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The Catholic Church is in the middle of a priest shortage so dire, it's changing the face of faith in many parts of the country. It's a big problem in Kansas City, and a solution is years away. Over the last 40 years, the number of priests in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese has decreased by 34 percent. Meanwhile, the Catholic population keeps growing. For the last two decades, the church has just made due, stretching to make an old system work. But it's getting to a critical point, and help is needed fast. 12 percent of Kansas City's population...

Over the last year 160 priests died but only nine were ordained, while 228 nuns died with just two taking their final vows. Ireland, a country that used to export its Catholic clergy around the world, is running out of priests at such a rate that their numbers will have dropped by two thirds in the next 20 years, leaving parishes up and down the land vacant. The decline of Catholic Ireland, for decades the Pope’s favourite bastion of faith in Europe, has been regularly predicted, as the economic successes of the Celtic Tiger brought growing secularisation. But new figures...

Two men, with plenty of life experience, on path to priesthood Rev. Mr. Tom Layton and Rev. Mr. Fred Anthony stand as ordination candidates.Sentinel photo by Kim Nguyen A 63-year-old former Federal Aviation Administration worker and a 54-year-old retired Air Force officer were ordained deacons Saturday on their paths to becoming priests for the Archdiocese of Portland. Rev. Mr. Tom Layton and Rev. Mr. Fred Anthony both spent their youths in Coos Bay, were married, and after their careers entered a special seminary for older men.“Both Tom and Fred have been filled with genuine Christian hope as they not only...

Robed Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests went at each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity on Thursday as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning. Orthodox and Armenian priests clash in the Church of the Nativity two days after Christmas. The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can set off vicious feuds. On Thursday, dozens of priests and cleaners came to the fortress-like church to scrub and sweep...

NEW YORK — When the Associated Press set out to investigate an apparent problem with sexual assault of children in public schools, the organization spared no expense. A congressionally mandated study by Hofstra University had already found school-based sexual abuse to be a big problem. “It was one of our priorities for the year,” said John Affleck, editor of the AP’s national reporting team.The result was a three-part series, available to editors throughout the country beginning Oct. 20, that revealed widespread and routine sexual assault of public school students throughout the country. The first story summarized: “Students in America’s schools...

America by the Numbers How long does it take us to get to work? How happy are we in our jobs? How much beer do we drink? A statistical look at the lives of the average American nationwide

Although not a religious person myself, I am usually in favor of a revitalization of Christianity in Europe. However, I sometimes have my doubts when I see how many, too many, church leaders consistently end up on the wrong side of issues related to Islam and Muslim immigration. Bat Ye'or claims that dhimmitude in the Middle East has often progressed because Christian leaders have sold out their own people, either for short-term personal gains or in the mistaken belief that they have a "shared religious heritage" with Muslims. It is also frequently Christian leaders and bishops in the West who...

concerned dad notified the Archdiocese of Chicago in December 2002 that the Rev. Donald McGuire was sharing a bed with his son and "overwhelming" another teen with porn and sex talk. Letters sent by the dad to the archdiocese also mention a third teen. But the archdiocese appears to have done only a minimal inquiry, didn't tell civil authorities or immediately strip McGuire of his ability to perform priestly duties in the region, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Rather, the matter was referred back to the priest's religious order -- the Chicago Province of Jesuits -- even though the dad...

In 2004, Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, proclaimed that after two years of relentless investigations into priests who sexually abused children and the bishops who protected them, "the scandal is history." For reporters weary of the scandal's emotionally draining subject matter, Gregory's sound bite invited a retreat. The bishops pointed to the "youth protection charter" they had developed, laying out guidelines for removing predator priests and for treating victims responsibly. They released data showing that they had identified about 4,400 abusive U.S. priests. They had a reform agenda, it seemed, and promised new vigilance...

TUCSON — Two priests who trespassed on Fort Huachuca last November as part of a protest about alleged torture being taught on the post will spend five months in federal prison. The Revs. Stephen Kelly and Louis Vitale both pleaded no contest Wednesday to two misdemeanor charges stemming from Nov. 19 when they tried to enter the fort as part of a protest against interrogation training done at the Intelligence Center. A no-contest plea means a defendant is not admitting guilt but is still subject to a guilty judgment. Both men faced 10 months behind bars, but U.S. Magistrate Héctor...

Two Catholic priests were taken into custody at the Federal Courthouse in Tucson this morning after they were sentenced to five months behind bars for trespassing at the military’s Ft. Huachuca last year. The priests — the Rev. Louis J. Vitale and the Rev. Steve Kelly — had been facing up to 10 months in lockup. The San Francisco Bay-area clerics were arrested last Nov. 19 while protesting military intelligence training at Ft. Huachuca, about 75 miles southeast of Tucson. They were set to deliver a letter to the post’s top commander, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, stating that the facility...

Leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) say they plan to be out early Thursday in Clayton to greet former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. According to a release, “Several clergy sex abuse victims will hold protest signs and try hand out fliers to passers-by outside a coffee house and a hotel where (Republican) presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani will make appearances…” “The leaflets beg voters to call Giulini to fire a suspended priest who is accused (in a grand jury report) of molesting three kids himself, covering up for other pedophile clergy and who allegedly advised...

Here's the USCCB banner that solves the sex abuse crisis, right off the front page of their wonderous web site. Order one for your church today! Don't know about you, but I feel a lot safer just looking at it. The colors are so pretty! It takes a bishop to recognize that the line between evangelization and marketing is very fine ... as fine as the Rio Grande, and just as straight (pun intended). Let's all repeat it again just to say we did: "What the Church needs is holiness, not management." A priest friend of mine has pointed out...

September 19, 2007 In Drunken Rage, Atheist Guru Hitchens Bullies Hero Priest of 9-11 Posted in: Poe.com Writer Christopher Hitchens has hit the jackpot. His new book, God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, has proved a runaway bestseller. Why, then, is Mr. Hitchens so angry? Father George Rutler returns from Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. He spent the day hearing confessions and giving the last rites to firemen. His brother priest Father Mychal Judge did not return alive that day. Eyewitnesses report that Hitchens erupted into a drunken rage at a recent promotional event for his...

TUCSON — A priest who previously refused to sign conditions for his release on his own recognizance backed down Friday, agreeing to the demands of a federal magistrate. The Rev. Louis Vitale was facing incarceration pending the start of a trial in which he and another priest, the Rev. Steven Kelly, face charges of trespassing on Fort Huachuca last November and failing to obey the orders of a Sierra Vista police officer. According to the two priests’ attorney, the pair are willing to plead no contest to the charges. That revaluation from defense attorney William Quigley came out during a...

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Six years later, the sound of fire engines brings Maryknoll Father Raymond Nobiletti back to ground zero. "Whenever I hear them, I have to stop and remind myself where I am," he said. On Sept. 11, 2001, Father Nobiletti answered an urgent call for priests from St. Andrew's Parish near the World Trade Center. He and two other priests from Transfiguration Parish in New York's Chinatown grabbed their stoles and holy oils and made their way through the sea of horrified people fleeing north. "The second plane had hit and it was clear that this was...

SAN DIEGO -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said Friday it has agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, the second-largest payment by a diocese. The agreement caps more than four years of negotiations in state and federal courts. Earlier this year, the diocese abruptly filed for bankruptcy protection just hours before trial was scheduled to begin on 42 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse. Bankruptcy could shield the diocese's assets, but a judge recently threatened to throw out the bankruptcy case if church officials didn't reach an agreement with the plaintiffs. The...

Toronto Catholic School Board Pro-Gay Harassment Policy Threatens Priests One of the largest school boards in Canada could penalize what would normally be considered remaining faithful to Catholic moral teaching By Elizabeth O'Brien TORONTO, August 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The new "Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace" policy, recently released by the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), bans discrimination due to "same-sex partner status" and "sexual orientation". The document, a copy of which has been obtained by LifeSiteNews.com, also indicates that teachers and even parish priests could potentially be penalized for what would normally be considered remaining faithful to...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A powerful sense of devotion overtook Michael Burbeck in a medieval church in the small Czech town of Cesky Krumlov. The way he describes it, he was praying in the lofty, 125-foot-high sanctuary of St. Vitus Roman Catholic Church, when he looked up at a life-size crucifix and was overwhelmed by a sense of peace and belonging. He realized he would commit the rest of his life to Jesus. "It was like the classic movie scene: Guy sees girl across the room, knows she's the one," Burbeck said. "I had this moment when I realized that (Jesus)...

For more than four decades, The Rev. Robert Patterson ministered to Catholic parishes throughout North Jersey. Now, the resident of the Allendale Community for Mature Living finds that retirement has not put an end to his calling. "When people know you're a priest and that you're a good listener, they feel free to unburden themselves and seek direction," said Patterson, who was born in Jersey City in 1932. "It doesn't matter if they're Catholic or not. It's a wonderful experience because your ministry continues." There currently are 10 retired priests living at the 12-acre community, which encompasses a senior residence,...

