Posted on 01/12/2004 4:36:40 PM PST by Salvation
| CRISIS IN VOCATIONS? WHAT CRISIS? |
| Archbishop Elden Curtis |
| There is much media hype these days about the present and projected shortage of priests and its effect on the sacramental life of the Church. It is time to pay close attention to the dioceses and religious communities reporting increasing numbers of candidates. There have to be reasons for these increases that bear objective analysis from which some conclusions can be drawn. I personally think the vocation "crisis" in this country is more artificial and contrived than many people realize. When dioceses and religious communities are unambiguous about ordained priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines these calls; when there is strong support for vocations, and a minimum of dissent about the male celibate priesthood and religious life loyal to the magisterium; when bishop, priests, Religious and lay people are united in vocation ministry—then there are documented increases in the numbers of candidates who respond to the call. It seems to me that the vocation "crisis" is precipitated and continued by people who want to change the Church's agenda, by people who do not support orthodox candidates loyal to the magisterial teaching of the Pope and bishops, and by people who actually discourage viable candidates from seeking priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines the ministries. I am personally aware of certain vocation directors, vocation teams and evaluation boards who turn away candidates who do not support the possibility of ordaining women or who defend the Church's teaching about artificial birth control, or who exhibit a strong piety toward certain devotions, such as the Rosary. When there is a determined effort to discourage orthodox candidates from priesthood and religious life, then the vocation shortage which results is caused not by a lack of vocations but by deliberate attitudes and policies that deter certain viable candidates. And the same people who precipitate a decline in vocations by their negative actions call for the ordination of married men and women to replace the vocations they have discouraged. They have a death wish for ordained priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines them. They undermine the vocation ministry they are supposed to champion. An article in the Catholic World Report (May 1995), by Michael Flach, analyzes the remarkable increase in vocations to priesthood in the Arlington, Va., diocese. Father James Gould, diocesan vocation director, explains the reasons for their success: unswerving allegiance to the Pope and magisterial teaching; perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in parishes, with an emphasis on praying for vocations; and the strong effort by a significant number of diocesan priests who extend themselves to help young men and women remain open to the Lord's will in their lives. I see this formula for success in vocation ministry in our neighbouring Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., which has 45 seminarians preparing for the priesthood and a significant number of young priests at work in a largely rural diocese with 84,000 Catholics. In the Archdiocese of Omaha, I am encouraged by the dynamic thrust for vocations to the priesthood and religious life that is present. We will have at least 36 seminarians next fall, 28 in pre-theology and theology, with clear indications of increases in the coming years. Our vocation strategy is drawn from successful ones in other dioceses: a strong orthodox base that promotes loyalty to the Pope and bishop; a vocation director and team who clearly support a male, celibate priesthood and religious communities loyal to magisterial teaching; a presbyterate that takes personal ownership of vocation ministry in the archdiocese; two large Serra clubs in Omaha that constantly program outreach efforts to touch potential candidates; more and more parents who encourage their children to consider a vocation to priesthood and religious life; eucharistic devotion in parishes with an emphasis on prayer for vocations, and vocation committees in most of our parishes that focus on personally inviting and nourishing vocations. Positive response I find young people everywhere in the archdiocese who want to be Church with Pope John Paul. They want to know what the Church teaches through its magisterium. They want to be part of the unity of the Church and not caught up in dissent and disunity. They are willing to listen to the call to the priesthood, religious life and lay ministry in the Church, and they want to be supported by people in their response to that call. A recent work in the sociology of religion by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, "The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy," makes the point that the more a religious organization compromises with society and the world, blurring its identity and modifying its teaching and ethics, the more it will decline. "Religious organizations are stronger to the degree that they impose significant costs in terms of sacrifice and even stigma upon their members", it was found. If these findings are true for religion in general, they are certainly true for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in particular. I am convinced that shortages of vocations in any part of the country can be reversed by people who share enthusiastically in the agenda of the Church. We have to learn from the dioceses and communities who are experiencing an increase in vocations. If we are not willing to recognize and accept the reasons for their success and incorporate them into our own local efforts, then we allow ourselves to become supporters of a self-fulfilling prophesy about the shortage of vocations because we fail to take advantage of the opportunities that we have for increasing the number of candidates for the priesthood and vowed religious life. Young people do not want to commit themselves