As we have discussed, apart from the very small number of former clergy who brought with them congregations large enough to support them, most of the first crop of OCSP clergy were already receiving pensions. A few needed jobs; the Norms allow secular employment but at least in the OCSP every employed priest seems to have some kind of diocesan or school position. But as time goes on more and more of these jobs will have to be found if retiring parochial administrators are to be replaced. The supply of pensioners has probably dried up. And with this comes the risk that these men will, sooner or later, become financially dependant on the Ordinariate, along with their families. This is already the case with Fr Matthew Venuti, the first man ordained for the OCSP, in 2012. Two years later he had a serious heart attack, recovered after a long convalescence, and then in 2016 had another heart attack which forced him to retire completely, at 35, with a wife and two young childrenAs far as we can tell, even several full parishes, like St Luke's and Holy Nativity Payson, can't pay a full living stipend for a pastor and his family, and they must rely on supplementary pensions from military or TEC careers. As these men age out, the OCSP will need to find a way to pay their replacements a full stipend or shut these parishes.
But there's another question not addressed at all in Article 7, but Fr Ripperger does take it up in recent remarks: how does the Church deal with the myriad problems raised by married priests, including not least the scandals that inevitably will come with their families? We're beginning to see this in the OCSP even before other actuarial issues fully reveal themselves. My correspondent continues,
It looks as though the Reese family will be a charge on the Ordinariate, going forward. It is unclear what the financial arrangement is between the OCSP and the Diocese of Shrewsbury regarding Fr Kenyon. Has an actuary worked out the Ordinariate's potential liability for its younger married clergy? And in the longer term? In a typical Catholic diocese, elderly priests are housed in a rectory and expected to say mass and perform other duties as assigned as long as they are able. Funding the retirement of a married man is a much more complicated and financially demanding proposition, which the OCSP has not really got a handle on. The fact that two [or three] different countries are involved is one more complicating factor.Let's keep in mind that Fr Reese's wife and children, up to the violent episode last September, were apparently dependent on Fr Reese's income for at least an important part of their support. When Mrs Reese was forced to move out of their home for protection, the pastor of the Holy Rosary parish had to give her money to find a new situation. This will presumably be an ongoing expense, and I assume some part of it would be charged to the OCSP.