TUCSON — It was a legal chess game, with the prosecution and defense maneuvering to make points with a federal judge Monday. In some ways the prosecution was in a defensive position as defense attorney William Quigley attacked by asking that torture, which he claims is taught at the Intelligence Center on Fort Huachuca, be put on trial. Prosecutor Capt. Evan Seamone said the misdemeanor trespassing case is that and only that, and he denied Quigley’s assumption two Catholic priests were denied some of their First Amendment rights, primarily the right to assemble, petition the government and practice free speech....

TUCSON — Two priests contend their attempt to enter Fort Huachuca in November is a protected right because they were not trespassing but protesting the alleged teaching of torture on the post. However, an Army prosecutor states the case is about the illegal entry of Franciscan Louis Vitale and Jesuit Steve Kelly and not the alleged teaching of torture, which Capt. Evan Seamone, and leaders of the Intelligence Center, have constantly said is neither done nor condoned. The two Catholic priests and their attorney William Quigley are attempting to change the trespass case into a human rights issue with Vitale...

(IsraelNN.com) A popular Italian priest has apologized for what he says was a slip of the tongue remark, when he said that the "radical-chic Jewish lobby is stretching out to weaken the whole Church, starting with the American Church." The priest, 81-year-old Father Pierino Gelmini, said he actually meant to refer to a Masonic lobby, according to the European Jewish Press. After his remarks were published in Italian newspapers, he stated he has "a great deal of consideration and respect" for Jews. His published comments included charges that Jews spread rumors against him involving sex abuse, for which he is...

Tiananmen Square, where tanks mowed down pro-democracy demonstrators 18 years ago, was the scene this week of a celebration to mark the one-year countdown to next year's summer Olympics, which will be held in Beijing. The same communist regime that killed democracy advocates in 1989 will host the Olympics in 2008. The first Gold Medal of these games should be awarded to the Chinese Politburo for its Olympian achievements in religious persecution. In the past month, these achievements have been particularly prodigious in the priest-snatching category. The most recent spate of clergy incarcerations began not long after Pope Benedict XVI...

Welcome to Sancta Missa! Your resource for the Latin Mass according to the Missale Romanum of 1962. It is our hope that this tutorial will assist Priests to learn how to say the Tridentine Mass and for the Faithful, to learn how to pray the Mass with greater devotion and fervor. This web site was launched on the August 5, 2007, Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary of the Snow. More sections of this web site will be developed and many more resources will be added in the coming weeks and months. Please check back to see new developments!

Here follows the complete transcript of Benedict XVI’s response on the Council and its aftermath: "We had such great hopes, but things proved to be more difficult..." by Benedict XVI I, too, lived through Vatican Council II, coming to Saint Peter’s Basilica with great enthusiasm and seeing how new doors were opening. It really seemed to be the new Pentecost, in which the Church would once again be able to convince humanity. After the Church’s withdrawal from the world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it seemed that the Church and the world were coming together again, and that there...

China detained three "underground" Catholic priests unwilling to serve a state-controlled body, a U.S. group has reported, as Beijing and the Vatican press their claims on religious controls. The three men were caught by police in north China's Inner Mongolia region, having fled there from neighboring Hebei province, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement emailed late on Saturday. The detentions came as the Vatican and Beijing test their boundaries of authority following a letter on China's Catholics from Pope Benedict. China's 12 million Catholics share the same basic religious beliefs but are politically divided between "above-ground" churches approved...

Thanks to Ecce Agnus Dei for finding Te igitur, clementissime Pater in which Fr Phillips comments on an article in the Guardian "Latin leaves priests at a loss". They dug up an article from La Stampa which quoted a priest from Ancona saying"I am absolutely incapable of saying mass in Latin, [...] and I would actually be ashamed to do so".Ashamed??!!! Fr Phillips makes an apposite comment about the priorities of priestly ministry:I’m assuming most priests aren’t born knowing how to play golf any more than they’re born knowing how to speak Latin. But if their presence on the golf...

Just got off the phone with Cardinal Roger Mahony. Below are my notes from the conversation. (snip) What about the charge that the problem is a lack of discipline and orthodoxy in the seminaries? Well, first of all that's one of the things that we still are studying. As you know, the bishops are conducting a study of causes.... In our case, many of the priests came out of the "good old days" -- Latin-only, cassocks-only.... Most of our cases did not come out of post-Vatican II, they came out of pre-Vatican II. Of course today, our screening process, our...

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) – Church officials have called for more clergy to work at France's Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, after a sharp rise in visitors wanting to make confessions. "Several priests have already asked to come, but we need more for the coming jubilee year," said Father Yvon Peschet, who is in charge of the shrine's Reconciliation Chapel. "It's especially with French-speaking clergy that we really need reinforcements now. But there's a shortage in the dioceses now, and it isn't easy for them to take time off for pastoral work down here." Father Peschet said July 12 that...

