from 6 months to 2 years or more. They want a marriage that in some way honors their Catholic spiritual heritage and tradition, but they are estranged from the church as they have known and experienced it

Emmaus Community: In 2008, I received a call from a Bowie Catholic couple, Judy and Dave. They were founding members of a local VOTF group and very active in working with victims of priest sex abuse. They were looking for a priest who would celebrate a Mass in their home with their group of 15 to 20 people. When they contacted CITI – Rentapriest.com, Louise Haggett suggested that they call me since I lived in Bowie. We met and talked at length. Although I routinely did home and small group Masses when I was a canonical priest, I was really hesitant to do a public Mass with active Catholics in my own town. But I said yes I will do it this one time and we will see where it leads. On June 9, 2008, I wrote an email to Louise Haggett describing the Home Mass:

On the First Thursday of June –June 5, 2008 – I was privileged to celebrate my first Mass as a married priest (and my first Mass in 35 years) at the invitation of Judy and Dave Lorenz and their friends from Bowie. Twenty-one of us gathered in Judy and Dave’s living room for prayer, song, celebration, and the Eucharist. For Pat and me it was wonderful to be embraced in our own community and by several people that we have known over the years in (our local) parish, but never in this role. We had never imagined or envisioned this happening, and it was, and is, wonderful!

Thank you for the gift and blessing of CITI!

Know that another priest has polished his chalice and re-entered the Eucharistic and sacramental ministry through God’s grace and the opportunity that you have made possible.

The Emmaus Community has been coming together in one another’s homes for Mass on the first Tuesday or Thursday of each month for most months since June 2008. Being called to serve and grow with this community has transformed me and helped me deeply embrace my call to ministry.

Maryland CITI Rentapriest.com Community – Double T Group: In the Spring of 2008 when I had booked several weddings, Pat looked at the calendar and asked “What happens to all of this if you get sick or die? Who will cover for you? You need a backup plan!” With that I went to the CITI Rentapriest.com listing of priests in Maryland and sent an email to each of my colleagues asking that we get together for lunch to discuss the possibilities of mutual support and backup coverage. Three of us came together for the first meeting at the Double T Diner, Catonsville, on June 8, 2008. We shared our stories and the resources we use for wedding ministry. From that first meeting our group has continued to meet three times a year. The group has grown to as many as 10-12 priests. Genuine friendships, support, and collaborative working relationships are growing from our gatherings. A few months ago we had a get-acquainted/sharing meeting with the RCWP bishop, priests, and deacons. It was great!

Funeral Ministry and care of the sick: My experiences with Hospice (Hospice of the Chesapeake in particular) led to my desire to be formally trained as a hospice patient care and grief support volunteer. I completed the training in May, 2009. Hospice work has proved to be transformative as well. Patient care and grief support work has given me an opportunity to serve and grow in my understanding and appreciation of the deep resource that hospice provides to care for patients and families. This training and experience led me to offer my services to a local family-funeral home. I had been inspired to do this by a posting from a CITI Rentapriest.com colleague who said he sometimes does funerals at a funeral home for families who don’t have parish affiliations. There was a definite need. Since September 2009 I have been averaging two funerals a month. Many are for people who were active Catholics at one time or another, but have ceased to be affiliated with a parish. Local parishes often don’t have time for people who aren’t registered with them

Concluding thoughts: Pat and I often chuckle about how busy our “rectory” is. I know that I am engaged in more direct pastoral ministry now than I ever was in a parish. In 2009, I officiated at 22 weddings. The 2009 annual report for a large local parish reported 9 weddings. Where does my experience fit in with what is happening to American Catholics?

Summarizing the findings of the 2008 Pew survey of religion in America, Jesuit Thomas Reese notes that 1 out every 10 Americans is ex-Catholic. If the ex-Catholics were a denomination, they would constitute the third largest denomination in the U.S. after Catholics and Baptists. He notes, further, that the principal reason Catholics are leaving the Catholic Church to become Protestant is because their spiritual needs are not being met.

He concludes that the Pew data shows that two-thirds of Catholics who become Protestants do so before they reach the age of 24. (When I shared this with my 29 year old Catholic high school educated daughter she said, “Dad, try 14.”) [April 18, 2011 NCR, Thomas Reese, 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religious and Public Life.]

My personal experience in life and ministry affirms the validity of the concerns and dynamics highlighted by the Pew study and so clearly described in the Dutch Dominican Document. I have first-hand experience of young couples who have a strong desire for a spiritual connection and a strong aversion to their experience of the Catholic parish. I have first-hand experience with the vitality of a small faith “house church” community and the hunger that its members have for the community and spiritual nourishment. I have first-hand experience with the spiritual needs that the baby boom population of disaffected Catholics and their families have and will have as they age and enter the realm of sick and dying. I also have first-hand experience of a number of ordained married priests who are re-discovering their call to ministry through the transformational experience of being enabled to re-enter ministry through CITI Rentaapriest.com. The harvest is truly plentiful, and I believe God is answering the call to provide laborers. I pray that the Church will have eyes to see and ears to hear and arms to embrace the bounty of ministries that the Holy Spirit is providing.

Rev. Donald Horrigan

DH Ministries

2713 Kincaid Lane

Bowie, Maryland 20715

Home phone: 301-464-0931

Cell Phone: 301-646-5770. Email dhorrigan01@comcast.net