Are newly ordained priests (within last 10 years) really more orthodox?

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Are newly ordained priests (ordained within last 10 years or so) really more orthodox than the preceding one or two generations of priests?

According to Catholic conventional wisdom, the answer is yes they are – but are they really? Or are people just repeating what they hear (or what they want to believe)?

What counts is first-hand experience. What has your experience been on this?
 
My firsthand experience is that the young Catholic priests and seminarians are indeed more “orthodox” than older Catholic priests by orders of magnitude. In my admittedly very limited experience, I’ve never seen an old priest offer a Mass that wasn’t filled with abuses and banality.
 
Lepanto said:
Are newly ordained priests (ordained within last 10 years or so) really more orthodox than the preceding one or two generations of priests?

According to Catholic conventional wisdom, the answer is yes they are – but are they really? Or are people just repeating what they hear (or what they want to believe)?

What counts is first-hand experience. What has your experience been on this?
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Yes. My brother-in-law is a priest, and I’ve met probably a dozen of his classmates, and heard about 20 more. 1 out the 30+ is liberal. They are all old school, orthodox. They love Latin and tradition and are 100% faithful to the Magisterium.

I’ve also seen the surveys. Priests under 40 and over 70 share the same orthodox views. Those in the middle, vary, to put it charitably.

God Bless
 
Lepanto said:
Are newly ordained priests (ordained within last 10 years or so) really more orthodox than the preceding one or two generations of priests?

According to Catholic conventional wisdom, the answer is yes they are – but are they really? Or are people just repeating what they hear (or what they want to believe)?

What counts is first-hand experience. What has your experience been on this?
Click to expand...
It all depends on which seminary they attended. I can guarantee that the ones I’ve met recently are no more orthodox than those who taught them. And in cases where they’ve been taught well, if they are put in a parish with an unorthodox priest it’s not usually the unorthodox one who will change his ways. I’ve watched it happen.
 
i think it depends a bit more on the parish. where i attend the old retired priest in residence does a wonderful job of doing mass by the book and gives us relevant homilies that reinforce the readings.

we also have a young priest on staff who just celebrated his first anniversary as a priest and he also is very true to the GIRM and very traditional.

other parishes i have seen in this town had some very liberal young priests as well as very liberal older priests. i had thought the priests we had in TX were a little on the liberal side till i moved here and saw what i now know to be true abuse.
 
I’ve taken seminary classes with dozens of seminarians, and know several recently ordained priests.

All are 100% percent orthodox and totally faithful to the Magisterium.

And they are all instructed to say the Mass in Latin ( per the Holy Father’s instructions in Sacramentum Caritas)

One of the seminarians from our parish was Ordained a few weeks ago. He did the Roman Canon in Latin for his Mass of Thanksgiving.
 
bilop said:
I’ve also seen the surveys. Priests under 40 and over 70 share the same orthodox views. Those in the middle, vary, to put it charitably.

God Bless
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I have seen this in the last 10+ years. My own Diocese only sends her Seminarians to one or two Seminaries because they are more orthodox

As a Parish we are often assigned the new Priests and it is my opinion that it is done for two reasons, one we are the largest Parish in the Diocese (and growing) so he will get a very good grounding in working with people (we are also a very active Parish) and our Pastor is very Orthodox so their first experience in Parish life as a Priest is with a very Orthodox Priest!

I have really not met any truly abusive Priests though in my 50 years of life. I have experienced minor abuses (children around the Altar - only during one Priests time as our Pastor - he also encouraged hand holding during the Our Father). So many of the abuses I hear on the CAF are the only reason I know they exist! I guess the Priests I have known were just “unimaginative” ;). I did go to Mass in MN once and the husband of the couple we were staying with gave the “homily”:bigyikes: which if you go to the “News” forum you will see the Diocese of the Twin Cities has put a stop to that!

I experienced “liturgical dance” during a Mass one time only when I was in High School but have talked with a “liturgical dance” director who recoiled at the thought that her troupe would dance at a Mass!
 
Every priest and seminarian I have personally met and talked with under the age of 45 has been VERY orthodox. The only priests I know who spout funny-business are over 45.

I have meet MANY young priests and not one has held a heterodox position. Can’t say the same about priests in the older category that I personally know.
 
Every priest I know under the age of 40 is very orthodox, loves the Church, promotes Adoration, and loves Our Lady. The older ones (over 70) are the same. I’m sure it depends on the seminary, but I think JPII’s review of seminaries has helped tremenoudsly and the fruit is now showing. We just need more men to answer the call!
 
