Which summer personnel changes are related to the diocesan synod? Who will be the diocesan coordinator for spiritual accompaniment? And who will be the executive director of the diocese? You can find out in the following article.
Summer is a time for vacations, pilgrimages, camps and rest. In the diocese it is also a period when forces are traditionally reshuffled. Some priests change assignments, new colleagues arrive, others leave. And because there are quite a few changes, we bring you an overview (taken from bip.cz).
Karlovy Vary: change at St. Mary Magdalene's Church
Since August, a new priest from the Order of the Cross has been serving in Karlovy Vary, Lukáš Lipenský, who took over the parish at St. Mary Magdalene and also oversees the Loket parish. His religious brother Miroslav Chlupsa moved from Karlovy Vary to Loket and began working as an assistant priest in both parishes.
Cheb and Skalná: joint spiritual administration
From September, the joint spiritual administration Cheb – Skalná will be established in the Cheb region. Its moderator (and statutory representative) will be Libor Buček from Cheb. As members of this joint administration team will cooperate Jaroslav Šašek from Cheb (who continues his prison ministry), Vincent Osi-Shimese Iletogbe from Aše (who continues as parish vicar in Aše), and Petr Bauchner from Sokolov (Sokolov pastor and district vicar of Cheb and Sokolov), who will primarily be tasked with helping stabilize the management of property in the Skalná parish. Here, also as an assistant priest, Josef Žák from Kraslice will serve, mainly in Lubech.
No one is moving anywhere. The purpose of these changes, besides solving the management of the Skalná parish, is also to strengthen cooperation between priests and local communities and jointly seek a form of spiritual administration for Cheb and Sokolov in the future.
Plzeň – North Suburb: change at the Franciscans
A more significant change also awaits the Franciscan team in Plzeň at North Suburb. After several years of service in the diocese, in September Šebestián Smrčina will conclude his work and leave for Hájek near Prague by decision of the religious superior. Marek Vilímek, who has so far worked as a member of the joint administration of North Suburb and Stod – Holýšov, will become their moderator. At the same time, Masseo Golha will join the pastoral team at North Suburb; he comes to the Plzeň Franciscan community from Slovakia and from October will also pastorally support the Spálené Poříčí parish.
During the next year, the Franciscans together with their entrusted parish communities will look for, similar to Cheb region, what form of joint pastoral administration will be most suitable for these parishes and their local communities in the future.
Spálené Poříčí: departure and searching for a way forward
From the Spálené Poříčí parish, from October at his own request for a change of diocese, Robert Bergman will leave. He will serve in the Prague Archdiocese for a three-year probationary period with the promise of release from the diocese. The administration of the parish will be temporarily handled by Franciscan Masseo Golha from Plzeň (spiritual management) and general vicar Petr Hruška from Plzeň (property management), who will end this temporary role in Skalná in August.
At the same time, here too the diocese will, in the spirit of the recommendations of the diocesan synod and in cooperation with local communities of believers, seek a way to jointly manage more parishes in the wider region.
Plzeň – Cathedral and Slovany: changes and reinforcements
In September, the Plzeň parish at St. Bartholomew's Cathedral will say goodbye to David Lamberk, who served as a newly ordained priest and was a parish vicar there and will be assigned to manage the Staňkov parish. The cathedral parish, on the other hand, will reinforce its assistant priest from October with Dominican Vojtěch Soudský, who will also be a member of the joint spiritual administration in Plzeň – Slovany.
The Dominican community in Plzeň, which manages the Plzeň – Slovany parish, will be strengthened in October by Robert Irenej Šiklar, who will become a new member of that joint spiritual administration. His new moderator will be Antonín Krasucki, while the current moderator Vojtěch Soudský will become his member.
Staňkov: return home and reinforcement from Litice
The current administrator of the Staňkov parish, Przemyslav Ciupak, will return to Poland at his own request in October, to his native diocese. The role of administrator of the Staňkov parish will be taken over by David Lamberk, who will commute from Litice.
Here, local believers will be invited to reflect together with other parishes in the region, especially with Holýšov and Stod, on a suitable future form of pastoral care.
Pastoral assistants: strengthening teams
The pastoral team of the Plzeň – Slovany parish was strengthened in August by Michaela Lokvencová from the community of Dominican Sisters, who moved to Slovany as a pastoral assistant from the Plzeň – Bory parish. From September she will be replaced by new pastoral assistant Kryštof Štěpánek coming from the Olomouc Archdiocese, to try out pastoral service in the Plzeň diocese for a year.
In September, Magdaléna Němcová will join the Strážov community of Franciscan Sisters; she will replace Alžběta Nemelová and serve as a pastoral assistant.
The community of Salesian Sisters in Plzeň – Skvrňany also gains a new reinforcement, where from September Jana Marková will join as a pastoral assistant for the SHM Club.
Diocese: changes in the way of running the diocese
Summer personnel changes are not only taking place in parishes, but also at the diocese. Some of them directly relate to the implementation of measures recommended by the diocesan synod and to the gradual transformation of the way the diocese is run.
Since August, on the legal department as a specialist reference person Eliška Keilhofer has started; she replaced Miluše Hosnedlová in this role and from spring became the new chancellor of the diocese. After the August handover of the agenda, she will be able to fully devote herself to the development of the chancery from September.
At the recommendation of the synod, from September the diocesan coordinator for spiritual accompaniment will be appointed by the bishop as a deacon Robert Frouz, who in this role will be tasked with preparing the introduction and supporting further development of the bishop-guaranteed service of spiritual accompaniment in the diocese. A major change also awaits the leadership of the diocese from September.
Bishop Tomáš will have, from mid-September, two key collaborators with different areas of responsibility.:
- General vicar Petr Hruška will, in addition to his powers, continue as the second ordinariate responsible for personnel matters of priests, deacons and other pastoral workers and staff in the diocese, communication with parishes where property management intersects with pastoral care, and accompaniment of the synodal process. His office will now be on the first floor of the diocesan building at Františkánská Street in the premises of the pastoral department.
- Executive director Zuzana Trejdlová will take over from the general vicar responsibility for managing the administrative and technical departments of the diocese, and the bishop will also empower her to represent the diocese in organizational and property matters, and from October she will also be appointed diocesan economist. Her office will be on the first floor of the diocesan building at the square.
Martina Kaly will leave her position as diocesan economist. Her successor in the role of diocesan economist will be Zuzana Trejdlová.
New positions: we are looking for suitable collaboratorsThe diocese is looking for new collaborators or collaborators for some important pastoral or administrative roles:
- For the pastoral department we are looking for a theology-educated collaborator or collaborator for the position of specialist for diocesan education, who in cooperation with other team members will create, provide and coordinate the offer of diocesan education (more HERE).
- For the economic department we are looking for a new head of the economic section, who will work with the diocesan economist and under her leadership manage the economic section of the diocese and cooperate in ensuring the economic operation of the diocese and the diocese (more HERE).
- Looking ahead, we are also looking for someone to take on the synod-recommended role of diocesan coordinator for diaconal services and Charity, who would help develop the service to people in need in parishes, help Charity develop its Christian identity, and accompany parishes towards deeper cooperation with professional Charities.
We ask for your prayers that this summer will be a time when all these new developments can take root and bear their autumn fruits.
Petr Hruška
