Word of the priest.

Today I think differently and, I believe, more maturely. I think now the invitation of God is being perfected.

What does that mean?

The initial thoughts about the priesthood were appropriate to the age and condition from which I was based. After all, when I applied to the seminary, I was eighteen years old. Now I begin to perceive differently what God is calling me to do. His invitation goes more in depth, and therefore a more mature answer is also expected from me.
If I had to say how I would improve Jož Kozák from 24 years ago, it would describe it: fewer words and more personal experience. I would try harder to show what the priesthood is. If I had to put it in one word, I would say „ESO“ – Eucharist, communion and forgiveness.

I realize more and more that it is about the Eucharist. At first I thought the priesthood was about sermon and activity. I grew up in such an environment. Now I realize that the first place is to be before Jesus, although, of course, I am not a monk. I perceive that Jesus is calling me to go to a more intense time with him.

The second S is like a community. What do you mean by that?

I sometimes perceived that differently. Now I really want real community. It is different to create a community somewhere in a seminary with classmates, and then it is different to live directly in the priesthood. We also saw this in the life of Pope Francis, who was very contactive. Even the current pope comes from the community. I myself consider myself a contact person.

Some priests meet once a week, pray, have dinner together, go on a trip together. There are also parishes where the priest feels part of a family that will offer him both a human and spiritual dimension. Not long ago, there was a sister from Mother Teresa’s order. She said that they always cooperate with a community in the place where they operate. A living community can supplement the priest with what is needed.

And forgiveness?

The longer I am a priest, the more I realize that it is an undeserved gift, I realize my fragility and that I need to forgive myself and others. And in the same breath I add that I myself need others to forgive me. And I also want to bring the gift of forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation, so that this service is a service to God.

However, believers often perceive the priest through the sermon and through what he does in the parish. The parish priest is supposed to make a camp, a trip, animate meetings, make a nice adoration, drag life in the parish. No?

It is exactly what we sometimes do not understand or call clericalism. This is how we usually perceive it, that the parish priest orders and others listen. We managed to accept it somewhere as a fact that we expect the parish priest to be the driving force.

When the priest is not on the rosary, no one comes, when the priest does not make the camp, no one does it. If the priest does not seek subsidies and solve projects, no one will do it. It can’t just be about the priest. I remember a conversation with my curators (farska council, note.) in one parish. They wanted me to take care of this and that.

Then I asked one: Please, your father was a curator. Did the parish priest or your father do it then? He fell silent and said: My father, the parish priest, devoted himself to spiritual things. We need to go back to delegating things in the parish and realize that the priesthood is not just about external material and social things. Somewhere they accepted that „klerikalism“, because it suits the laity that they transferred the burden of parish life and care for buildings and finances to the priest.

Didn’t the priests of the faithful teach that they will do everything? Often the priests did not even want to let the laity do some things.

Let’s look at it in the context of the whole time. Even in some families, it works in such a way that parents can do their best and the child should learn and not get in the way. Other parents managed to pass on practicality and skill in their families. Similarly, some priests managed to build a parish and community. And of course, we also succeeded in the opposist.

How have believers changed in the east of Slovakia in the quarter of a century during which you are a priest?

It’s hard to say in general, I would have to live in one parish for twenty-five years. In general, however, we can say that we are marked by the times we live in. Especially in the east, our young people left and are leaving for work. It is aging and dying out in the parish community.

The second unmissable feature is individualism, which is also manifested in parish life. People feel like they can do it themselves. I think it’s a societal phenomenon. I believe we will hit a tipping point and come back to looking for each other.

What does individualism mean in the life of the parish?

I remember the period after 1989. Back then, it was „in“ to be in a parish congregation, in a community, to be around a priest, to serve as a lecturer, or not at all in a parish. Today, the priest has to go out and win people over. At the same time, it is more difficult to get active lay people or lay people for active access in the parish.

However, due to the demographic curve, it will not be easier. I used to be able to have thirty ministers, because there were sixty baptisms a year in the parish. Today I am happy to baptize five or six children in a year. This is also why the community is more difficult to create.

You say that the parish community is no longer so „in“. But didn’t it also cause the number of offers we have today? Today, even children have many circles, families travel, everything no longer revolves around the rectory and the church.

Not only children have more offers. But it reminds me of the life of St. Ignatius and his dilemma in reading books when he jumped from one genre to another. Over time, he distinguished where he is filled with peace. We experience the same in parishes.

