Age restrictions regarding priests

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Dedicated61

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I am a 61 year old man who is repeatedly being told that I am too old to enter the Priesthood; My local Bishop has set an age restriction regarding admittance to seminary, and since most if not all seminaries require sponsorship of a Diocese, I am left without any options of becoming a priest;

I understand all the reasons; I might die of a heart attack after 6 years of study, or I might quit or I would only serve a few years before reaching mandatory retirement age.

All of this sounds like decisions based upon a business model and not a Church. OH I know, its called “Stewardship” but I am reminded of the patriarchs of the Old Testament, many of whom were many years older than me and the Lord used them for his purposes.

In my opinion, restrictions based solely upon age represent an obvious form of discrimination and stereotype; I am not an individual but a number; The fact that I look remarkably young for my age and my health is outstanding matters not; The numbers rule and I am left out in the cold;

Well so I thought I would join a religious order affiliated with the Holy Mother Church; But there too, in almost all instances, age limits were also present; With one exception, they all wanted someone no older than 45;

Now its frustrating because I am sure someone will contradict me in whole or in part and point out people my age and older who have become ordained, but they dont live in my Diocese. The Bishop here refuses to even discuss this matter, referring me exclusively to the vocations director who year in and year out gives me the same predictable answer;

This is and has caused a crisis of faith for I believe the Holy Spirit is leading me into some type of ministry; Obviously I cannot become a Protestant pastor (almost all Protestant seminaries allow older applicants) and remain a Roman Catholic;

I believe this entire issue represents a stain upon the Holy Mother Church, one which is not getting the discussion it deserves.
 
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If the Church has deemed that you are not fit for the priesthood due to your age (or any other reason), then you are not called. This falls under her powers of binding and loosing. It is no one’s “right” to be ordained.
 
I know of a man from the Diocese of Houston-Galveston who decided to pursue the priesthood late in life. He was beyond the age limit for Houston-Galveston to accept, however. But the Diocese of Victoria accepted him in, and he was ordained about four years ago.

I don’t remember the rest of the specifics, but those are the high points I do recall.
 
Have you offered to pay 100% of your costs and expenses from now until ordination?

If you do this, someone may take a chance on you.

Since you will be retiring when you are ordained, I think you are going to have a hard time finding someone who is going to invest $300K on you.
 
Dedicated,

I wish you success!

I experienced the same thing when I inquired about becoming a Brother.
 
Dedicated61 said:
I am a 61 year old man who is repeatedly being told that I am too old to enter the Priesthood; My local Bishop has set an age restriction regarding admittance to seminary, and since most if not all seminaries require sponsorship of a Diocese, I am left without any options of becoming a priest;
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Hello,
The reason why the dioceses typically have an age limit is because the diocese pays a significant cost to send the seminarians to the seminary. Same reason there is a limit on the deacons too.

Also, most dioceses are having trouble paying to taking care of elderly priests. They obviously need to take care of priests who have been priests for decades. These priests obviously don’t have children, so they need the Church to care for them. But this is expensive.

However, I do know of a several instances where the local bishop said yes when the person said they were willing to pay their own way though the seminary and agreed to not receiving the priest retirement benefits.

So if you have the money to pay the seminary bill and if you have your retirement years financially covered, offer that to your bishop. If you cover the costs, he might accept you.

Good luck and God Bless
 
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Do some research on late vocations. It is my understanding that there is at least one seminary which either is oriented to late vocations, or at least has that focus.

A bit of reality: you don’t say what your education background is. I have not reviewed all seminary policies; but in Oregon, the seminary requires a college degree, or that you get one. If you have one, you will still need 2 years of undergraduate (or graduate) Philosophy courses before you start theology. And the theology track is 4 years.

So, assuming you have a college degree 9and thereby can cut off 2 years), after 6 years of training you will be 68. and depending on your health, that could mean that you could serve for 2 to maybe 7 years - age 70 to 75.

Unless you are going to pay your entire training out of your own pocket, you are saking the diocese to spend likely between $40, 000 to $50,000 per year to get you to the point of ordination - and that means not only passing all your classes, but that the diocese also sees you as called. It is the Church which calls, and I have two relatives over the last 50 years who went up to within a year of ordination before the diocese said “We do not call you”.

So, you are potentially asking the diocese to invest somewhere between $240,000 and $300,000 on the possibility that you might be ordained. Most dioceses do not have an overabundance of $$$, so they may have to decide between you, who feels called, and someone younger than you, who feels likewise. and the diocese has to say, given the odds that not everyone makes it through to ordination, where are we best to place our chances and our limited resources? There is also the issue of return on investment - 2 to 7 years, or 15, 25, 35 or more years return.

You also don’t mention health related issues - are there family members who have died from cancer or heart attack or other major medical issues? Any of these could be a warning sign that you may have more limited life expectancy than someone whose relatives all passed on in their 80’s and 90’s.

