No shortage of priests in Atlanta, more than 50 seminarians

Metro Atlanta's Roman Catholic churches are keeping their pulpits filled better than many regions of the country.

Across the nation there is a shortage of priests, but the Archdiocese of Atlanta's 95 churches and missions have 262 priests and more than 50 seminarians in training.

"We have one of the strongest vocational programs in the country," said Father Luke Ballman, the director of vocations.

About 600 Serrans, lay Catholics dedicated to supporting and educating those choosing church vocations, are in Atlanta this weekend for a national conference.

Serra clubs across the country raise money for scholarships, organize prayer chains and support for priests.

While the U.S. population of Catholics swelled from 45.6 million in 1965 to 60 million in 2006, the number of priests dropped from 58,632 to 41,794. Some U.S. churches have no priests.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta, which covers north Georgia, will need as many pastors as it can churn out. Catholic adherents here more than doubled in the last ten years, growing from 256,000 to an estimated 600,000.

Pat Chivers, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese said the surge came from Catholics moving to the region from around the U.S. and the world and from evangelism.

St. Thomas the Apostle church in Smyrna holds nine masses each weekend, five in English and four in Spanish, Chivers said.

Ballman said the influx of Catholics has helped bring many young men who are interested in becoming priests, and the archdiocese has traditionally had a strong emphasis on religious vocations.

St. Thomas the Apostle church in Smyrna holds nine masses each weekend, five in English and four in Spanish, Chivers said.

The 12 million illegals, many of whom are Catholic and Mexican, aren't total losses to our culture. They are filling the Catholic Churches.
I have always bashed the illegals. Darn. Now I see great value to them in this respect.

The Hispanics, like the rest of us in the Americas, are culturally Christian and culturally Western. That’s a huge plus (+) followed by a Question Mark (?).

They have problems within their communities, of which illegality is only one. The fact that 2 out of 3 Hispanic children is born out of wedlock is another; and it’s much more troubling, in my estimation, than their frequent lack of legal status.

I just read the recent survey that showed that American Catholics are practically identical to American non-Catholics in beliefs, attitudes and behavior, (voting patterns, income, education, sexual cohabitation, divorce, contraception, homosexuality, addiction to pornography, etc.) and differ in only two respects from American non-Catholics: compared to non-Catholics, we recycle more. And we tithe less.

If the Catholic Church in the USA were really, robustly Catholic, we’d be in an excellent position to welcome huge numbers of newcomers, to our immense and mutual enrichment.

As of now, it’s a little chancy on both sides.

Cardinal Arinze - "Youth will embrace religious life with right role models"
Today's seminarians reflect growing trend
Number of Seminarians Increases - Please Decipher This!!!!
In Seminaries, New Ways for a New Generation
Seminary Springtime: Father Darrin Connall s Big Success

EVIDENCE GROWS OF DIRECT DISOBEDIENCE TO VATICAN IN MAJOR AMERICAN SEMINARIES
Pope to Church: Risky Seminarians Must Go
Priests Down, Seminarians Up
U.S. Priests and seminarians survey: more vocations in orthodox dioceses
Vatican Announces Surge in Seminaries during JPII Pontificate

Seminary Reform Needed in Wake of Sex Abuse Study ["the crisis in the Church is ... homosexuality"]
Homosexuals in seminaries? The latest.....
Priests 'In Orgy' at Seminary
Bishop urges gay ban in clergy; presses for overhaul in screening priests
A New Breed of Priest

AUSTRIAN SEMINARY SHUT DOWN FOR PROBE
Seminarians Show Support For Celibacy
556 Reasons for Hope [Seminarians Support Celibacy]
No Shortage of Vocations From Conservative Parishes
Oakland seminary housing sex offender priests

Phoenix bishop to helm Priestly Formation Committee [of USCCB]
Vatican Firms up Plans for U.S. Seminary Visitation in 2005
SIBLING VOCATIONS - Early calls led two sisters to same religious order
On the admission of homosexuals to seminaries
Catholic priests demand the right to marry

