FAYETTEVILLE — Msgr. James Mancini fondly remembers a five-month sabbatical he spent in Rome — and he also recalls the obstacles to getting approval for a brief break in his 44 years as a parish priest.
First, there was the matter of getting the bishop’s approval. When Bishop Andrew J. McDonald consented, there was one caveat: Msgr. Mancini, then assigned to St. Patrick Church in North Little Rock, had to find his own substitute. He eventually found two priests who agreed to fill in and the parish secretary agreed to make sure the bills were paid in his absence.
Finally, with all the details covered, Msgr. Mancini set off for Europe.
In February 1995, he began classes at the Institute for Continuing Theological Education at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
That’s the same program Father Gregory Hart will begin next month as he takes a break for “personal renewal” between parish assignments.
At least two priests from the Diocese of Little Rock were approved for sabbaticals this year: Father Hart, who’s moving from Mary Mother of God Church in Harrison to St. Joseph Church in Tontitown, and Father Vince Flusche, who is changing ministries from parish priest to hospital chaplain.
Both priests will begin their sabbaticals Aug. 10. Father Hart will finish his sabbatical Dec. 1. Father Flusche will return Dec. 19.
Msgr. David LeSieur, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Rogers and director of continuing education for priests, said the ideal time to take a sabbatical is between assignments. He thoroughly enjoyed his.
“It’s been 21 years since I took that sabbatical,” he said. “I would love to take another one, but I don’t think I want to take another one in the middle of an assignment.”
He recently left his large parish for six weeks to study Spanish — another enjoyable assignment — but “you feel like you lose touch with the parish. … I had a lot to catch up on when I got back.”
Msgr. LeSieur had been ordained 13 years and was leaving an assignment as St. Edward’s pastor in Texarkana to become the diocesan vocations director when he had the opportunity to attend the four-month sabbatical program in Notre Dame, Ind.
“It wasn’t run by Notre Dame. It was really the Holy Cross Brothers Center,” across the highway from the University of Notre Dame, he recalled, and the program ran from August until December 1989.
The program “was wonderful,” Msgr. LeSieur said. “It was an update … about lots of topics … sacraments, Scripture and social justice.”
Msgr. Mancini’s sabbatical brethren were a diverse group of about 45 priests from throughout North America.
ITCE classes were “excellent,” he said. “I was pleased to find out that Little Rock’s continuing education programs had pretty much kept me up to date.”
“It was marvelous to be in the Vatican,” said Msgr. Mancini, who recently retired from St. Bernard Church in Bella Vista and moved to Little Rock.
Msgr. LeSieur said his sabbatical group of 47 priests from throughout the world was in class six hours each weekday, but weekends were free.
“We were not expected to say Mass anywhere. It was recommended that we go and attend local Catholic churches just to see how other parishes do things and to sit in the pews to get a lay person’s point of view.”
He found the sabbatical “very enjoyable” and “totally stress-free.”
For Father Hart, going to Rome is a bit of a homecoming — he studied at the North American College from 1980 to 1985. His cousin, Andrew Hart from Christ the King Parish in Little Rock, is a seminarian at the North American College, and three other cousins will visit in October.
“It’s basically a refresher course offered in Church theology, canon law and biblical studies,” he explained.
Father Flusche left St. Edward Church in Texarkana in June and has spent the summer filling in at churches in Brinkley, Forrest City and Horseshoe Lake. He will become a chaplain at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center and associate pastor for Christ the King’s Hispanic ministry in Fort Smith. In preparation for that change in ministries, he is spending three months at the American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium.
“A sabbatical is a time given to a priest by the bishop to rest, study and recharge spiritually,” he said. “In my case, it is on the 20th anniversary of my ordination and while I am planning to change ministries.”
Fran Presley contributed to this story.
