# What are the options if you don't like your priest? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757 "2017-12-07T04:06:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![truthseeker3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e68b1a/32.png) [@truthseeker3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthseeker3)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/1 "2017-12-07T04:06:43Z")
The new pastor at my (Roman Catholic) church seems to have some … um … novel ideas, and a large portion of the parish is unhappy with him. What can we do? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/2 "2017-12-07T04:10:04Z")
What are the novel ideas? And reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/3 "2017-12-07T04:10:26Z")
Depend on the nature of the novelty, and the reasons for your unhappiness. You’ll have to flesh your query out a bit if you’re to get any useful responses. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/4 "2017-12-07T04:12:23Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/5 "2017-12-07T04:13:37Z")
You can go to a different church. No, really, that’s about it. Well, and you can also in principle ask the bishop to do something, but he probably won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/6 "2017-12-07T04:15:29Z")
Change your religion? (Seems like we’ve had several **truthseeker_n_** ’s here, for various values of _n_.) ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/7 "2017-12-07T04:19:35Z")
Same options as with any organization: lay out your complaints to a superior authority. iirc, the appropriate person/agency would be your archdiocese. I know my grandmother’s church has had some issues with priest turnover due to diocesan policy (parish loved them, diocese wanted somebody “local”), but you may have better luck, especially if he’s pushing the boundaries of doctrine/dogma. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/8 "2017-12-07T05:29:32Z")
Cook up a complicated plot to get him to leave. Wacky hijinks ensue. Quite possibly the plot backfires, and everyone learns a valuable lesson. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/9 "2017-12-07T05:56:06Z")
First, find the Ark of the Covenant… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/10 "2017-12-07T05:56:22Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Cook up a complicated plot to get him to leave. Wacky hijinks ensue. Quite possibly the plot backfires, and everyone learns a valuable lesson. …and everyone walks out of Church thinking “I’m not so sure I like audience participation part of Father Jerry’s homilies”. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/11 "2017-12-07T06:11:00Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > . . . (Seems like we’ve had several **truthseeker_n_** ’s here, for various values of _n_.) A search reveals . truthseeker0.1 . TruthSeeker0225 . truthseeker16 . truthSeeker2 . truthseeker3 . truthseeker357 . truthseeker777 . truthseeker8 . TruthSeeker88 . truthseekerforlife And of course there was **diogenes**. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/12 "2017-12-07T06:20:52Z")
There is a big shortage of Catholic priests, declining from 57,000 in 1985 to 37,000 today in the U.S. for reasons such as the celibacy requirement and declining Catholic family size: > **[Priest shortage in the Catholic Church | North America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_shortage_in_the_Catholic_Church#North_America)** > > Mexico is facing a "crisis of vocation," according to Elio Masferrer, a religion expert at Mexico's National School of Anthropology and History. Over 85 percent of the population is Catholic, but one priest is expected to minister to approximately 7,000 followers. In the United States, where approximately one quarter of the population is Catholic, there is one priest per 2,000 Catholics. So the current situation is probably the best you can do besides switching to a different parish. But maybe talking to the Bishop will result in him talking to the priest to quit pushing his novel ideas. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/13 "2017-12-07T06:26:24Z")
All these people telling you to mess about with a bunch of middle men… You need to go straight to the top. Get on your knees and talk to the Big Guy. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_horsepower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@mr\_horsepower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_horsepower)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/14 "2017-12-07T06:28:11Z")
i vote to not have a priest at all. or preacher. or religion. but that’s just the rational person in me talking. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_horsepower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@mr\_horsepower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_horsepower)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/15 "2017-12-07T06:32:45Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > Get on your knees and talk to the Big Guy. those words send shivers up the spines of alter boys everywhere ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/16 "2017-12-07T06:32:58Z")
Is there another parish close by, or do you really like this one enough to stick it out? > [@mr\_horsepower](#): > > i vote to not have a priest at all. or preacher. or religion. > > but that’s just the rational person in me talking. It’s also the threadshitter in you. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mr\_horsepower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@mr\_horsepower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_horsepower)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/17 "2017-12-07T06:47:35Z")
the question was “what are your options if you don’t like your priest?” i consider “not having one” to be a reasonable answer. while i haven’t been a member here for very long, I’ve been a reader for years. i can say confidently that my opinion i just expressed was quite tame compared to the many I’ve read here regarding religion. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/18 "2017-12-07T06:48:28Z")
The easy advice is, just vote with your feet. That’s what most people do. There are often a number of options within driving distance; the Catholic Church is the largest single denomination in the US by a long way. If the priest is doing something unethical or immoral, you should write a letter to the bishop, and if it’s illegal, send a copy to the police. If the priest is doing or saying something against doctrine then you are quite likely to get the bishop’s attention. It may not result in the priest being removed – he might be chastised or in some other way punished though. If the priest simply has an unpleasant or even slightly psychotic personality or a horrible managerial style, the parish will just have to suck it up until his assignment is over. You can leave during this period but your fellow parishioners especially if they are involved in any ministry will appreciate your staying and supporting them in their time of trial. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/19 "2017-12-07T07:41:28Z")
Um, go to a different church? Maybe this is easier for Protestants than Catholics. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757/20 "2017-12-07T07:44:39Z")
Have you tried nailing a list of grievances to the door of the church? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-options-if-you-dont-like-your-priest/803757.md?page=2)