I don’t mean this to negative. I again suggest that you do some research on seminaries. Your diocese has already answered you, going there again harkins back to the saying “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result…”

I have no idea if the seminarie(s) which admit late vocations would take you if you do not have a diocese sponsoring you, but it is a better place to start. The above is simply perspective. Phil19034 has some good points too.
 
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Can you be third order, or a lay brother, or something? Maybe God is calling to you to be in the world, rather than in the religious life.
 
Well, the Church, as defined by his diocese, has said they will not accept him into seminary formation. That is not the same thing as saying “he has no vocation”. There is some possibility that he might find a way into a seminary which admits older vocations, and find a diocese which would accept him if he were ordained. How great is for him to explore.
 
I must first respond to “greenrangerx” and his comments; I might very well be called to become a priest; I personally believed I am called; However I now recognize that someone else in the church, in the Body Of Christ, must agree with my observations regarding my perceived calling; However MERELY because of a persons AGE, they have no calling? How can the church deny the opportunity to become a priest merely because of a persons age and legitimately claim that their personal calling is not recognized? Does not their predjudice regarding age, ie AGEISM prevent a legitimate inquiry by a Bishop or a vocations director regarding this issue of calling? To claim one lacks a calling because they are too old is not a legitimate response; Its logic chasing its tail.
One either has the calling or they dont but to put BLINDERS on regarding this issue and say “we dont see your calling” when in fact they are engaging in deliberate ignorance, is not a satisfactory answer;

Also with respect to “binding and loosing”, did Jesus ever say his church would be perfect? That the chair of Peter and the entire Magisterium would never succumb to personal predjudice? Human fallability? I know there is the doctrine of papal infallability but am not aware this doctrine applies equally to all Bishops in the church.

With respect to this issue of age, “binding and loosing” is not the proper analogy since each individual Bishop has the authority to set policy in this regard; To claim “binding and loosing” regarding an issue that can have MULTIPLE answers in the Holy Mother Church is an ABSURD conclusion
 
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otjm said:
It is my understanding that there is at least one seminary which either is oriented to late vocations, or at least has that focus.
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FYI - the late vocations that seminary deals with are typically 40-55 year olds.
 
The term “binding and loosing” logically means that the church is acting in unity and not operating under some system of “local rule” where individual Bishops make up the rules as they go along. If the church, in Grande Assembly makes a particular decision, then a binding has occurred. Otherwise one is using the words of the Lord in an overly broad and imprecise fashion.
 
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Look at the Jesuits.

One of the best priests I know celebrated his 70th birthday and his first year of ordination within the same week. That was 2013…

Also, vocation is a two way street. If you do not have the resources to give to someone who is older, you don’t have the resources to give.
 
Often older men become deacons instead of priests. Is there any reason why you haven’t thought of being a deacon?
 
Have you ever considered joining a Third Order? The Secular Franciscans, Lay Dominicans, Third Order Carmelite, etc.
 
Responding now to “Jay”, aka “Holy Spirit” ( I cant imagine the true Holy Spirit agreeing with you on this issue); Cynicism runs rampant in your post but unfortunately its an opinion shared by many if not most Bishops; Yes sterwardship is important and yes money is important, but is that the END of the conversation here? Is the Holy Mother Church ONLY a business venture and not a Church per se? The role of a Priest is of the utmost importance to the Body Of Christ, both “Mystical” and otherwise. How can we say that money is the ONLY consideration here? Have we not become the “Money changers in the temple”? Or perhaps you are saying money is not the only issue but its the pre-eminent issue after determining that a particular candidate is healthy, generally of good moral character and does not have same sex attraction. Either way the role of money has taken over this discussion to the point that it shocks the conscience, or at least it SHOULD!!

Are members of our faith not to have our opinions expressed regarding this issue? Are we to be told to “Shut Up” and put our own set of blinders on? Are there not BETTER ways to educate priests than to have SIX years of seminary? There is no room for the mystical body to express itself regarding this issue? The original disciples were chosen by the Lord without such an extensive resume of academic rigor.

Is there not any regulation regarding this issue of “binding and loosing”? At what point does this practice become merely the OPINION of MEN? Merely the opinion of BISHOPS without any type of accountability? Merely take it by faith that the Holy Spirit has everything under control? IF the Holy Spirit were talking to someone like you “Jay” would you be able to listen? Spiritual discernment cannot be limited only to the clergy, even in the Catholic Church. One is reminded of the phrase “Priesthood of the Laity”
 
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Dedicated61 said:
r perhaps you are saying money is not the only issue but its the pre-eminent issue
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There is a lot more than just money involved. Its a pretty rigorous educational experience, a rigorous spiritual exercise, and a lot of younger men wash out as well. When I worked in a government office, it seemed like every other man in the office dropped out of the seminary- the one man left with just a year before ordination.

Vocation directors are folks that have seen what others have done,and should have an educated guess as to whether a particular individual has the right stuff.
 
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