The movements probably would happen, to some extent.
Bishops move priests to the boonies when they do things the bishop doesn't like. The boonies get a lot further away when the diocese gets bigger.
If you have a small, fervent group producing a lot of priests, even if the bishop doesn't get annoyed with any of them, some of them are going to be transferred to areas further away that do not produce so many priests, because the bishop has a responsibility for the care of those souls. It tends to be harder on the priests, as they have more work and less support (and fewer nearby friends).
Sounds a lot like being Punished for Success, like what happens in a lot of toxic business environments.
Those who are the most productive in the work are given more work because they have a record of doing the job well and reliably. The least productive are given less work. So you end up with the best employees burning out and leaving, which leaves the company with the lower performers and new hires. The overall profit of the company nosedive.
I imagine this is what will happen in Steubenville. Priests are transferred to fill positions elsewhere and there are fewer role models and interactions in the areas producing more seminarians.
The number of seminarians plummets, moral decreases, and everything spirals down.
It *can* go that way. But I think you can give good performers more work than poor performers to some extent without burning them out, as long as you give them good support, and in justice give them the rewards of their superior labor.
There is a bit of a difference with priests, in that they work for God first, then the bishop, they gave Him a blank check (we hope), and the bishop a promise of obedience (which has some limits), rather than being able to walk out tomorrow with no breach of their obligations. The level of trust priests have in bishops says something about the support they are getting from them. Either the bishop isn't providing it, or the priests figure he won't, and don't ask.
The movements probably would happen, to some extent.
Bishops move priests to the boonies when they do things the bishop doesn't like. The boonies get a lot further away when the diocese gets bigger.
If you have a small, fervent group producing a lot of priests, even if the bishop doesn't get annoyed with any of them, some of them are going to be transferred to areas further away that do not produce so many priests, because the bishop has a responsibility for the care of those souls. It tends to be harder on the priests, as they have more work and less support (and fewer nearby friends).
Sounds a lot like being Punished for Success, like what happens in a lot of toxic business environments.
Those who are the most productive in the work are given more work because they have a record of doing the job well and reliably. The least productive are given less work. So you end up with the best employees burning out and leaving, which leaves the company with the lower performers and new hires. The overall profit of the company nosedive.
I imagine this is what will happen in Steubenville. Priests are transferred to fill positions elsewhere and there are fewer role models and interactions in the areas producing more seminarians.
The number of seminarians plummets, moral decreases, and everything spirals down.
It *can* go that way. But I think you can give good performers more work than poor performers to some extent without burning them out, as long as you give them good support, and in justice give them the rewards of their superior labor.
There is a bit of a difference with priests, in that they work for God first, then the bishop, they gave Him a blank check (we hope), and the bishop a promise of obedience (which has some limits), rather than being able to walk out tomorrow with no breach of their obligations. The level of trust priests have in bishops says something about the support they are getting from them. Either the bishop isn't providing it, or the priests figure he won't, and don't ask.