In the summer, we have a parish camp here. Last year, a mother asked her daughter, who was in the three camps where it was best. The girl replied that the one the parish was doing. Mom laughed that the one who was the cheapest gave the child the most. There is still a desire to fill the heart. The fact that today we can deceive the hunger of the heart with something else is a fact. But it won’t fill us for long.

As priests, can you respond pastorally to the rapid changes of the times? Many things have changed more in a few years than in decades.

There are young priests who stopped somewhere. And they are older in age, still bringing a spark into life. I liked Petr Krištofovič’s statement that we are the average of the five people we meet. If I meet inspiring or spiritual people who motivate me to live, for example, a priestly vocation as best as possible, then I think we can answer the current challenge of the time.

I will return again to 1989, when as priests we sometimes had a deceptive patent for everything. We thought we would be great for people if we offered answers to all the questions in the world. Later we noticed that lay people started working on their talents and we can learn from them and complement each other.

As a priest, what are the biggest challenges in pastoral care for you?

In the film about Pope John XXIII. there is a scene when he worked in Turkey. He was asked how many people he converted, how many he gained and how he filled the statistics. He quieted down and said: „ It seems to me that I understood them.“

This is a challenge for us too. Leaving statistics to statistics and going among people so that we understand them and live with them. Maybe like Don Bosco, who said that you must first like what they like, so that they can like what you like.

People may occasionally knock on the door of the rectory or church, but Jesus sends the apostles to the environment where they live. Pope Francis also told us to go to the peripheries, to places where there is no one. Better said, go to the places where those people are and meet them.

When you come to the periphery as a priest, don’t people immediately have prejudices.

And what are the peripherals in the place where you operate?

 He is every single person who still lives a relationship with God – in Gospel – as a servant. The servant does what the Lord commands him and waits for a reward from the Lord. A friend works with joy for the Lord, and his reward is the joy of the Lord. So anyone who has a servant’s attitude for various reasons is on the periphery.

We need to get him for friendship and personal relationship with Jesus. Every person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus is a periphery. Apparently, the servant’s attitude prevails.

Many of us go to church on Sundays because the church wants it, and we confess once a month, if by chance, and we also do other religious acts, because it belongs.

I think we have gradually accepted that we do not have a patent for everything, and that we have entered into humility and truth about ourselves. If we want to live what we have, then only in cooperation and dialogue with the laity and in the community.

The savior is one. But the savior syndrome somehow embraced us. Praise God that we are starting to sober up. Jesus does not send disciples one by one.

Can the fruits of synodality be seen in parishes in the east?

First of all, we need to define what we expect from it. If it’s about having a dialogue and being willing to change our mindset, I think we’ve set out on a good path. If we are going to chase some statistics and performances, then it is wrong.

The Synod on Synodality is the legacy of Pope Francis. How else did he influence the church in Slovakia? 

Everyone has to tell themselves where the Pope disturbed him and where he touched him. When I read his last autobiography on vacation a few days before his death, I said to myself at one point that it was a shame I didn’t read it at the beginning, I would understand him more.

I was also on the maturation journey. For me, his attitude towards migrants was strong. When a person reads his story, understands that he told his story, knows exactly how those people lived and are experiencing it. I was approached by his attitude towards prostitutes and people on the outskirts, he lived there.

He has a different experience than we have in Slovakia, where we managed to keep the church in „inkubátore“ for a longer time, and therefore the normal things of this world are sometimes shocking for us.

He also said on the issue of wars and armaments that no goods are made for storage, goods are made to be used. In this regard, I firmly stand by the Pope’s words that increasing the cost of armaments certainly leads to the fact that „products“ are really used.

You said that some things are shocking for the church in Slovakia. What do you mean?

It takes us longer to accept something „nov“. The so-called the eleventh commandment that „ has always been so, never been so“, and the twelfth commandment that „what people say“. We have seen this, for example, in accepting and understanding the permanent diaconate, when married men become deacons. We saw how difficult it was for us that, in addition to the priest, a layman also gives Holy Communion.

Why do we find it so difficult to accept changes in the church?

We saw the world in black and white until 1989 and we continue to do so. Why is there such polarization in our country? Because there is no other than black or white among Slovaks, either you are for or you are against. We cannot accept that my friend, priest, layman may have a different opinion on the matter. And in a moment we take it as an attack or a transition to the other side of our thinking and the world.

