ANSWERING THE CALL: Catholic priests in Jerusalem's Old City mourn the death of Pope John Paul II. Nearly 17,000 men were ordained in the US during his tenure.
Posted on 04/11/2005 9:31:52 AM PDT by NYer
When the Rev. Jeffrey Njus thinks about why he spends his days encouraging other young adults to pray often and make lifelong commitments, he recalls the man who changed his life in 1993.
Father Njus was a tourist with a group of fellow Protestant college students at the Vatican when Pope John Paul II strolled down the aisle and grasped his hand just long enough to create what he remembers as "an encounter with holiness," one that revealed to him "what God wanted to do with my life."
Twelve years later, Njus ranks among approximately 17,000 men ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in America during John Paul II's 26-year pontificate. And when Njus speaks about what drives him, he echoes their dreams and the pope's as well for a world returned to upright morality.
"Our society is facing different issues than ... in the 1960s and '70s," says Njus, now associate pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Brighton, Mich. "The social revolution from that time left the family wounded. So we priests who grew up in that generation are now addressing that wound."
They call themselves simply "John Paul priests," and they're in short supply. At today's rate, three priests retire for every one ordained, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. Young priests provide hope for an American church that has seen priestly ranks drop 26 percent since 1975 to last year's total of 43,304. Among diocesan priests, only 74 percent of the ordained remain active.
What the new generation of priests lacks in size, it makes up in zeal - at least for traditionalist causes that became hallmarks of John Paul II's tenure.
"The younger generation of priests is much more orthodox, and John Paul inspired it," says David Gibson, author of "The Coming Catholic Church" and a forthcoming book on the conclave and new pope. "These priests are quite motivated by orthodoxy, belief, personal holiness. They would be akin to the Christian right in the Catholic sphere."
To appreciate the distinctiveness of this generation's concerns, consider what motivated many clerics of the preceding generation. Many who joined up in the 1950s and '60s were second-generation immigrants for whom the priesthood marked a step up from their fathers' mine work or other manual labor, according Mary Gautier, senior research associate at CARA. Another reason for a surge in 1960s ordinations, she says, was that many saw the priesthood as a noble vehicle from which to wage such groundbreaking campaigns as the civil rights struggle or the war on poverty.
The Rev. Jerry Brown, S.S., president and rector of St. Patrick's Seminary and University in Menlo Park, Calif., recalls what drove those ordained with him on the heels of Vatican II in 1964.
"There used to be a lot of barriers to dialogue between denominations and among world religions, and we were asked to be 'bridge' persons ... [to] dialogue with civic leaders, neighborhood associations, etc.," Father Brown recalls. "It required a different kind of leadership."
By the 1980s, Roman Catholic men by and large had multiple options, observers say, so those who chose the celibate priesthood had something other than economics or social status driving them. In this era, Pope John Paul II was taking aim at what he saw as deadly consequences of widespread moral bankruptcy: abortion, assisted suicide, the death penalty, preemptive war. In doing so, he struck a chord with select followers, inspiring them to don the collar and lead the flock back to its tradition.
"I couldn't stand the low-church craziness going on in the Catholic community" as informal services were displacing traditional liturgy, says the Rev. William Prospero, S.J., ordained seven years ago and now assistant director of campus ministry at Marquette University. John Paul II renewed pride in tradition, he says: "He didn't compromise ever. He always proclaimed the truth boldly and clearly and succinctly."
Steven Mattson took similar cues from the pope. As he prepares for ordination to the priesthood in June, his chief goal is evangelization - "of [Catholics] first, then spread it to all of those who have yet to hear."
"It really is a confidence and conviction that John Paul shared," says Mr. Mattson, a student at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago, "that what the church has given us through scripture and tradition is worth holding out for the world because it is the answer."
In recruiting priests, America has lagged behind developing nations. Seminarian enrollment is up 73 percent worldwide from the level in 1978 when John Paul II became pope, according to the Rev. Edward Burns, director of vocations at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In America, however, enrollment numbers are down about 50 percent over the same period.
A celibacy requirement isn't the core obstacle, Father Burns says. Other professions once revered for serving others - teachers, nurses, emergency personnel - are also struggling to grow their ranks. And he says lifelong vows of any kind are increasingly rare in a society with a high divorce rate that he says is suffering from a "crisis of commitment."
In this challenging atmosphere, seminaries welcome young men with passion for the tradition, but training is needed to steer it properly, Brown says. Where those ordained in the 1960s and '70s at times ran the risk of affirming other paths to the point of blessing an anything-goes ethic of "moral relativism," he says today's priests-in-training must take care not to tip too far the other way into moral absolutism. The healthy priest, he says, asks others: "How can we together find the truth?"
"John Paul inspired them," Brown says. "They want to stand for something.... They say, 'Yes, this is the truth,' and they want to share it with others.... Are they too traditional? Are they rigid? If we get to the end of a person's training and that person is not listening to the perspectives of others, then we wouldn't ordain them."
