Catholic seminaries full as religion resurges

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Fruits of the World Youth Day in Australia!!! Thank you Holy Spirit!
 
Just curious, what percentage of incoming seminarians make it to priesthood?
 
I’m not surprised that this is happening in Cardinal Pell’s diocese of Sydney Australia, since Cardinal Pell stands out for his loyalty to the Church. Seminaries which are notable for being orthodox in the United States also have done very well in drawing men who are interested in being priests.
 
i think the vocations director for my diocese told me this or some priest in my diocese but this isn’t official
 
Bob_Aliano said:
Just curious, what percentage of incoming seminarians make it to priesthood?
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It may depend on the seminary, but in the US the drop ouit rate at diocesan seminaries is quite high.
The attrition rate has held steady for the last decade and a half or so: More than 3,000 seminarians enroll annually, and around 430 to 470 achieve ordination.
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ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/casting-net-potential-priests

I think that means only 15% of incoming seminarians make it to priesthood, at least in diocesan seminaries of the US.
 
latin_rite said:
Even if it’s only has a 15% “success” rate. I think it’s good that so many people are willing to give it a go.
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Oh, indeed. And news that more young guys are willing to try is refreshing to read.
(Although granted, the news is about New South Wales in Australia and the statistic I mentioned is about the US, so they aren’t directly comparable)
 
latin_rite said:
Even if it’s only has a 15% “success” rate. I think it’s good that so many people are willing to give it a go.
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One of the reasons I asked is an old hypothesis that during economic downturns vocations increase. If that is happening now I would expect to see an increase in the drop out rate in these new classes because many would be enrolled for the wrong reason. With a rate of around 50% there is some room for analysis but at an 85% drop out rate it might be hard establish a significant change.
 
Dale_M said:
Oh, indeed. And news that more young guys are willing to try is refreshing to read.
(Although granted, the news is about New South Wales in Australia and the statistic I mentioned is about the US, so they aren’t directly comparable)
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I wouldn’t be suprised if they were similar. You would be suprised how many stats in Australia and the U.S mirror each other.
 
Bob_Aliano said:
One of the reasons I asked is an old hypothesis that during economic downturns vocations increase. If that is happening now I would expect to see an increase in the drop out rate in these new classes because many would be enrolled for the wrong reason. With a rate of around 50% there is some room for analysis but at an 85% drop out rate it might be hard establish a significant change.
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Australia managed fairly well during the GFC. It only has a 5% unemployment rate. There wasn’t mass job losses or people losing their homes. Luckily for Australia. The GFC hit during a big mining boom. And a lot of big business and the government had a lot of monetary reserves. We spent our way out of it. But still managed to keep the interest rates down, to a manageable level.
 
you could also look at how many people switch majors most people in college have little to no idea on what they want to do in life or if they do it sometimes changes.

so it makes since that more people drop out becuase they only can take on degree the seminary by me is liberal arts with a focus in philosophy.
 
1holycatholic said:
The dropout rate at secular colleges and universities is quite high.
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Not nearly as high as in seminaries…but that’s totally irrelevant, since there are two totally different situations. With regards to dropping out of college, a significant number of the dropouts are making the wrong decision. With regards to dropping out of seminary, not so many people are. After all, part of the seminary’s job is to find out who wants to become a priest, and there are many dropouts from the seminary who simply realize that the priesthood is not what they are called to do. There’s nothing wrong with that realization.

I guess the point is that colleges and universities should strive to drastically reduce their dropout rates, but a seminary can do everything right and still have a high dropout rate as potential vocations simply realize that this is not their calling.
 
Lujack said:
Not nearly as high as in seminaries…but that’s totally irrelevant, since there are two totally different situations. With regards to dropping out of college, a significant number of the dropouts are making the wrong decision. With regards to dropping out of seminary, not so many people are. After all, part of the seminary’s job is to find out who wants to become a priest, and there are many dropouts from the seminary who simply realize that the priesthood is not what they are called to do. There’s nothing wrong with that realization.

I guess the point is that colleges and universities should strive to drastically reduce their dropout rates, but a seminary can do everything right and still have a high dropout rate as potential vocations simply realize that this is not their calling.
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It’s not totally irrelevant. It’s a factor. Some students flunk out of seminary.
 
This is great for Australia & that part of the world, but dissenter, Michael Morwood (author of Is Jesus God? - yes, he seriously questions it), moved HERE & that is great for AU also, but (IMO) we have enough dissenters in my neck of the woods:

morwood.org/index.html

I see he will be active in Indiana in Oct.

And Call to Action is holding a conference in Milwaukee in Nov.

My prayer list is getting longer and longer… I suppose that’s a good thing!

God bless,
Mimi
 
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