New Start For Austrian Seminary
Disciples of Pope John Paul (Faculty of Gregorian University Gripe About Piety of New Seminarians)
New Priests in U.S.: Older, and More >From Abroad (Survey Tracks Trends Since 1998)
U.S. seminarians welcome Pope Benedict XVI
Vatican review of seminaries to raise issue of gay priests

Some Decry Retirement Despite Priest Shortage
The Priesthood Ordination Class of 2005 “People would be surprised to know that I…”
(Catholic) Seminarians Double In 25 Years
Pope's death inspires would-be priests
Changes Add Up for Priesthood

Irish Bishops Apologize to Seminary Whistle-Blower
SIGNAL CALLING - UB quarterback foregoes family and career to train for priesthood in Rome
Pop Culture Heros Help Recruit Priests
Small Bible-belt (Catholic) diocese sees increase in seminarians
Dashing young priests turn heads at Youth Day

Vatican to Start U.S. Seminary Evaluations
Apostolic Seminary Visitation To Begin This Fall
U.S. Bishops to Begin Inspecting Seminaries
Prelate Says Gays Shouldn't Be Ordained
American overseeing Vatican evaluation of US seminaries says gays should not be ordained

Vatican to Check U.S. Seminaries on Gay Presence
POPE APPROVES BARRING GAY SEMINARIANS
Pope bans homosexuals from ordination as priests
Questions Arise Over Seminary Inspections
New Vatican Rule Said to Bar Gays as New Priests

New Vatican Rule Said to Bar Gays as New Priests (ABOUT TIME)
VATICAN: HOMOSEXUALS ARE NOT TO BE ORDAINED AS CATHOLIC PRIESTS
Homosexuals in the seminary; A Global Church in a Globalized World
Gay Men Ponder Impact of (Anti-Gay Clergy)Proposal by Vatican(Barf Alert)
Aquinas Seminary is First for Scrutiny

Vatican Begins Inspections At St. Louis Seminary (Rector: No homosexuality-pedophilia link)
The Sins of the Seminaries
Notre Dame Experts React to Potential Seminary Rules
Seminary Reviews Not Just About Homosexuality, Says Prelate
Jesuit Official Rips Expected Ban on Gays

Jesuit Official Rips Expected Ban on Gays
Jesuit official protesting expected Vatican ban on gay priests
A Catholic Moment of Truth
Gay Catholics Angry Over Seminary Searches
New Rules Affirm Pope Benedict's Stance Against Gays

New Report on Vatican Gay Priests Document Said to be Gay Lobby “Rumor Mill”
Gay men can be priests if celibate
Gay men can be Catholic priests if celibate-paper
No ban on gays expected in Vatican document; will advise 'prudential judgement'
African Cardinal Views the Vocation Shortage - With Full Seminaries, Ghana Shares Its Wealth

Keep the Ban
Today's seminarians: The Vatican survey
Lincoln diocese boasts highest number of priests to Catholics
Vatican Document on homosexuals in seminaries will be published tomorrow
Married Priests Aren’t the Answer (a seminarian states his view)

Vatican document restricts gays in priesthood: paper
Barring gays from priesthood not discrimination, say Italian bishops
Roman Women are Converts to Convents
Heads Up!! Zero Hour is 9am on December 29
Why I Thank God I Couldn’t Be A Priest

A look inside the Denver seminaries
Ordination Challenges: Out of the Seminary, Into the Fire
Vatican teams checking seminary effectiveness (in all, 229 US seminaries to be reviewed)
Seminaries Are Overflowing in Socialist Vietnam
Seminaries Full in Southern India (despite new anti-conversion law)

Ordination Class of 2006 - New Catholic Priests include twins, converts and some surprises
Twin ordinands, youngest of 13, credit parents for priestly vocations
Eleven new priests for Denver, largest ordination class in 40 years
Religious vocations can come from anyplace
Coordinator of U.S. seminary visitations expects report this fall