to dioceses or communities that permit or simply ignore dissent from Church doctrine. They do not want to be associated with people who are angry at the Church's leadership or reject magisterial teaching. They do not want to be battered by agendas that are not the Church's, and radical movements that disparage their desire to be priests, Religious or loyal lay leaders in the Church. Basic orthodoxy The dioceses and religious communities that promote orthodoxy and loyalty to the Church; the ones that mobilize priests and people to call young men to the ordained priesthood despite the opposition of those who rail against a male, celibate priesthood; the ones that want their members to be real churchmen and churchwomen that are committed to prayer and holiness as a primary requisite—these are the dioceses and communities that will enjoy increasing numbers of candidates and will disprove the forecasts of decline in vocations everywhere in the Church because of their successes locally. The need today is for strong leadership in vocation ministry: bishops willing and able to confront dissent that weakens support for vocations; vocation directors and teams loyal to the magisterial teaching of the Church regarding ordained priesthood and vowed religious life; presbyterates and religious communities willing to call forth candidates who share their loyalty to the Pope and bishops and the agenda of the Church; faithful lay people willing to constantly pray for vocations and support them at every turn. When this formula, based on total fidelity to Church teaching, is followed in dioceses and religious communities, then vocations will increase. Present statistics support this premise. This is the reason there will be dioceses and religious communities that will have adequate numbers of priests and Religious in the future. Vocations are out there for those who will collaborate together to personally invite candidates for the right reasons and with unabashed fidelity to the magisterial teaching of the Church.
This article was taken from the March 1996 issue of "Christian Order". |
| THE FORMULA THAT WORKS IS BASED ON FIDELITY TO THE CHURCH'S MAGISTERIUM |
| Archbishop Elden F. Curtis |
| There is much media hype these days about the present and projected shortage of priests and its effect on the sacramental life of the Church. It is time to pay close attention to the dioceses and religious communities reporting increasing numbers of candidates. There have to be reasons for these increases which bear objective analysis from which some conclusions can be drawn. I personally think the vocation "crisis" in this country is more artificial and contrived than many people realized. When dioceses and religious communities are unambiguous about ordained priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines these calls: when there is strong support for vocations, and a minimum of dissent about the male celibate priesthood and religious life loyal to the magisterium: when bishop, priests, religious and lay people are united in vocation ministry—then there are documented increases in the numbers of candidates who respond to the call. Negative Agendas It seems to me that the vocation "crisis" is precipitated and continued by people who want to change the Church's agenda, by people who do not support orthodox candidates loyal to the magisterial teaching of the Pope and bishops, and by people who actually discourage viable candidates from seeking priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines these ministries. I am personally aware of certain vocation directors, vocation teams and evaluation boards who turn away candidates who do not support the possibility of ordaining women or who defend the Church's teaching about artificial birth control, or who exhibit a strong piety toward certain devotions, such as the rosary. When there is a determined effort to discourage orthodox candidates from priesthood and religious life, then the vocation shortage which results is caused not by a lack of vocations but by deliberate attitudes and policies which deter certain viable candidates. And the same people who precipitate a decline in vocations by their negative actions call for the ordination of married men and women to replace the vocations they have discouraged. They have a death wish for ordained priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines them. They undermine the vocation ministry they are supposed to champion. Marked Increases in Vocations An article in the Catholic World Report (May 1995) by Michael Flach analyzes the remarkable increase in vocations to priesthood in the Arlington, Virginia diocese. Father James Gould, diocesan vocation director, explains the reasons for their success: unswerving allegiance to the Pope and the magisterial teaching; perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in parishes, with an emphasis on praying for vocations; and the strong effort by a significant number of diocesan priests who extend themselves to help young men and women remain open to the Lord's will in their lives. I see this formula for success in vocation ministry in our neighboring diocese of Lincoln which has 45 seminarians preparing for the priesthood and a significant number of priests at work in a largely rural diocese with 84,000 Catholics. In the Archdiocese of Omaha, I am encouraged by the dynamic thrust for vocations to the priesthood and religious life which is present. We will have at least 36 seminarians next fall, 28 in pre-theology and theology, with clear indications of increases in the coming years. Our vocation strategy is drawn from successful ones in other dioceses: a strong orthodox base which promotes loyalty to the Pope and bishop; a vocation director and team who clearly support a male, celibate priesthood and religious communities loyal to magisterial teaching; a presbyterate that takes personal ownership of vocation ministry in the archdiocese; two large Serra clubs in Omaha that constantly program outreach