Posted on 09/25/2013 10:54:54 AM PDT by NYer
WASHINGTON (RNS) After decades of glum trends — fewer priests, fewer parishes — the Catholic Church in the United States has a new statistic to cheer: More men are now enrolled in graduate level seminaries, the main pipeline to the priesthood, than in nearly two decades.
This year’s tally of 3,694 graduate theology students represents a 16 percent increase since 1995 and a 10 percent jump since 2005, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
Seminary directors cite more encouragement from bishops and parishes, the draw of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and the social-justice-minded Pope Francis, and a growing sense that the church is past the corrosive impact of the sexual abuse crisis that exploded in 2002.
Ultimately, it was “a calling in my heart,” says Kevin Fox.
He walked away from his electrical engineering degree and a job in his field, working with CT scanners, to enter St. Mary Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio, in his home diocese, Cleveland, this fall.
“I always had an inkling that I might want to be a priest and my parish priest told me he thought I might be called,” said Fox, 24. “But I put it aside.”
With a fresh degree from Case Western Reserve and his first post-graduation job, Fox soon realized the secular path “wasn’t filling my soul with joy.”
Now, after years of pure science, Fox is immersed in pure theology – and loving it. The challenges of the culture, such as crude jokes from strangers about the abuse crisis, have not dissuaded him.
“I feel the church has done a great deal to deal with (preventing) abuse and the seminary took a lot of care in screening and training us to make sure we are the good guys,” Fox said.
President-Rector Rev. Mark A. Latcovich during Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology Commencement Ceremony on May 8, 2013. Photo by Renata M. Courey / courtesy Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology
This image available for Web publication. For questions, contact Sally Morrow.
Fox is one of 72 students currently enrolled in the undergraduate and graduate programs at St. Mary, the highest number in decades, said the Rev. Mark Latcovich, president and rector.
Latcovich credits encouraging current seminarians and priests who are “our best recruiters. If they are happy and witnessing their faith and opening their hearts, that enthusiasm and joy is contagious.”
Young men today “want to give their life for something that counts. These men are tired of living in a culture of relativism. They want to say there must be something true, beautiful and good. They have discovered the beauty of God,” said Latcovich.
Monsignor Craig Cox, rector of St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif., said the upward trend leading to their current record class of 92 graduate seminarians began six years ago.
He also cited “a renewal of idealism,” a stronger push for vocations by priests and bishops, and “receding damage” from the abuse crisis.
Cox, who sat in on admission discussions, says his students are drawn from Southern California to Las Vegas and range in age from 22 to 45. While they’re younger than previous classes, they bring “a great level of maturity” to get through a rigorous admissions process.
“Ultimately, I believe that the Spirit is at work,” Cox said.
CARA’s new statistical look at the church shows the seminary-to-priesthood patterns and other shifts in American Catholic life:
Blame demographics, says CARA’s senior research associate, Mary Gautier.
“Catholics don’t live where they lived 15 years ago. They’ve moved south and west, from urban to suburban areas and they didn’t take their parishes with them,” Gautier said. “The smaller, older lay-led places without a resident priest are often the first to be closed.”
The church keeps growing – 1 percent a year. CARA offers two totals, varying by the source: 78.2 million if you go by self-identification recorded in surveys; 66.8 million if you go by the “Official Catholic Directory” where parishes report their numbers.
Meanwhile, the declining numbers of people who identify with Protestant denominations has led to falling numbers in their seminaries since 2006, said Eliza Brown, spokeswoman for Association of Theological Schools, which represents more than 270 seminaries.
Between 2006 and 2012, the number of students enrolled in Master of Divinity programs at Protestant and non-denominational Christian seminaries fell from 31,532 to 29,249, Brown said.
“Their congregations are less able to afford for full-time, theologically educated clergy,” she said. “And students, who graduate with debts, can’t afford to take part-time or low-paying pulpit positions.”
I would venture to say that the reason the word “orthodox” is used instead of “conservative” (or—adversely— “progressive” rather than “liberal”) is because at one time Bl. John Paul II asked us not to use political terms to describe ecclesial ones.
Or reflect the truth.
Trying to look but did not find anything in that regard.
Tend to use the terms “conservative”, “moderate”, and “liberal” myself in the area of the ecclesial.
Plus also the term “orthodox” is still being used by the Eastern Christians.