We have two recently ordained priests in our parish, along with another recently ordained man at another parish who are orthodox. Another who is between 35-45 and has been a priest for almost 10 years is very orthodox as well. A friend of ours, who was my husband’s teacher in high school and is probably around 40, is currently in the seminary and is also very orthodox.

The seminarians are very often at our parish since we are the cathedral parish and I get to see them a lot. Things have changed much since I first started attending mass there a few years back. The seminarians seem to really enjoy chant and want to sing it.
 
As others have said it depends on the individual priest, parish and seminary. However, most of the younger priests I know are very orthodox. I don’t doubt the sincerity of our older priests when celebrating the sacraments, but I certainly find that, in general, younger priests show more reverence at the consecration for example. I know an older priest in particular and, while I don’t doubt his belief in, or reverence towards Christ in the Eucharist, he spends so long preaching and then speeds through the Communion Rite so quickly!

In the case of our younger priests, I think that, in general, it was a harder decision for them to enter the seminary than it was for previous generations. In former times it was expected that at least one son from an average size family would join the priesthood, but these days the decision is made because the man himself feels called to priesthood. I think it’s fair to say that in these trying times for vocations we are getting quality rather than quantity.

I have also heard it said that many young priests feel cheated as they were denied the tradition Latin rites of the Church, so they are very enthusiastic about it now that there is revived interest in them. They do seem to be more interested in using chant in the Mass to & in general I find that they are more willing to sing which is great!
 
NPC said:
As others have said it depends on the individual priest, parish and seminary. However, most of the younger priests I know are very orthodox. I don’t doubt the sincerity of our older priests when celebrating the sacraments, but I certainly find that, in general, younger priests show more reverence at the consecration for example.
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I’ve seen the same thing myself. There’s one young (as in early 30s) priest I’ve seen who has a look on his face like he’s absolutely head-over-heels in love during the Consecration.
 
You could draw a parallel with Orthodox clergy.

Younger Orthodox priests are more likely to wear cassocks and be bearded than their older predecessors who were concerned about fitting into American society.

I also realize that bears and haberdashery are NOT touchstones of the faith.
 
It has been my experience that they are. Also, I have been told that by young priests.
 
Lepanto said:
Are newly ordained priests (ordained within last 10 years or so) really more orthodox than the preceding one or two generations of priests?

According to Catholic conventional wisdom, the answer is yes they are – but are they really? Or are people just repeating what they hear (or what they want to believe)?

What counts is first-hand experience. What has your experience been on this?
Click to expand...
The few newer priests I’ve seen celebrate Mass are just as reluctant to address the “tough” topics (contraception, homosexuality, cohabitation, end-of-life issues, etc.) during their homilies as the longer-term priests are.

I’ve witnessed a somewhat more intense level of reverence, but still see some liturgical abuses by the newer priests.
 
My parish has been very blessed with many orthodox “baby priests” for the last 15 years or so. But 15 years ago we also got a new pastor, and he really got things whipped into shape. I don’t know if the pastors have any say in who is assigned as their associate?
 
there are two newer (early 30s) priests in my diocese who wear cassocks. A deacon friend of mine says they are the first cassocks worn in our diocese since the early 1960s.

They are scorned by the 50+ year old Priests.

In fact they are ostricized in clerical circles.
 
bpbasilphx said:
Younger Orthodox priests are more likely to wear cassocks and be bearded than their older predecessors who were concerned about fitting into American society…
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That’s interesting. About 1 or 2 years ago, our seminarians began showing up to our parish for the big Archdiocesan masses in cassocks. Even most of our priests in our parish (we have about 6) wear cassocks when the come over from the rectory to say mass. I believe during the week, they will wear their typical black pants and shirt. The seminarians used to wear suits all the time. Everything seems to be changing - and I think for the better. Not because of the change of clothes, but I think that little change sort of indicates a change of attitude, at least.
 
quiet52 said:
The few newer priests I’ve seen celebrate Mass are just as reluctant to address the “tough” topics (contraception, homosexuality, cohabitation, end-of-life issues, etc.) during their homilies as the longer-term priests are.

I’ve witnessed a somewhat more intense level of reverence, but still see some liturgical abuses by the newer priests.
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Give them time. Remember those new, young priests who are part of my generation, had nothing to go by growing up. We grew up in the 80s and 90s and the mass felt like it was lost and trying to find its way many times. These men have probably been recently exposed to what it’s supposed to be and are probably trying to learn and catch up as much as they can in seminary. Hopefully they will have the right mentors leading them.
 
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