Bishop Walkowiak announces the following appointment:
Rev. Andrew Ayers
Reverend Andrew M. Ayers is appointed pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Wright, St. Catherine Parish in Ravenna, and St. Francis Xavier Parish in Conklin, effective July 16, 2021. Father Ayers was appointed and had been serving as canonical administrator of the cluster parishes since October 2020.
There are a few distinctions between an appointment as canonical administrator and that of pastor, simply put:
– An administrator has the same duties and rights of a pastor (Canon 540.1) but he is a priest who takes the place of a pastor in a parish in which this position is vacant. The primary difference is that this appointment is temporary. The bishop can, in time, decide to appoint the administrator as the pastor.
– A pastor has parochial care of a parish (or more than one if necessary) according to Canon 519. He is named for an indefinite period of time or for a certain period as determined by the bishop (Canon 522). In our diocese, most pastors serve terms of six years which are renewable upon consultation with Bishop Walkowiak.
