Posted on 03/20/2013 10:45:39 PM PDT by Steelfish
March 20, 2013 Catholic Church Turns To Anglicans To Fill U.S. Priest Shortage
(CBS News) MILWAUKEE -- Sunday is anything but a day of rest for Father Tim Kitzke. On the Sunday we followed him, the priest said Mass at three different Milwaukee churches, held a luncheon for dozens of parishioners and baptized a baby.
Kitzke and one other priest are in charge of seven churches in the Milwaukee Archdiocese. There used to be a time when 14 priests covered the seven churches.
"It's not only -- maybe not the old model ... but it's the old reality," he says.
The number of Roman Catholic priests in the United States has steadily dropped from nearly 59,000 in 1975 to just under 39,000 last year. But the number of Catholics in the United States has increased by 17 million.
Asked if he worries, Kitzke says, "Definitely, yes, we obviously need more priests -- that goes without saying, we need more vocations."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Bit of a misleading headline there. Those priests are no longer Anglican. They are now Catholic. Converts from many denominations have been admitted to the priesthood. And Benedict made it easier for lay Anglicans, not just priests, to enter the Church. Typical omission of important facts by the leftist media.
The defiled ECUSA should be ripe pickings for the Catholic church.
The Catholic Church, in an effort to be accepting and in an attempt to be helpful and open relaxed their standards for priesthood in the sixties and seventies to include those who where ‘sexually confused’ but promised to be celibate. Of course Homosexuality is more than a proclivity, it is a mental illness.
It was a huge mistake that has destroyed many orders of priests and brothers. It has starved the Church of the 98.5% of the men who would consider a vocation in order to allow the 1.5% to feel welcome.
Those orders that have had strict rules barring homosexuals from entry have grown and flourish, while those that have been more ‘accepting’ have all but ceased to exist.
Now, more than ever, we need to call to mind the words of Archbishop Charles Chaput:
We make a very serious mistake if we rely on media like the New York Times, Newsweek, CNN, or MSNBC for reliable news about religion. These news media simply don’t provide trustworthy information about religious faith—and sometimes they can’t provide it, either because of limited resources or because of their own editorial prejudices. These are secular operations focused on making a profit. They have very little sympathy for the Catholic faith, and quite a lot of aggressive skepticism toward any religious community that claims to preach and teach God’s truth. Things of the Church reported in the secular media, particularly about the Holy Father, need to be viewed with the most jaundiced eye.
The question that seems to be studiously avoided is why, Why is there a shortage of priests in the U.S.?
big deal a priest says three masses and baptizes a baby what happens the other 6 days of the week
Benedict XVI banned “celibate homosexuals” from the seminaries (apparently they were allowed in before if they weren’t “active” homosexuals, despite the Church position that they have disordered personalities).
I believe the larger cause of the loss of vocations is the loss of faith in general, and the assimilation of many Catholics into the mainstream secular culture.
“Why is there a shortage of priests in the U.S.?”
For me personally I could never see taking a vow of obedience to a bishop; this was the root of many of the problems solid priests had for leaving. If your bishop (not one you were installed under, but a replacement further down the road) is a freak, you’re in for a rough time.
“Bit of a misleading headline there.”
It is also misleading because they are a small number in comparison to the foreign priests imported into the US.
Isn’t it nice that CBS is concerned with issues having to do with the Catholic faith. We need to thank them profusely (sarc).
Very misleading. Makes it sound like the Catholic Church is courting Anglican priests away from their church.
FWIW ... we have a record number of seminarians in Dallas right now.
Well, typically a CATHOLIC priest says two masses on Sunday, and one on each of the other days of the week, each of which require preparation of a sermon. Then there is visiting the sick and all the other sacraments to be administered to individuals, hearing confessions, and many, many, MANY other "priestly" (i.e. things only an anointed priest can do) duties. Then he also has to oversee the administration of a substantial budget, ride herd on the local Catholic school, and other non-priestly items. For the latter, he has some lay help and employees, but he still has supervisory responsibility for them, with all that that entails.
So I'd say you are completely ignorant on what a priest does. NOTE: my listing above is NOT comprehensive.
See Jim from C-Town's #4 above. Homosexuals and feminazis have driven many, many orthodox Catholic men away from the priesthood, both at the diocesan level and later at the seminary level. God sends us vocations to the Catholic priesthood, not to the feminist priesthood, or the gay-friendly priesthood, or the liberal Episcopalian priesthood. If you chase off the authentically Catholic men, you're left with nothing.
The seminaries today are much better than they were even 10 years ago. More importantly, the bishops are better. When our previous bishop left, we had IIRC ONE seminarian. That bishop's vocations director -- I'm not making this up! -- had just left the priesthood to get married.
Now after 8 years of our current bishop, we have around 30 seminarians. Mostly what's changed is that the young men trust him to send them to orthodox seminaries, and let them be Catholic priests after they're ordained.
I am a Catholic and very familiar with what a priest does, thank you very much. I am aware that there are many hardworking priests, but really, three masses and a baptism is nothing to what most people go through working a 40 hour job plus running a house, running kids, soing laundry etc. It ain’t the workload keeping people from becoming priests.
When was the last time you were actually INSIDE the church???
"I am aware that there are many hardworking priests, but really, three masses and a baptism is nothing to what most people go through working a 40 hour job plus running a house, running kids, doing laundry etc. It ain’t the workload keeping people from becoming priests."
Apparently you're not as familiar with what priests do as you think if you continue to use the line "..three masses and a baptism...", which is total BS.
Having been a cradle Episcopalian and Catholic convert, I know that Episcopal priests do more than that, and RC priests have a much stiffer priestly workload than they do.
last Sunday?
blame the article, I thought you were going to call bs because the baptisms occur during the Mass. When is the last time YOU were in a church
Yesterday (Pre-Easter Confession/Reconciliation).
And I'll be there again today (Eucharistic Adoration).
What is your REAL beef with the Church?? The lack of 'priestly workload" is bogus, and we both know it.
I want the priests not to be liberals, that is my beef
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