November 21, 2009
A leader reflects
On his first anniversary as head of the diocese, Bishop Soto talks about joys, challenges
By Julie Sly
Herald editor
Bishop Jaime Soto greets Ruben Delatorre during a pastoral visit Oct. 18 to St. Joseph Marello Parish in Granite Bay. The bishop makes regular visits to parishes in the diocese. Cathy Joyce/Herald photo
As leader of more than 950,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Sacramento, it’s no surprise that Bishop Jaime Soto keeps a demanding schedule.
Though he tries to take one day off each week, the first week of October
— a typical one — found the 53-year-old bishop caught up in
a whirlwind of activities:
• Celebrating the groundbreaking for a new
monastery, followed by Mass, at the Chau Son Monastery of the Cistercian
community in Walnut Grove;
• Presiding at a Mass for the centennial of St. Francis of Assisi
Church in Sacramento;
• Participating as the guest of honor at the annual fundraising dinner
to benefit Bishop Gallegos Maternity Home in Sacramento;
• Celebrating a memorial Mass for Father Patrick McGrath in St. Mel
Church in Fair Oaks;
• Traveling to Oakland to attend the meeting of the Hispanic ministry
directors of the Western states;
• Presiding at the annual evening Red Mass for legal professionals
in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament;
• Administering the rite of acolyte for diocesan seminarians studying
for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park;
• Celebrating an early morning Mass for Catholic school teachers throughout
the diocese gathered in St. Rose of Lima Church in Roseville;
• Conferring the sacrament of confirmation to teenagers during an
evening Mass in St. Dominic Church in Colfax.
“Each day is very different, depending on the demands or the commitments,”
admits Bishop Soto, who will mark one year as shepherd of the diocese on
Nov. 30. He spoke with The Herald recently about his time in the diocese
and his hopes and priorities for the future.
Since Bishop William K. Weigand’s retirement last year, Bishop Soto
has shouldered a demanding ministry. Not only are there numerous public
commitments, meetings and sacramental ministry in the diocese, but the bishop
also serves in key leadership roles on the national level with the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is chairman of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity and the bishops’ Subcommittee for the Church in Latin America, episcopal liaison for the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, and a member of four other USCCB committees.
“Like most bishops in the United States, I’m required to travel
a lot and it’s disruptive to keeping a regular schedule,” he
said. “Then there are the public demands on me of many meetings and
conferences in our diocese, and numerous office appointments.
“I like routine myself, but at the same time, I am fortunate that
every day usually brings new experiences and new challenges,” the
bishop added. “The challenge for me every day, in the midst of what
are a lot of different demands, is trying to keep some kind of a rhythm
of prayer — that’s the biggest challenge.”
The bishop said he tries to take some time each day for private prayer.
“Depending on when my ‘public day’ has to start, I like
to have some time in the morning for prayer, and if I don’t have a
public Mass that day, I’ll try to at least have a private Mass in
the morning.” Praying the Liturgy of the Hours “is supposed
to interrupt your day, and for me it is always like an anchor.”
Bishop Soto has kept pace with the parish and school visits he initiated
when he was first appointed as coadjutor bishop in October 2007. Though
he hasn’t kept count, he’s visited dozens of the diocese’s
103 parishes, all of its six Catholic high schools, and most of its 42 Catholic
elementary schools, as well as numerous other Catholic facilities and agencies
in the 20 counties of the diocese.
His weekend parish visits have been one of the joys of leading the diocese,
he said, along with celebrating scores of confirmations at parishes throughout
the year.
“My personal goal right now, since I don’t have an auxiliary
bishop, is to be a part of as many public events as I can,” he said.
“It’s a little bit exhausting, but it’s very much worth
my while to be able to connect with people personally and I enjoy doing
that.”
In his two years in the diocese he’s made it a priority to visit the
Catholic high schools regularly to interact with students — something
he will continue to do, he said.
“I’ve enjoyed these visits and it’s a chance to connect
with that important generation of our church,” he noted. “They
have lots of questions and they are influenced by the culture we live in.
It’s important for me as bishop to be able to connect with them on
a personal level and to give them a chance to ask me questions and for me
to have a chance to hear what their concerns are.”
While a bishop’s agenda is the church’s agenda of preaching
the word, celebrating the sacraments and caring for the poor, Bishop Soto
said one of his key priorities is expanding youth ministry in the diocese.
“There’s more I want to do in this area because it’s important
for the church and it also speaks to the pastoral priorities that came out
of the diocesan synod,” he said. “People really do want to see
young people connect with the church and we need to do more than we’re
doing right now to make that happen. Our future ministers will come from
this generation, so it’s important for us to give them a positive
experience of the church and to also give them the opportunity to participate
in the life of the church now.”
