The Ministry to Priests Office exists to provide support to active and retired clergy in their everyday life. The Director and his team promote a culture of health and wellbeing and ongoing formation for all clergy within the Archdiocese of Melbourne: the focus being on spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental health, ongoing education and skilled ministerial leadership.

All clergy need to find a balance between ministry work and their own life. What do you enjoy doing when you are not ministering in your priestly service? If you cannot answer this question start to make time for yourself as a person. Even a daily walk, reading the paper, playing sport, seeing a movie, going to a concert, or catching up with your friends gives you time to engage in life outside of ministry.

Health and wellbeing

To thrive in all aspects of life prioritising good proactive management of personal health and wellbeing is essential. Building a relationship with a GP is the first step to managing physical and mental health. Through the cycle of life many members of clergy face health challenges  See Clegy Life and Ministry website and the Ministry to Priests Office can help by putting you in touch with a GP practice and helping to arrange consultation with a psychologist via the Clergy Assistance Program.

Sometimes the problems are simple such as better weight or blood pressure management other times a priest will need to seek professional help when recovering from burn-out, grief, illness or the onset of depression.

Spiritual Direction

The Ministry to Priests Office can assist with arranging a spiritual director or provide resources and activities for ongoing spiritual development.

Mentoring

There is the opportunity to participate in the Clergy Mentor Program – this program provides a mentor system for priests to support each other in their parish ministry.

Supervision

Supervision was recently mandated by the ACBC as essential for all clergy ministering and leading parishes See Catholic Professional Standards Website. The Ministry to Priests to Priests Office encourages all clergy to take responsibility for arranging regular appointments with an accredited supervisor either via a group or individual supervision session.