No Cleric Carries the Cross Alone: Archdiocesan Clergy Support Program Grows
Updated: Aug 21
Colorado’s new COR Peer Support Program is building a culture of fraternity, accompaniment and care among priests and deacons.
Jesus had Simon of Cyrene to help carry the Cross (Matthew 27). Colorado clergy now have each other, thanks to a bourgeoning clergy peer support program launched by the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Colorado Springs in January. Six months in, that program is already bearing fruit.
The COR Peer Support Program, a new ministry named for the Latin word for “heart,” is meant to help clergy — both priests and deacons — carry the weight of serving others sacrificially, offering support, resources and community.
“The goal of this ministry is to be proactive in accompanying clergy members, both priests and deacons, and in helping them carry the burdens,” said Deacon Ernie Martinez, archdiocesan director of deacons and one of the catalysts for the COR Peer Support Program. “We want to ensure that nobody walks and carries the weight alone — because in ministry, we all carry weight — so that they are fruitful, so that they thrive, and they’re healthy doing it.”
The new ministry comes at a critical time, as reports of priests, deacons and bishops experiencing ministerial burnout and psychological and health challenges increase day after day. That’s not to mention, too, the uptick in societal challenges, whether economic, familial or psychological.
“You are meeting with people — parishioners, family members, brothers — who are witnessing severe, tragic loss, depression, anxieties, suicidal ideation, you name it,” Deacon Martinez explained. “The more negative, deeply-held problems that society has, the more they walk through our parish doors.”
Amid such difficulty, Deacon Martinez seeks to foster a culture of mutual support among Colorado’s clergy, rather than perpetuate an unhelpful “pick yourself up and be tough” mentality, he said.
“If we cannot equip our brothers with the tools necessary to keep themselves close to God, to keep themselves fruitful in their ministry through what they do and what they know, then we can’t help others,” he said. “We have to start with helping ourselves stay spiritually close to each other, have that fraternal bond of trust and recognition of somebody’s suffering.”
The key, Deacon Rob Rinne shared, is responding compassionately and early. With years of peer support experience among first responders, he has seen the model bear fruit.
“When we interact in a peer capacity, we’re usually dealing with somebody who’s gone into more of a crisis, more of a situation that’s affecting their life,” he explained. “With peer support, we start learning how to engage with this sort of thing even from the beginning.
“We encounter them when they say something minor that sets off a little alarm in your head that they might be going through a situation,” he continued. “It might not be a horrific one, but we are there to accompany them and really hear what they’re saying to us, even though it might be something small.”
Now just past the six-month mark, 50 deacons and priests from the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Colorado Springs are meeting to continue their training, and the ministry is showing real promise.
“I’m seeing some definite promise. There have been some real fruits,” Deacon Martinez shared. “There’s accompaniment occurring with deacons experiencing anything from ministerial burnout potential to loss to diagnoses of different illnesses and cancers. These tools are assisting our deacons with helping them carry the weight, but also ensuring that they are taking care of themselves.”
For Deacon Marc Nestorick, who has already put his peer-support training into practice, the ministry is simple yet vital, and a profound honor.
“It's been an honor and a privilege to walk with them,” he shared. “The first training really highlighted the importance of this ministry in serving each other, because we're human, and so many of us have needs just like everybody else. It’s an honor to be able to walk with them, and there's nothing incredibly special or difficult about it. It's just about being there with them and having that presence. What most people who are struggling are looking for is just someone to be there with them, to listen, to be present and to know that they're not alone.”
Whether through consistent check-ins, answered or not, intentional invitations to a meal, or more formal accompaniment through serious challenges, Deacon Nestorick said the efforts have been well-received and greatly appreciated.
As the ministry grows to serve more Colorado clergy, both in the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Colorado Springs, it also points to one foundational truth: when clergy are happy, holy and healthy, the Church flourishes.
“We need to take care of our clergy because God needs us. God needs our priests. We all need Mass, Holy Mass. We need Communion. And we need to ensure that we’re taking care of each other,” Deacon Martinez said.
For those in the pews, clergy support comes down to two things, Deacon Martinez said: prayer and relationship.
“Our beautiful parishioners can help us out by, number one, prayer. Pray for your clergy; engage your clergy; ask them if you can be of assistance; and support what we’re doing,” he concluded.
