Kol, correct me if I am wrong, but aren't the Orthodox experiencing this same "shortage of priests" as the Roman Church is?
And if so, then this proves that the thesis "allowing priests to marry would solve the vocations crisis" to be untrue, would it not?
I believe I have read several articles stating that the Orthodox Church is lacking priests also. So are Protestant denominations as a matter of fact.
The vocations crisis in the Roman Church is tied to a lack of fidelity; simple as that. God always gives His people the results of their actions. He always allows them to suffer do to their stupidity (in the Catholic Church, it begain in the 1960s, and in some quarters, continues until this day.)
That's actually not the case. Applications for rural churches are down, true, but there are more than adequate numbers of Protestant ministers of all denominations who apply to serve in urban congregations.
The vocations crisis in the Roman Church is tied to a lack of fidelity; simple as that.
If that's the case, why are the numbers of men being ordained to the permanent diaconate running at TWICE the number of men who are ordained to the priesthood every year (800 versus 400)?
It is simply not true that Catholic men don't want to serve the Church. It is true that they don't want to serve the Church as celibates.
God always gives His people the results of their actions. He always allows them to suffer do to their stupidity (in the Catholic Church, it begain in the 1960s, and in some quarters, continues until this day.)
Why does God seem to approve of married priests in every other Rite of the Catholic Church except the Latin? Are we Latin Riters the only "stupid" Catholics?