Do you also perceive other things in the church that are normal in the West and we cannot accept them at home?

There is more, I will mention the sacramental life. Those differences in the approach to holy confession and communion are noticeable. But not everything „vonku“ is better. I will mention the sacrament of confirmation as an inspiration. In our country, the Burmese is a huge celebration, a full church where the whole family will come. I was recently at my niece’s Burmese in England. There was a Burmese on Saturday evening in the church, where there was a participation like here in a better Holy Mass during the week.

The attitude and closeness of the Archbishop of Birmingham, his presence and, after Mass, the personal meeting were amazing, however. After the celebration, he stood there for a long time, took pictures and had a dialogue with everyone who came to him for a few minutes, the others were waiting. He was interested and asked. I told myself that this is something that certainly awaits us priests and bishops. We can’t just do a big party, but we need to meet.

Isn’t the archbishop in Slovakia after the confirmation with the people?

When the bishop has his first Burmese at half past nine in the morning and his second at eleven, he is also with the priest in question for a short time, let alone with the Burmese. And there is a difference between eighty young and twelve. The question is whether it should be only about the Burmese and that whether only then the bishop should appear in the parish when there is a great celebration and everything „nablyskané“. In the church, we managed to create bubbles around the bishops and then cover up the reality. It’s a shame for both parties.

And what is his role?

This is what the Code of Canon Law names. (Laughter.) Of course, it is also about the number and size of the diocese.

As I said, the priest must be present in the life of his believers, I also think that the church today must be present in the life of this community. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a theologian, a religious sister, a parish priest, a dean or a bishop. We are invited to look for the form and method of meeting. We also saw it in the life of Pope Francis, who was very creative and often shocked who and how he met.

Next to the rectory you have a monastery where the Sisters of Divine Mercy live. How does this help the parish?

Very. Their very presence is a great blessing for this parish.

In what?

I will mention Sister Hedwig. When she came here, she brought fervor, fire, beautiful human closeness and so simply passed on God’s things by being part of the congregation. She also talked to women. She also did the service of a churchwarden, welcomed the women who came to clean the church, worked with them, and they could thus experience the gentleness of God’s touch.

We have Sister Elizabeth here, who helps me with the pastoral care of my children. For her parents, she became the woman they love and who makes God’s goodness present to them. Sisters go to visit the sick and also help them or carry the Eucharist. I confess those people once a month and they often tell me how good it is to have them here.

We have focused on great things in our society, but we do not appreciate that what we do with great love is great, and these sisters do it.

Can we appreciate the religious sisters in the church?

It probably also happens that people come to the parish office and want everything right away. What are people speculating about?

They are looking for possible exceptions for themselves.  Fortunately, there are other stories. A young lady recently came that she wanted to be a godmother, but she didn’t have a Burmese. They wanted to baptize in three weeks. I explained to her that it wasn’t about her asking for something and I’d give her a price list and a stamp.

I invited her on the road to preparing for Burmese. And she really went through the preparation for the Burmese and the family, who wanted her as a godmother, waited with the baptism. Because this woman met her quality requirements for a godparent and did not want it to be someone just like that. She accepted the time to do her Burmese and waited for her.

Of course, we also have those who are looking for what could be arranged more easily and better. Sometimes even we priests do not notice that it is speculative. But the grace of God works anyway, I believe.

What crises does a priest face after twenty-five years? Have you ever wanted to leave the priesthood?

It didn’t. I personally see the crisis as a crossroads where I have to decide which way to go and what to leave behind. Of course, in almost twenty-five years there have been times when I had to make a decision, and I admit that it was not always easy.

Priestly life will always be about three great temptations – power, money and woman. Today I might add, although it was before – loneliness. The priest is not as in demand today as he once was. The status of the priest has decreased significantly and there is a temptation to feel that somewhere else I would be something more. It is not the temptation of power, but the temptation of other self-realization.

Even in the east of Slovakia, is it true that the priest is no longer in such demand?

Everywhere. I read a book where it was written that if someone wants to change something in society, they first make a film so that people get different thought processes. Then it’s easier to enforce something.

Have you noticed that in recent years in the films that are offered for our country, the priest was often portrayed as such a freak and even a fool who doesn’t run out of something? For example, Horná Dolná, Babovresky and the like. Then we can’t be surprised that the term priest is no longer what it used to be…

In what sense did the status of the priest decrease?

