Archbishop Wester offers his prayers for the Diocese of Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — In the past few years as Bishop of Salt Lake City, the Most Rev. John C. Wester has undertaken several long-term initiatives that he now will not see to fulfilment because they will not be complete before he is installed as Archbishop of Santa Fe on June 4.

Among those projects is the Diocese of Salt Lake City Pastoral Plan, which was unveiled last September. 

The plan is meant to discern God’s will for the diocese, identify priorities and allocate resources to achieve those goals. To create the plan, Catholics from throughout Utah attended listening sessions in their areas to give their views about what they thought the priorities should be; surveys also were available.

The data from the listening sessions and surveys is being analyzed; Archbishop Wester said this will provide a good resource for the new bishop, when he is appointed.

“I was hoping to be here to roll out the plan, to affirm it and enforce it, and to set our sights on the next four or five years as we seek as people of God to achieve the goals of the plan,” the archbishop said, but his move to Santa Fe will prevent that. 

“Nevertheless, it is important to remember that we are all the Church together in Christ, and this wonderful Diocese of Salt Lake City is going to thrive and continue to prosper as it has since 1891,” said the archbishop, adding that the Pastoral Plan will be taken as far as it can go until the new bishop arrives. For example, goals will be identified, although they will not be prioritized, he said.

The Pastoral Plan will be a good road map for the new bishop, Archbishop Wester said. “My hope is that it will be a great aid to him in giving him a wonderful sense of how the Holy Spirit is working in this local Church.”

Several years ago the archbishop also began to emphasize stewardship as a way of life in the diocese, stressing that Catholics should express their gratitude to God by giving of their time, talent and treasure.

“The point of stewardship is for all of us – myself included – to deepen in our appreciation of God for the gifts that he’s given us,” Archbishop Wester said. “If we look through the eyes of faith at the time and money and talent we have, we see that we have more than we realize.”

Since the emphasis on stewardship began, some parishes have seen a tremendous increase in volunteers for ministries, the archbishop said, adding that more work needs to be done, and always will be required as new people move into the diocese. 

“I would really encourage the pastors and the lay leaders and the deacons to promote stewardship as a way of life,” he said. “Stewardship requires more than the priest’s involvement, but it will not succeed without it.”

A vocations promoter program was created in the diocese three years ago. It established one person in each parish to encourage religious vocations – particularly to the priesthood – in their community. Last Advent, a special yearlong devotion for vocations was begun, in which each parish was assigned a week to set aside 40 hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament with the intention of vocations.

This fall, as many as five men will enter the seminary for the diocese, Archbishop Wester said. 

“We are very blessed with our seminarians,” he said. “I’m very grateful to the men who have responded positively to Christ’s call, and I would encourage other men in the diocese to consider a vocation to the priestly life. I believe that Deacon Ricardo Arias is doing a great job as vocations director; I believe that the priests and sisters and the people are doing a good job of heightening awareness of the need for vocations.” 

While “obviously there can be no direct correlation” between the 40-hour prayer for vocations in the parishes and the number of seminarians, “I’ve long believed that prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament for vocations is very efficacious, and that God works in that,” the archbishop said.  “There’s no doubt in my mind that the prayers are being answered. We just have to keep doing it.”

Even with these initiatives that the archbishop began during his eight years in Utah, one of the things he will miss the most is something that stretches back to the earliest years of the diocese: the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

The cathedral is a gem of startling beauty, he said. “It’s such a beautiful, sacred space for worship. I have a special affinity for the cathedral; I love celebrating Mass there. It’s colorful and warm, and the cathedra is a sign of the unity of the local Church. I pray that the whole diocese will embrace the Cathedral of the Madeleine. It’s not possible for the cathedral parish to sustain it; it will not be possible for the diocese’s Pastoral Center to sustain it; it’s going to take the people of the diocese to embrace the Cathedral, to support it and to give generously to it.”

Even more than the cathedral, though, Archbishop Wester will miss “the wonderful people, this great local Church,” he said. “I will keep them in my prayers, and I ask that they keep me in theirs.”