Another legacy of John Paul the Great!
God be Praised.
We do not need as many priests provided they are on fire for the faith as these men are. These Orthodox priests on fire for the faith are equal to any number of more laid-back priests.
Oh, if every priest were like this, the faith would be marching forward with more and more believers. And with more believers, with more powerful preaching, there would be more observant Catholics and more vocations to the priesthood.
I think we are already witnessing some wonderful effects from the recent focus on the Holy Father. I went to two different churches the past two Sundays, and heard two wonderful homilies. I think some of our priests are finding their courage by meditating on the example of John Paul II.
Key fact bump.
A stat to be filed away and used against the whiners whenever the subject of celibacy and married priests arises.
It should also be said, that within America, the numbers vary widely. In the neighboring diocese of Atlanta and in this one (Savannah), priestly ordinations and seminary enrollments are doing very well (although Gregory's arrival in Atlanta may soon put that in reverse), while in other dioceses, the numbers of priestly ordinations is a figure not unadjacent to zero.
Amchurch, amongst its many other achievements such as homo priests and liturgical and doctrinal heterodoxy, has also managed to dry up the vocation well.
Great job, guys!
What has become of Fr. Gould? I used to see him on EWTN but he hasn't been around lately. He's a straight shooter and I appreciated his candor and simplicity.
All the wailing and gnashing of teeth regarding declining vocations is empty until someone with influence does a diocese to diocese study and puts out the FACT that orthodox bishops produce many more vocations than do unorthodox ones. Your illustration of Arlington is the perfect example - and there are other dioceses that mirror the same thing.
If Gregory does nothing in Atlanta he will have done the Church a great service.
I thought this was a media label. I've never heard a "JPII" priest refer to himself as such.
You won't but they are out there. There are quite a few here in StL. Two really conservative archbishops in a row did wonders for the seminary.
Member in good standing of the same club as Hubbard and Clark. They are Jadot's appointments. With time the old guard will disappear and the new one will proudly step into position. I hope to see this in my lifetime.
Oh I have!
i think it's a wonderful "lable."
And a good one at that!
"After Loverde became bishop of Arlington, the diocese received an application for the priesthood from a man who admitted to having been in a same-sex relationship for 10 years. Fr. Gould recommended against accepting the man into the seminary program. Fr. Gould was overruled by Bishop Loverde. Subsequently, Fr. Gould was removed from his position of Vocations Director."
How long, oh Lord, how long?
I've only been to Mass once in Arlington. It was an early-morning "old people's" Mass. What I remember most is that a deacon gave a very mediocre homily, then congratulated himself audibly with a, "Now *that* was moving."
No, deacon, it wasn't.
"In this era, Pope John Paul II was taking aim at what he saw as deadly consequences of widespread moral bankruptcy: abortion, assisted suicide, the death penalty, preemptive war."
Ah, yes, the old liberal false-moral-equivalence bait-and-switcheroo.
The Holy Father's opposition to the death penalty, as I understand it, was predicated on the notion that we now have the means to protect society from criminals through incarceration. Many are not satisfied with that, but that's okay, because it's not a matter of Catholic dogma. The Holy Father never made an ex cathedra statement on the death penalty.
I'm sure someone will correct me (probably with both feet) if I am mistaken, but I think the question of pre-emptive war has only arisen recently. The article "lets on," in the Mark Twainian sense, that the Holy Father spoke out against pre-emptive war throughout his reign, in the same way that he spoke out against abortion and assisted suicide. I don't think that's correct.
And neither is this issue a question of dogma, or the subject of an ex cathedra statement by the Holy Father. It was a prudential judgment, not within the scope of infallibility, and frankly I'm not sure his position was as represented in the media. I have a hard time imagining that the Holy Father would deny that there are times when it is better to strike evil as evil is preparing to strike us, than to wait for evil to take the first shot.
I think it is deceptive to mention these four issues together as though they were of equal moral weight. Abortion and assisted suicide are moral absolutes. Non-negotiable. "Thou shalt not do murder" is a tenet not just of Catholicism, but of all Christendom and the Judaic faith as well.
The very new and wrongheaded notion that the death penalty is somehow wrongful has no such standing. God did not give us a commandment, "Thou shalt not execute murderers." As a matter of fact, the Holy Scriptures would seem to convey exactly the opposite message.
Again, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't recall God telling the Israelites to engage in protracted negotiations with the Caananites before they attacked. IIRC, it was more in the nature of, "Go down and clean out that viper's nest of baby-killers."
I don't know anything about the author of this article, but attempts to finesse acceptance of liberal poofaninny by invalidly associating it with valid dogma are common. If you can get people thinking of new concepts as belonging in the same "set" with familiar and accepted concepts, you're home free.
Ya gotta be watching all the time. Liberals never miss a chance to try and slide one past us.
We can survive with fewer priests if they're as good as these young men.
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