The parish priest no longer has his first chair and greeting on the streets. (Laughter.) Even on the basis of the mentioned films, people have a certain image of the priest.

Let’s look at it in another example: notice the gay question. Have you ever seen a gay movie where it was portrayed negatively? I haven’t yet. Although, of course, I haven’t seen all the movies in the world. In those I have seen, he is a person who is close to the main character and will help him to be successful at the end of the day. He is a beautiful person inside. Such that you want him as a friend and to have him around.

When someone manages to create such an attitude in this way, I wonder why the priest is portrayed negatively? Under communism, it was said that priests and the church are regressive, and it seems to me that such an image

You said it was important for a priest to have fellowship. But then comes the moment when the bishop translates it. I have already heard the opinion of the chaplain, who said that even so, every year or every two years, the bishop translates it, so he no longer has the motivation to build relationships or do something in the parish. Because he knows that he will go elsewhere in a moment. Then it’s hard for him to leave. But it can be very difficult even for a priest who has been somewhere fifteen years old and the bishop sends him elsewhere. What are you going through then?

As who and how when. Sometimes you enjoy a new challenge, a living community. Other times it is difficult. We priests also live relationships. We need a home – not only the parental one. It is not easy to say to yourself – from now on I will be home here and these relationships are the ones I need and want to live.

We are also people who like stability and our places. Therefore, it is natural that sadness, emptiness, trial with superficiality or indifference embrace you as a person. All the more so because you do not choose a new home and place according to your criteria. It’s always a big challenge. Personally, Jana Kirschner’s song In a Foreign City always resonates with me then.

The young chaplain probably expects the bishop to translate it at the beginning.

When I studied in the seminary, after ordination, the priests were chaplains for three years and then went to the rectory. When I was ordained, I went to be a parish priest after eleven years. And today priests have been chaplains for fifteen or sixteen years. And they will obviously be even longer. It is again a new phenomenon to which we are still looking for an answer in the church. However, we have not found it yet.

It may be that whoever is a parish priest there has himself, as chaplain, experienced such an approach by the parish priest and then copies it. But beware! He had been a chaplain for three or four years, and when someone came out of the seminary at the age of 24 or 25, he might need some guidance or advice from time to time. But today the chaplain is also forty years old and he is a mature man who, if he were not a priest, would have a family, run a company, have responsibility, career growth. Too bad it’s

However, there are also parish priests who are in their seventies and may not even have the energy and vigor at some point, and priests of prime age with ideas and tastes are still chaplains.

This is more of a question for bishops, how they perceive it and what vision they have. But I will also say another thing: it is something new that we do not remember. Sometimes all the old pastors lived somewhere in the parish. Today we have a new phenomenon that we have a 65-year-old guy who can retire under state law. He retires under church law at the age of 75. And I ask: when I served in the church for forty years, where should I go at the age of 65? Where should I buy a house or apartment and when?

Should I return to my native village after forty or fifty years, where few people know me anymore? As an older person, I also want to have some background, relationships, so that someone comes to me and we have coffee or beer.

If the old priest stayed in the parish or at least in the deanery, it would be easier for him. Why don’t we priests have the right to grow old and live in a community where we feel at home?

When you have been a parish priest somewhere for fifteen years, where you feel at home, and at the age of fifty-five he tells you that you are going elsewhere, from Šariš to Zemplín, it is probably difficult.

Ecclesiastical law says that the parish priest enjoys stability, it is important that the ordinary, i.e. the bishop, communicates with him. If the priest goes to his last place of work, he should have a vision that he will grow old there and possibly live to see. As a priest, I have to do something in the parish, build a relationship with Jesus, so that people perceive that I love them.

Telling someone that you love these people today and tomorrow you will love others even more is also a process. In our country, it is difficult for a priest to work for eight to fifteen years. The ordinary works with this number. So we know that when we are already above the eight and approaching fifteen, something can come every year.

If I like people and feel part of their families and their hearts, translating will always be difficult. A priest is and always will be human and needs classic relationships to act.

And, of course, we must not forget one more thing. Both the priest and the bishop can work with information that may not be the same, and therefore the decision of the priest or bishop can sometimes bring some pain or misunderstanding. Behind every priest and his translation is a story.