After 36 years of active involvement in diocesan administration, Monsignor Larry Droll is stepping down from his duties as vicar general for the Diocese of San Angelo. The move will allow Msgr. Droll to focus his attention on his service as a parish priest at St. Ann’s in Midland, where he has been assigned for 12 years.
Fr. Santiago Udayar, former pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Odessa, who has spent the last three years working on his Canon Law degree in Canada will become the diocese’s new vicar general effective July 25.
Msgr. Droll began his administrative role under former San Angelo Bishop Joseph Fiorenza in 1980, when he was appointed diocesan chancellor. His first task, as instructed by Bishop Fiorenza, was to locate property in San Angelo for a retreat center. That property would be located at the end of Van Zandt Street in east central San Angelo and would come to be home to both Christ the King Retreat Center and the diocesan Pastoral Center.
“With the help of a good Catholic layman in San Angelo, we found the retreat center site, and I think it’s been a great blessing for the diocese over the years,” Msgr. Droll said.
Shortly after the groundwork for the retreat center had been laid, Msgr. Droll was next put in charge of administering the annual diocesan appeal to raise money for the retreat center. Although a professional fundraising company directed the effort, Msgr. Droll served as the liaison between the bishop and that company.
The most labor-intensive part of Msgr. Droll’s administrative work has been his service on the priest personnel board, a body of priests that advise the bishop as to where priests should be assigned. Msgr. Droll, chairman of that committee, said there is a real challenge to consider where priests in the diocese could best serve as a need arises.
Msgr. Droll was also chiefly responsible for the creation of the diocese’s “20-year Plan.”
The document, finalized in 1990, looked at staffing issues as it became apparent the diocese would have far fewer priests to serve in the coming years. Solutions to deal with the clergy shortage have included church consolidations; parishes in Big Spring, Sweetwater and Fort Stockton have come together as one.
Where there were once three parishes in Big Spring and one mission in nearby Coahoma, there is now one parish: Holy Trinity. In Sweetwater, where there were formerly two parishes, is now served by one: Holy Spirit. In Fort Stockton, St. Joseph and St. Agnes have merged into one parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe, serving all.
The 20-Year Plan also helped alleviate the priest shortage by bringing more international priests to West Texas. What had been a small part of the original plan blossomed into a large-scale operation.
“So much so that now, half of our priests were born in other countries,” Msgr. Droll said. “When we put the plan together it was not yet a big thing and it was just beginning to happen, but it has certainly developed.”
Pastoral coordinators such as deacons, religious sisters and laypersons have also been placed in positions of administering some small parishes while having a priest celebrate the Holy Eucharist and other sacraments.
The final piece of the 20-Year Plan was to develop laypersons to take pastoral and administrative positions in the Church through their completion of the LIMEX program, a masters-level program offered by Loyola University that instructs people in pastoral theology.
Twenty-four years after his administrative responsibilities as diocesan chancellor began, Msgr. Droll was named vicar general in 2004.
Assisting the bishop in so many varied ways has required his presence not just in San Angelo, but also throughout the diocese at various functions, such as ordinations, at individual parishes.
Those duties behind him as of July 24, 2016, he will be able to spend more time with his flock, and save a few dollars on oil changes and fuel, not to mention general wear and tear, both the automotive and personal varieties.
“This will give me the opportunity to refocus my attention on the parish and, I believe, get a lot of stress out of my life,” Msgr. Droll said.
“The Diocese of San Angelo has produced many fine priests, and one of the most outstanding is Msgr. Larry Droll,” Bishop Michael J. Sis said. “Over the years, Msgr. Droll has been entrusted with many key responsibilities in the diocese, and he has served with dedication and professionalism.”
Bishop Sis on Msgr. Droll
“In my experience as the new bishop here, I have found Msgr. Droll to be a dependable source of wisdom and prudence. He knows the history, the local culture, the people, and the background on the issues. I will be forever grateful to him for all the help he has given me to get started in my ministry here. It is an honor to serve in the same diocese with him.
“His service as a pastor brings out the best in people, and the high level of functioning of St. Ann's Parish and School gives evidence of that. The diocese has entrusted him with the formation of many seminarians and young priests, because we want them to learn from him the effective pastoral practices and the virtues of a healthy, faithful priest.
“The
Hermanamiento partnership with the dioceses of San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, and Tyler would not have been nearly as successful without his determined leadership. He has been the source of inspiration that keeps that team going.
“In the pews and youth groups of our parishes are the Larry Drolls of the next generation -- young men who come from our local families, with deep roots in this culture, who are willing to give their whole life in humble service to Jesus Christ as Catholic priests of this diocese. I pray that those young men will say yes to God's call, and enter into the great adventure of priestly ministry.”