efforts to touch potential candidates; more and more parents who encourage their children to consider a vocation to priesthood and religious life: Eucharistic devotion in parishes with an emphasis on prayer for vocations: and vocation committees in most of our parishes which focus on personally inviting and nourishing vocations. Positive response of young people I find young people everywhere who want to be Church with Pope John Paul. They want to know what the Church teaches through its magisterium. They want to be part of the unity of the Church and not caught up in dissent and disunity. They are willing to listen to the call to priesthood and religious life and lay ministry in the Church, and they want to be supported by people in their response to that call. A recent work in the sociology of religion by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy, makes the point that the more a religious organization compromises with society and the world, blurring its identity and modifying its teaching and ethics, the more it will decline. "Religious organizations are stronger to the degree that they impose significant costs in terms of sacrifice and even stigma upon their members." If these findings are true for religion in general, they are certainly true for vocations to priesthood and religious life in particular. I am convinced that shortages of vocations in any part of the country can be reversed by people who share enthusiastically in the agenda of the Church. We have to learn from the dioceses and communities who are experiencing an increase in vocations. If we are not willing to recognize and accept the reasons for their success and incorporate them into our own local efforts, then we allow ourselves to become supporters of a self-fulfilling prophecy about the shortage of vocations because we fail to take advantage of the opportunities which we have for increasing the number of candidates for priesthood and vowed religious life. Young people do not want to commit themselves to dioceses or communities which permit or simply ignore dissent from church doctrine. They do not want to be associated with people who are angry at the Church’s leadership or reject magisterial teaching. They do not want to be battered by agendas which are not the Church's, and radical movements which disparage their desire to be priests or religious or loyal lay leaders in the Church. Basic Orthodoxy Required The dioceses and religious communities which promote orthodoxy and loyalty to the Church; the ones which mobilize priests and people to call young men to ordained priesthood despite the opposition of those who rail against a male, celibate priesthood; the ones which want their members to be real churchmen and churchwomen that are committed to prayer and holiness as a primary requisite—these are the dioceses and communities which will enjoy increasing numbers of candidates, and will disprove the forecasts of decline in vocations everywhere in the Church because of their successes locally. The need today is for strong leadership in vocation ministry: bishops who are willing and able to confront dissent which weakens support for vocations: vocation directors and teams who are loyal to the magisterial teaching of the Church regarding ordained priesthood and vowed religious life; presbyterates and religious communities who are willing to call forth candidates who share their loyalty to the Pope and bishops and the agenda of the Church; faithful lay people who are willing to constantly pray for vocations and support them at every turn. When this formula, based on total fidelity to Church teaching, is followed in dioceses and religious communities, then vocations will increase. Present statistics support this premise. This is the reason there will be dioceses and religious communities which will have adequate numbers of priests and religious in the future. Vocations are out there for those who will collaborate together to personally invite candidates for the right reasons and with unabashed fidelity to the magisterial teaching of the Church. This is the reason I do not foresee any future shortage of priests for this archdiocese. |
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Agreed.
The church pendulum is swinging back to the right and I believe we will see more vocations as it does.
There is no "right" or "left" in the Catholic faith, only "authentic" and "false." If the faith being presented is false, it doesn't matter whether it comes from the right or the left. Regarding a potential increase in vocations, the dire indications that are already in place do not even reflect the fallout from the priestly scandal which is going to be immense and long-lasting.
ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome
Code: ZE03121802
Date: 2003-12-18
Pope Offers Guidelines to Overcome Crisis of Consecrated Life
Among Them: Ongoing Formation, and a Deeper Understanding of Charism
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 18, 2003 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II offered guidelines for the Church to overcome the crisis of consecrated life that is reflected in statistics compiled by the Holy See.
The Pope requested that every possible effort be made to support this "gift of God for the Church," when he met today with a group of French bishops and with the archbishop of Monaco.
This crisis of the consecrated life, he told the bishops, causes the aging of religious communities, "with inevitable consequences for the life of the institutes, for their witness, for their governance, and also for the options connected to their mission."
The Statistical Yearbook of the Church reveals that in 1985 there were 917,432 women religious, with temporary or perpetual vows, in the Church; in 2001 there were 792,317.
In those 16 years, the figure for Europe declined from 493,045 to 357,840. The number of women religious is constantly decreasing in Latin America, North America and Oceania, while it is increasing in Africa and Asia.
