Father Thomas Leyland, pastor of St. Rose Church in Perrysburg, announced that he is retiring in July after 43 years as a priest.
Sounds routine, but there is a story behind the story.
Father Leyland is one of the few priests who dared to criticize his bishop in the media. In this case, it was over the diocese's business decision to create a new parish next door to his that effectively cuts his parish in half.
The rub, Father Leyland told The Blade, is that he was not sufficiently consulted by the bishop or church headquarters about the potential impact the new parish would have on his church and his parishioners.
He expects to lose a large number of parishioners, which consequently results in a drop in revenue. St. Rose Church subsidizes St. Rose school, and a shortfall in income will likely force layoffs or cutbacks in school programs.
Father Leyland called the bishop's decision-making process "high handed," and said Bishop Blair should have listened to him, his staff, and his parishioners before making the move.
Now, in the midst of a severe priest shortage, Bishop Blair announced he will appoint a new pastor of St. Rose Parish and reassign Father Leyland -- reportedly to an associate pastor position, a demotion. Further, he is claiming that he is concerned that pastoring St. Rose may be too stressful for Father Leyland, an implicit slap at the priest's competence.
So rather than take the demotion quietly, Father Leyland wrote a letter to his parishioners saying he did not agree with Blair's decision but that the bishop is the boss and he has the right to make the change.
Blair said today via a spokesman that he is not punishing Leyland but merely making his annual routine pastoral appointments.
I wish that were so.
Father Leyland has a lot to offer a parish. He is considered by many to be a model priest, a man of integrity and a highly respected spiritual leader. Now, at age 68, he's going into retirement even though he would prefer to stay on at St. Rose.
The end result is that the Toledo diocese has lost a good priest. Sadly, it's the parishioners who are the ones that will suffer.
Read more about it in The Blade on Friday, March 2. www.toledoblade.com
Sylvania, Ohio, March 1, 2007