That would be helpful, especially when one considers that Free Republic is primarily a political message board, and the Catholic bishops' position on any number of political issues (Obamacare, immigration, taxes, etc) rarely the conservative one.
The Pope may or may not have had noticeable influence on this growth. God works in ways beyond human understanding and such growth in vocations may easily be the answer from God to all the many groups and people and clergy who have been praying for that growth—of whom Pope Francis very likely was included. I have been part of groups who have been doing this for a long time.
“I have given him the benefit of the doubt”. That’s generous of you, but it may be more reasonable to give him more than a few months in his incredibly difficult calling before offering your highly personalized opinion. He isn’t there to garner your approval. He is there as the servant of the servants, as head of the Church, not needing benefit of a doubt, but the support of prayer and the support of the people of God who believe more in what God has ordained at this time than in what their personal assessment is of things that are clearly under God’s purview, permission and protection.
“I will continue to remind my brothers of this...”(lightning strikes and earthquakes). I’m not sure who your “brothers” are. However, we haven’t yet had an explanation or revelation of God as to the meaning of the lightning strike and the earthquake. No angel has come to tell us what it means. How can we be sure of what it means if no one from heaven has come to tell us. All that is being asked of us is to be faithful..faithful to all that God has commanded us and written on our hearts.
Before He ascended into heaven, Our Lord told his assembled Apostles and disciples to “go out and preach the Gospel to all the world, and teach them to obey all I have commanded you.” One of his commandments was to cease judging others. In a number of memorable instances He clarified what He meant by this.
“We may have a real problem on our hands, and I mention this to goad myself and others to more prayer and sacrifice for this Pope and for the Church.”
The Church has had a problem on her hands since the beginning and will have more so to the end. How true it is that all that is really needed is more prayers and sacrifices.
Seminary directors cite more encouragement from bishops and parishes, the draw of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and the social-justice-minded Pope Francis,....
He has been Pope for 6 months and they are crediting him and "social justice" for graduate level enrollments??? Sigh. The reason the seminaries are doing better is because many of the Pink Palaces have been overhauled. Many liberal dinosaurs quietly resigned or were forced to sign loyalty oaths. The tide turned because the Church FINALLY dealt with issues that were festering for years. To see the code word "Social Justice" get the credit is a whitewash of history. The "Social Justice" types caused these problems. What next, will "desire for more communism" be credited with bringing down the Berlin Wall?
You noticed that too, huh?
NYER my parish recently welcome new Priest at my church he is orginally from Vietnam
**Do you think the expansion of candidates to include women, and now also the gay community is turning off the straight men?**
Yes.
The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:37-38)
Hello again ROE!
I’m sorry for not replying to your previous post awhile back. I was prevented from doing so because my account is ‘too new’ to respond to a personal reply.
To cover one point you made, Christ admonished us to read the signs of the times. It is my belief that one would have to be purblind as to ignore these extremely significant signs, ie, the lightnings and the earthquake. However, it has been done before. Recall the miracle of the sun at Fatima, which has all but been swept under a rug.
Evidence aside, the Pope’s pattern of these very few months have been some extremely mixed messages creating controversy and confusion — even without the help of the MSM. Perhaps not to you, but taken together with these other signs, I have begun to sense a real problem. I certainly did not have these feelings at the beginning of his pontificate.
Finally back to the main point, you seem to contradict yourself in saying on the one hand that he was “likely” part of a group praying for vocations. Using your standard here, and mine as well, there is no proof of this, AND no angelic seconding of your statement. At this point, it is bare speculation.
Now, back to the BOTD (benefit of the doubt). (Here I go being generous AGAIN. Shame on me.) If PROOF could be provided that his own archdiocese had some marked improvement in vocations, then shut my mouth.
The final part of this contradiction is that you aver to the fact that he has been on the job for only a few months. This would, of itself and I would think rather obviously, negate the effect he has had on vocations. More to the point, I have read some of his speeches from World Youth Day, and they are pretty mealy-mouthed. Nothing really controversial, but just ... nothing.
Certainly nothing to rouse a young person’s soul to a consecrated life.
“He isn’t there to garner your approval.”
Wait a minute ... I thought that that was SOMEWHERE in the mission statement. Durn. Oh wait, here it is, I just KNEW it was in there somewhere ... Try this 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
“I’m not sure who your “brothers” are.”
Ahem. MATTHEW 12:48 Now there’s some angelic info for YOU, brother! :)
Thank you very much Alex
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