Continued growth for Australian seminaries
Journey of faith runs through R.I. (young Polish immigrant ordained to priesthood)
A leaf of Faith (Catholic convert enters religious life)
More twins (enter priesthood)
These twins are doubly blessed - Identical brothers from Erie to become priests today

New, stricter Priestly Formation Program issued for U.S. Catholic seminaries
O Father, Where Art Thou? (US catholics coping with shrinking priesthood)
Pope Tells of Key to Awaken Vocations (address to religious and seminarians at Vespers)
U.S. Catholic Seminary Probe Sent to Vatican
Homosems, A Year On

Vocations Are Up at English-Speaking Seminaries
Vocations Surge - The Priest Shortage Isn’t Over, But Seminaries Are Filling Up
To Know, To Love, To Lead (Pope Benedict XVI ordains 22 new priests)
God delivers (IL) mail carrier to the priesthood
No shortage of priests in Atlanta, more than 50 seminarians

All the work of the previous Archbishop, Donoghue. A much beloved and very orthodox bishop.

Now of course, we have the Bernardin protege, Wilton Gregory as the incumbent.

If he does absolutely nothing and just leaves things as they were, he'll be doing the archdiocese a great favor.

Ballman said the influx of Catholics has helped bring many young men who are interested in becoming priests, and the archdiocese has traditionally had a strong emphasis on religious vocations.

So perhaps the vocations crunch in other parts of the country is reflective of population decline as young residents move to cheaper, economically opportune areas.

All right!

Fr. Luke used to be our parochial vicar! He heard everybody's first confession (except mine!) and he's great. A really nice young man, no nonsense about him, very devout, also a "man's man" - runs marathons and plays basketball. We really are sorry to lose him to being vocations director, but he's a great leader and a good example for the young men, he's a perfect fit for the job and he'll encourage vocations like mad.

The fact that he's every bit as handsome as Msgr. Gänswein is just icing on the cake!

I think that Abp. Gregory has realized that the USCCB nonsense won't play in this area. This archdiocese is incredibly orthodox and conservative.

Also, Abp. Donoghue has stayed on as "Archbishop Emeritus" and is assisting Abp. Gregory. Which should also encourage a minimum of USCCB nonsense.

At least we can hope. I haven't heard of the new archbishop doing anything very awful . . . and when he has come to our parish or I have heard him elsewhere, he has been very orthodox in his homilies and addresses.

My mom's whole family is from Augusta. Her parents are buried in Magnolia Cemetery - if you walk out the back door of the cemetery office you will literally stumble over their grave markers, that's her mother's family plot right there (the Byrds and Griffins). Her father's family (except for her dad) are all buried over in the Rae plot, to the left of 2nd Av. right before you run into E. Wall.

We were at my parents' house this past week and met a guy from Augusta, used to be a lawyer and then became an Episcopal priest. We had a very cordial conversation even though we left ECUSA for Rome! (the Episcopal Diocese of GA in the south half of the state is much less problematic than the Diocese of Atlanta, until recently Bishop Louttit was very conciliatory, although I think the national church threatened him in some way because he has begun to get ugly. It doesn't matter to my parents' church, though, they own their own land and have an independent endowment.)

It's an enormous cemetery, very interesting to wander through.

Back when I was between jobs and ancestor-hunting, the Internet was in its infancy and NOTHING was on line. If you wanted to find burials in Magnolia, you had to go to the cemetery office and riffle through file cabinets full of little 3x5 cards. They were pretty well maintained, if somewhat cryptic and brief. I was able to locate most everybody, except for one guy who didn't have a marker.

You'd probably need a metal detector to find my grandparents now, because their flat bronze markers keep getting covered up by the centipede grass . . . darn that stuff is persistent once it gets going! Whenever we're down there we cut it away, but I haven't been over to Augusta in years.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.