But it gains a million new Catholics annually, making the need for priests more acute, and the demands on them more staggering. Petter leads St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, an affluent parish of 18,600 members in Plano. The parish draws overflow crowds to nine weekend Masses. More than 2,300 children participate in religious education programs, and nearly 1,800 volunteers help with the church's 75 ministries. That's nearly five times higher than the national average.
Petter works six days a week.
He may start a day leading Mass at 7 a.m., followed by hours of appointments. In the evening, he may teach a class, attend a meeting or lead a funeral. Hospitals call him several times a week in the middle of the night. One recent Sunday, after a hectic nine hours of leading Masses, performing baptisms, anointing the sick and greeting people at services, Petter was paged just as he sat down to eat. She was relieved when the priest said it was permissible to put her dying cat to sleep.