Posted on 10/29/2003 8:59:36 AM PST by american colleen
So, is there a priest shortage?
It is fairly common for the press, Catholic or secular, to report about a shortage of Catholic priests that is usually described as a crisis for the Church. It is true that the number of priests in the US has been declining for over a decade. This has been a fairly small decline however, from 53,000 in 1991 to 46,000 in 2001. There has probably been a similar decline in the percentage of active Catholics during these same years, but this is harder to measure accurately. Keep in mind that there are less than 20,000 Catholic parishes in the US, far less than the number of priests. And just for example, if half of the parishes closed overnight, most Catholics would still have a shorter trip to Sunday mass than to their nearest shopping mall. (Thanks to a local bishop for that fact.) I live in an area where towns of less than two hundred people still have a priest serving their parish.
These statistics need to be interpreted in light of an important fact: The Catholic Church is an international, worldwide institution. Priests can and often do travel between nations to meet local needs. Some people think it a problem that the US has imported a few hundred foreign-born priests because our seminaries can't produce enough. Do these people realize that the US has imported half a million computer programmers because our schools can't produce enough?
You won't see much reporting about this, but worldwide the number of priests and seminarians is growing. Between 1990 and 2000, total priests worldwide increased from 401,000 to 405,000. Granted, this is slower than the percent growth in total Catholics, but remember that several other religions are shrinking in the modern, secularized world. In other words, "They wish they had our problems"! Add to this the number of permanent deacons, which exploded from 17,000 to 27,000 during these years. Permanent deacons are ordained clergy who perform baptisms, weddings and preach. They will play a growing role in the future of the Church, but they get very little publicity. The overall result is that the number of Catholic clergy has increased significantly in the last decade. And during those 10 years the number of worldwide Catholic major seminarians grew from 93,000 to 110,000, a very healthy increase. The lack of growth is mostly in the English-speaking nations. And even there the problem is more local than you might think.
Some US Dioceses are ordaining many more priests than others. By comparing the number of priests active in a diocese during 2001 with the same figure from 1991, we can see how the diocese is trending vocationally. The percentage figure represents the 2001 number divided by the 1991 figure. A higher percentage means the diocese is having more success attracting new priests. Compare these relatively successful dioceses:
Atlanta, GA. . . . 123%
Arlington, VA. . 121
Lincoln, NE. . . . 107
Fargo, ND. . . . 101
Rockford, IL. . . . 97
With these relatively unsuccessful ones:
Rochester, NY. . . 72%
Milwaukee, WI. . . 77
Albany, NY. . . . . . 79
New Ulm, MN. . . 79
Joliet, IL. . . . . . . . 80
I hate to use a cliche, but numbers don't lie. Anyone can see a huge difference here. Ultimately, the bishop of a diocese is responsible for vocations. I will leave it to you, gentle reader, to explore what many other Catholics have said about the men who were leading the Dioceses above during those years. I will say that if we had accountability in the Church like major business corporations do, Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester would have been forced to resign long ago.
Standard business management practice would suggest that we study the Dioceses that are succeeding, see what factors are helping them, and implement these factors in other places. Bishops that fail to do this should be held accountable in some way. This is an area where some new kind of lay empowerment may be needed. If any readers are curious about the percentage figure for your local diocese, contact me and I will calculate it for you. For now, this may be the best "power rating" available to evaluate the performance of Catholic Bishops.
As I remember from other threads you are Methodist. Yes or no?
BTW,I am happy to read the comments of non-Catholics,but they are infinitely more valuable when the poster identifies his religion as well as the diocese he/she is in.
To better help us fight the battle for Catholicism,Christianity and Western Civilization can you telll us what diocese you are referring to? Thanks.
For those of us interested,the fact that the top dioceses regards ordination are orthodox and the floundering ones are headed up by pretty heterodox bishops is key.
Keep that in mind when you observe what's going on in the Catholic Church. It may help you in having your church hold the line.You are Southern Baptist,aren't you?
Good point, however.... the (for instance) Atlanta diocese could indeed have been ordaining few priests in 1991 and I would posit that we should look at the bishop of the diocese at that time in addition to the numbers - you know what I mean? The point of the article is the relationship between the numbers and the leaders. It seems that orthodox leaders beget larger numbers of priest/seminarians.
As an aside, the diocese of Atlanta has welcomed the Legionaries of Christ and I presume they add to the percentage. It's interesting that even in the dioceses with a priest shortage, the Legionaries are not embraced to help with the shortage.
Do you think the above is on the bishop's investigative "to do" list before or after the part where they are looking into whether or not homosexuality played a part in the abuse cases of recent unblessed memory?
I'm 7 minutes drive or less from 15 parishes. Of course, we have something like 45 Priests assigned to these parishes.
Yes, I'm a Southern Baptist, and have numerouse wonderful devout Catholic in-laws. IOW, I'm a friend if you didn't know.
Your point is well taken, ac. There are many variables to be considered in numbers of priests, and of course, THE big point is that conservative Catholic dioceses attract vocations, liberal ones repell, which shouldn't surprise anyone.
I'm not sure why anyone would owe you an apology? When I read your post and you said:
"In our community they are consolidating the parishes and going from 3 to 2 priests in the entire county. "
I thought maybe you had converted.
And when you said this:
"Contrary to this article, it is viewed by the people as a problem and not a victory. "
It sounded to me like maybe you had attended Catholic meetings and were privy to the discussions of the Catholics there.
Not even close.
Just for the record (and the peanut gallery)... is your diocese progressive or orthodox?
Well it might surprise more than a few people if the facts and evidence from the facts were presented in places where people would actually see them. This stuff is not written about outside of orthodox circles and the bishops certainly don't deal with it because their "collegiality" tends to result in non-controversial statements and issues so as not to offend themselves.
The point is, it's not a big deal unless you demand that every town or neighborhood with 200 Catholics get their own priest, and that's with entire diocese not even trying to get vocations. You haven't addressed anything in the article, you've just said "there's a shortage, don't ignore it."
I have roughly 6 churches within 15 minutes of me, with over 20 priests and deacons, mostly priests. Where I grew up has one priest covering 8 small towns and two churches. It's what's called a "rural area".
If you've read "The Power and the Glory" -- that is a priest shortage, one priest for the whole of Mexico. We have an embarassment of riches wrt priests in the US.
Truth is I would have not known that you were Methodist except so many of your posts are thoughtful and Christian and I almost always read them.
Finally,and my last excuse is I am grammatically challenged,and have always been.I have exasperated parents,teachers,professors,mentors,tutors,bosses and secretaries. I am also legally blind and my close vision is uncorrectable.
Can I ask again,what diocese are you living in?
I guess I should add to the record, too. But it's hard to tell sometimes. Where I grew up never made any controversial or exciting moves in either direction. Where I live now is on balance orthodox, I guess, though it could be better.
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