According to the same source, in 1985 there were 150,161 religious-order priests; in 2001 they decreased to 138,619. Over those 16 years, Europe declined from 71,642 to 62,546. Their number is decreasing in all the continents except Africa, where there has been a slight increase since the year 2000.
The number of non-ordained religious with perpetual or temporary vows decreased from 65,208 in 1985 to 54,970 in 2001. They are decreasing everywhere except in Asia and Africa.
In his address to the bishop, the Holy Father offered guidelines to enable the Church to surmount this crisis of consecrated life.
First, he emphasized "permanent formation" of the religious, "in particular at the theological and spiritual level."
John Paul II then stressed the need for religious to understand their charisms more profoundly in order to "renew their works, paying particular attention to listening with great willingness to the new calls of the Spirit" and responding "to the spiritual and missionary urgencies of the moment."
The Pontiff also asked the bishops and all Catholics to "promote the vocation and mission of consecrated life."
He further advocated "institutional dialogue" between religious congregations, bishops' conferences and the conferences of religious superiors to attain a "genuine consensus and fruitful exchanges." The objective is that each institute of consecrated life integrate itself better in the life of the diocesan Church, the Holy Father said.
He said that religious today are protagonists of "imaginative charity," especially with persons "wounded by life," and that their witness continues to address youths.
For this reason, John Paul II requested the bishops and religious to give "renewed attention to young people who wish to commit themselves to the religious life," ensuring that they receive a solid "human, intellectual, moral, spiritual, communal and pastoral" formation.
The Pope noted that, even amid the crisis of consecrated vocations, new communities of consecrated life are springing up.
"The new religious communities are an opportunity for the Church," the Holy Father said. "Helped by the bishops, whose task it is to be vigilant, they still have need to mature, to establish themselves, and on occasions to organize themselves according to the canonical rules in force, with prudence."
"May all remember that the spirit of dialogue, of fraternal coexistence at the service of Christ, and of the mission must prevail without cease!" he exhorted, stressing that all "competition and antagonism" must be avoided.
I hope so, I really do. But the signs that I see are pointing to a complete and utter breakdown in "authentic" Catholicism as the generation that was raised before Vatican II passes away. Even when they went along with the Vatican II revolution, they could see that it was a modification of what they had grown up with. They still had some foundation. But the new generation knows nothing of authentic Catholicism. They are totally adrift.
Of course this is a generalization, and not true in every case. But here is a data point that I found particularly depressing. Last night a friend of my teenage daughters was over and we were all discussing (well I was just listening) the fact that they didn't know 1 girl in the youth group of the local parish who wasn't a total tramp. Not one of them has the least bit of either faith or morals, and this according to the friend who is no paragon of virtue. My daughter said that it's impossible even to talk with them because it's like they come from different planets.
This is the next generation of the Catholic Church, and these are the so-called "good kids" who belong to the youth group. I fail to see how this generation could possibly implement "authentic" Catholic Churches in the future even if they had the best intentions in the world.
More priests teaching orthodoxy?
I hate to sound like a prophet of doom, and nothing would make me happier than to find out that I am all wrong. But I see "orthodoxy" receding over the horizon and becoming only a distant memory.
Here's one example. I picked up the New Mass missalette for the Feast of the Holy Family and I noticed that they have now instituted a new second reading to replace the politically incorrect one that talks about wives obeying their husbands. For the past few years they have allowed lectors to bracket that part of the reading. But now they are replacing the reading entirely, so that no one will happen to read the forbidden part in their pew even if the lector skips over it. This is a deliberate attempt to suppress even the knowledge of orthodox teaching among Catholics. They are looking forward to the day when no one even remembers that the Catholic Church used to teach something very different.
More music in Latin and of approved sources (not the OCP kind, either)??
Perhaps what we're seeing is a divergence. You are correct that there are some places that are bringing in more "authentic" music. But at the same time there are huge movements like "Lifeteen" that are introducing vulgar rock-and-roll music that will make us wish for the golden age of "On Eagles' Wings." Events like World Youth Day combine rock-and-roll and the Catholic liturgy in ways that sets the standard for churches around the world.
More Catholics starting to come back to the Church??
The evidence from the Gallup poll is more are continuing to leave all the time. Catholic Sunday attendance has now dropped below protestant attendance levels for the first time ever. There are highly publicized individual examples like Scott Hahn, but for every Scott Hahn there are thousands of Catholics who are voting with their feet and leaving their local parish.
More deacons??
Previously I got in trouble for expressing my opinion here on permanent deacons, so I won't repeat it again.
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