[Biggirl]

Look for Christians from the “global south” nations to go to the west, the same west that sent missionaries to the global south to bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus back to the west.

[BlackElk]

The Diocese of Rockford is not that large but when we moved here in 2000, our recently retired Bishop Thomas Doran had 50+ seminarians. A few were late vocations. Many were enthusiastic young Americans. More than a few were recruited from that global south: Africa, Asia and Latin America. Rockford has no seminary of its own. Bishop Doran was having them attend seminary in Lincoln, Nebraska, under Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz and at Mount St. Mary's in Baltimore. Many fine young pastors and preachers.

In 2000, the Hartford Archdiocese, despite having a full college campus of a seminary just west of the University of Hartford in Bloomfield had three seminarians total and probably none ready for ordination. JP II put a high premium on the recruitment of seminarians and promoted those bishops who were good at it. Just as our families need more children, our bishops need to recruit many more high quality candidates for the priesthood. I do pray that the next archbishop of Hartford will be a star in that respect and others.

God bless!