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - Identical twins are among the newest priests in the Green Bay Catholic Diocese.Ben and Joel Sember were ordained yesterday along with Andrew Kyserly.James Sember, the twins' father, said he couldn't get them to apply any place else or do anything else.The twins will both serve in the Green Bay diocese, but say their ministries will be different.Joel Sember says that, although they have the same background and the same genes, they have different approach to things in general.His brother, Ben, says he hopes they don't ever get assigned to the same parish. He says it...

The number of priests is declining. The Pope however cautions his congregations not to put in place of priests the laity for that could lead to an over reliance on laypersons and finally fade out the priestly presence. However, parish after parish is discovering that it is forced to call upon laypersons to act on behalf of the church. The reason? There simply is no priest within miles. In some cases, nuns are doing much of the priestly spiritual work. When nuns are not there, to whom can the congregations turn to but their own — laypersons? In other words,...

Bravo! The St. Augustine Catholic which is the monthly publication of the Diocese of St. Augustine Florida had a fantastic advertisement for their vocations office in a recent issue. Kudos to them for creativity. It's a very clever ad and the kid in the photo is adorable. It makes us wonder how many of today's priests played at being a priest when they were kids? Posted by The Team

TUCSON — After a short, spirited exchange between a Jesuit priest and a federal judge, the score was Judge 1, Priest 0. On Wednesday, the Rev. Stephen Kelly wanted federal magistrate Judge Héctor Estrada to allow him to represent himself in an upcoming trial where the Jesuit is accused of trespassing on Fort Huachuca in November, along with Franciscan the Rev. Louis Vitale. The pair also were charged with disobeying an order of an Arizona law enforcement officer. Estrada was willing to listen to Kelly outline his qualifications to represent himself, but when the judge asked the priest to stand...

TUCSON -- A pair of priests arrested in November for trespassing on Fort Huachuca are determined to make a court case out of what they contend is torture being taught at the Southern Arizona Army post. “We’re going to put torture on trial,” the Rev. Louis Vitale and the Rev. Steve Kelly told nearly 80 people Friday in the sanctuary of the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson. The two believe the post and its intelligence leadership prepare soldiers to become torturers in a misguided attempt to extract information. But Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, the senior officer on the post and...

This isn't Sorbo's first time playing a man of God. He portrays a priest in the upcoming Sci Fi Channel movie "Something Beneath," he guest-starred as a former priest on UPN's "Love, Inc," and played a priest in the indie film "Clipping Adam." Sorbo, best known for playing the title role in "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," also starred in "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda."

Two Bay-area Catholic priests facing prison time for trespassing at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista pleaded innocent in federal court in Tucson on Tuesday morning. The priests — the Rev. Louis J. Vitale and the Rev. Steve Kelly — are scheduled to go to trial June 6 and June 4, respectively. The pair are accused of trespassing at Fort Huachuca, about 75 miles southeast of Tucson, on Nov. 19 while protesting military intelligence training. They were set to deliver a letter to the post's top commander, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, stating that the facility trains personnel in torture methods, a...

"In the thirteenth century many priests were involved in seeking wealth and having a pleasant life. They hardly preached at all, virtually never studied, and paid for important positions so that they could get even more money. A number of priests openly lived with women, causing great scandal... Many of the people were just as bad as their leaders..."

Recently I watched a television program in which a Protestant minister asked his viewers to send him prayer requests. His implication was that he, as a minister, was closer to God than ordinary Christians, and therefore God would hear him and grant the requests. This Protestant man was offering to act as a pope for those who would write to him! I am sure he also expected sizable "seed offerings" to be sent along with the prayer requests. A few years ago I was invited by a self-proclaimed charismatic "apostle" to come under his apostolic oversight. He also was offering...

Editorial Six Habits of Highly Effective Dioceses Why are some dioceses better at attracting vocations than others? In Tim Drake’s recent story “Vocations Surge,” the Register provided some answers to that question. BY The Editors January 28- February 3, 2007 Issue Posted 1/23/07 at 8:00 AM Based on what we learned, here are six questions successful dioceses all answer “Yes.” 1. Is the Eucharist the center of vocation efforts? We found that the promotion of Eucharistic adoration for vocations is a decisive factor in attracting candidates. The reason is simple: It’s a vocations strategy that came from Christ himself, when...