Bishop Soto told The Herald he’s confronted some challenges during
his first year, including financial difficulties facing Catholic schools
in the diocese and dealing with the continuing shortage of clergy personnel
as priests reach retirement age.
He said many Catholic schools are “under a lot of stress.”
“Some of it is due to the difficult economic times we’re in
right now, but other aspects of it require us to look at how we manage Catholic
schools in the future,” he said. “Those conversations are ongoing,
but I feel a sense of urgency about this because many of our schools are
struggling.
“I think it’s too early to say whether some of our schools will
close next year,” he added. “But it is a possibility. It’s
also a possibility that we can come up with some other solutions. We have
to make some hard decisions for our future.”
Part of the solution, he said, may be adding a financial component for Catholic
schools as a new element of the Annual Catholic Appeal in 2010.
“We have already been setting aside a portion of the ACA for pastoral
needs, and I do not expect to diminish the proportion that we give to the
charitable works of the church, but I do want to redirect some of the funds
that we have designated for pastoral needs for use in supporting Catholic
schools,” he said.
While dozens of parishes in the diocese were impacted by the appointment
of new pastors and parochial administrators last July, “I don’t
expect to make this a regular occurrence,” the bishop said.
“We started out with nine pastors retiring, and just by having those
nine men choose to retire, that meant there would be 27 moves automatically,”
he noted. “And then as we tried to respond to those needs as well
as others, in the end we had a significant number of priests moving.”
In a change from how pastors were appointed during Bishop Weigand’s
tenure, Bishop Soto said he is limiting clergy personnel changes to take
effect each January and July, “so that by necessity gives the impression
of a large number of pastor moves because we are doing them only twice each
year.”
As more priests retire in coming months and years, the diocese will be faced
with “some big challenges in terms of how best to provide the pastoral
leadership and the sacramental care that the Catholic community needs,”
the bishop added. “I don’t have any specific proposals right
now, but those are questions we will be facing.”
Bishop Soto said the diocese is “blessed” with 39 seminarians
currently studying for the priesthood, but “that’s not going
to respond to the growing needs that we have.”
“We have a relatively young clergy in Sacramento and that’s
a good thing, but it also means that those priests need time to grow, to
learn before they can assume the responsibility of being a pastor in a parish.
Being a pastor has always been a challenging job. I think today being a
pastor is even more challenging and requires on some levels different leadership
skills than a previous generation of priests had.”
Encouraging more local vocations to the diocesan priesthood is always a
priority, the bishop said. “In a certain sense, promoting youth ministry
and promoting local vocations is an intentional plan of mine. We’ve
been very blessed by the number of foreign clergy who do come to the diocese
to serve here. I’m sure, given the international nature of our church,
that priests from other countries will continue to come and serve here.
But I think our health as a local church depends on us fostering a climate
of vocations.”
The bishop said he is also very aware of the difficulties posed to parishes,
schools and Catholic institutions by the current economic crisis.
“I’m aware that many parishes have seen a decline in their ordinary
income and many parishes with schools are feeling very stressed in the current
economic downturn,” he said. “Our high schools are also feeling
the uncertainty that is affecting many Catholic families. We are trying,
like everyone, to do more with less.
“It was a tough decision that we made at the end of last year in terms
of freezing salaries for all employees of the diocese. And yet, as I met
with school teachers at the diocesan in-service day, I was very encouraged
by the enthusiasm and commitment that people have, so that’s a good
sign.”
While some parishes are experiencing reduced offertory collections, the
bishop said he appreciates the pledges and donations by Catholics in the
diocese to the Annual Catholic Appeal, which supports charitable works and
has continued to grow significantly in the past two years.
“That tells me that when people see and understand the needs out there
that they are willing to make sacrifices,” he said.
Despite his busy schedule, Bishop Soto said he wants to spend more time
experiencing the sights of the city of Sacramento. “Quite frankly,
I still haven’t done some exploring I want to do, such as getting
to know the river area better and I’m embarrassed to say — because
I like art very much — I haven’t been to the Crocker Art Museum
yet. I’ve come to really enjoy the charm of the city and when I can,
I don’t mind walking, since I live in a nice neighborhood. I enjoy
that very much.”
In his first full year as bishop he’s learned to balance his duties
“pretty well,” he said.
“After this first year, I am past the sense of panic of ‘What
am I doing here?’ he laughed. “I’ve come to relax more
and I’m feeling more at home in Sacramento.”
