I feel a vocation to priesthood and while I’m drawn to the mission of some the religious orders, I do not feel called to living in a community. I feel as if I’m called to be a parish priest, but not to any diocese in particular.
Is there a religious order where the priests serve as parish priests? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Unless a community is cloistered, the men religious are usually sent to parishes and schools/universities. Doing so is the main ‘reason for being’ for their orders.
What it sounds like you’re wanting are ‘Clerks Regular,’ but any ‘active’ order will likely send you to parishes, and most certainly Franciscans are part of that.
Order priests are not usually found individually in parishes, although there is one in my immediate area with a single Order priest in residence. He is older and more experienced, and being pastor of that parish is like an extended retreat for him in some ways.
Here is his order’s website:
oblates.us/
Some others who could use vocations:
Clerks Regular Minor (Adorno Fathers):
adornofathers.org/
Order of the Mother of God:
ordinedellamadredidio.org/
Clerics Regular of St. Paul (Barnabites):
barnabites.com/aboutus
Clerics Regular of Somasca:
somascans.org/ministry.htm
Piarists:
piaristfathers.org/en-GB/Who-we-are.aspx
Claretians:
claretians.org/
The Claretians that I know of run the St. Jude Shrine in Chicago. They are also at the ‘rancho’ in Los Angeles, and are rarely there because their charism has them out in the apostolate.
There’s also the Priests of the Society of St. Sulpice (P.S.S.), who are incardinated in a diocese, then ask their bishop’s permission to join the Sulpicians. This society has the distinction of being the only “order” that works to build up the diocesan priesthood.
sulpicians.org/
I think that’s probably enough for now.
Blessings,
Cloisters