Dr. Ben Witherington III is professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. The author of more than thirty books, including The Brother of Jesus, he has twice won the Christianity Today award for one of the best biblical studies books of the year After the Foley Follies, The Catholic Temperature Rises Yet another case of a teen molested by a priest. Only this time it was a Republican in high public office who was molested as boy. The priest of course has been banned from ministerial duties but this hardly addresses the larger question. Is there something indemic to...

Colin Coward, left, welcomes Bishop Gene Robinson in November 2005 (BBC News) A report claiming at least 51 priests are in same-sex civil partnerships will confront the Church of England at two major upcoming meetings. The figures, which include four lesbian priests, come from a homosexual-rights group comprised of church members called Changing Attitude, the Times of London reported. "Civil partnerships have helped to increase the stability of same-sex relationships and reduced the social exclusion to which lesbian and gay people are often subjected," said the group's director, Colin Coward. But next month, proponents of homosexuals in the clergy...

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, will pay about $75 million to settle at least 170 claims of sexual abuse by its priests as part of a revised bankruptcy reorganization plan, according to legal documents. The new plan was filed on Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland. It calls for 143 people who claimed they were abused to receive about $40.7 million. About $13.75 million will be set aside for 26 people who may either settle or sue the archdiocese and $20 million will cover future sex abuse claims. Insurance companies will pay $51.75 million and the...

THE Pope will gather church officials for a “reflection” on celibacy and marriage for priests tomorrow. The move has been prompted by the rebellion of an excommunicated Zambian archbishop, who has founded a movement for the promotion of married clergy.The Vatican says that the heads of its congregations or ministries would examine the situation “created by the disobedience of Monsignor Emmanuel Milingo” and consider requests for exemptions to the celibacy rule for priests who wished to marry or who were already married. It made clear that Pope Benedict XVI had not called the meeting intending to make significant changes but...

ROME — A Roman Catholic priest now living in Malta acknowledged Thursday that he used to go naked in saunas with former Rep. Mark Foley when Foley was a boy in the 1960s. But the priest insists the two never had sex. Describing the sauna visits with parishioner Foley, Rev. Anthony Mercieca told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home on Gozo, one of the Maltese islands, that "everybody does that." Foley was 12 and 13 years old at the time.

The beloved founder of Human Life International, Fr. Paul Marx, was not known to mince words when it came to what he called the "conspiracy of silence" from the pulpits of our Church on the issue of contraception, but his insights of twenty and thirty years ago were right on target and remain true to this day: "Future generations," he said, "will wonder why so many Catholic bishops and priests in the West didn't see contraception as a seminal evil and the chief cause of the Church's swift decline." There is the core issue. Priestly silence about contraception is deadly...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Weak law enforcement and compliant Church authorities make Mexico a haven for U.S. pedophile priests fleeing justice, a victims' group said on Wednesday. The Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, which helped bring a lawsuit this week against two of North America's top cardinals, said it knows of 46 mostly U.S. priests hiding out south of the border. "Mexico has really become a secure place because here judicial authorities don't track them down and nothing happens," said group spokesman Eric Barragan......."

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Following the lead of U.S. religious communities, some dioceses are putting priests involved in child sex abuse cases in supervised residences. The idea is to professionally monitor their activities as a way of curbing any further abuses. The New York Archdiocese has established a supervised residence at a retreat house in Larchmont, N.Y., for priests who have been assigned to a life of prayer and penitence and "to give them the supervision and care that is appropriate," Joseph Zwilling, archdiocesan communications director, told Catholic News Service. After an Aug. 31 story in The New York Times on...

As the Roman Catholic Church struggles to repair itself and its image in the wake of the sex abuse scandals, one of the more confounding questions church leaders face is what to do with priests accused of abuse. Some priests whose crimes fell within statutes of limitation are in jail. Some have been defrocked. But others — because they are elderly, because of the nature of their offenses, or because they have had some success fighting the charges — cannot be defrocked under canon law. These priests occupy a sort of shadow world, stripped of most duties but still financially...

THE CORNERSTONES OF ST. AUGUSTINE PARISH IN REPUBLIC, MICHIGAN are round, flaky pie crust pockets crammed with beef, pork, potatoes, and other vegetables. Monthly sales of pasties (pronounced pass-tees), as the trademark Upper Peninsula culinary creations are called, fund operating costs at this 60-household parish that has been without a resident priest for 20 years.Franciscan Sister Margey Schmelzle, pastoral coordinator at St. Augustine and its neighboring parish, Sacred Heart, works hard to ensure parishioners are physically and spiritually well fed. But while there are pasties-a-plenty in this rural former mining town, priests are in short supply. At times Schmelzle has...