Declining Vocations to the Priesthood

[chotock]

One issue I am seeing more and more is just how badly priest are treated by the laity. I am not only speaking of the left-wingers attacking orthodox priest, but the traditionalist as well. If a priest over-steps some pretend boundry (not contradict canon law or the like) they are attacked and harangued from all sides. We have people bad mouthing any priest who does not fall into the little box either group has built for them.

The factors playing into the decline of priestly/religious vocations in the US and other “developed” nations is not as easily pinned down to one or two issues. We have a society that in no way respects any devout Christian. We have Hollywood portraying priests as sexual deviants, and even our own Catholic brethern doing the same. We have become bent on instant gratification in all things, even liturgy and devotions. Instead of focusing on the Sacraments, we become enraptured with how they are presented (no I am not saying we should not be concerned with proper attitude in liturgy, I am saying the arrogance of some to consider themselves more orthodox or even more holy because they use this liturgy over that one).

All in all its a disgrace. We will scream about there not being altar boys on breath and on other declare how the priesthood has been over taken by homosexuals. How are boys supposed to feel about the priesthood?

 

[mrs_abbott]

What would happen if we reached a point in time where NO ONE was joining the vocation to the priesthood and we ended up having a shortage of priests? If the current tread continues, this will be a reality someday. What would the Church do?

 

[Rowsdower]

Well at my parish, nicknamed, St John the Communist, we’ve never had one vocation to the priesthood…but we are very advanced in other ways…we’ve had altar girls since way before they were approved.

LOL

 

[plaguebot]

Blaming altar girls for the decline in vocations is pathetic at best.

The fact is, the priesthood has become associated strongly with sexual deviancy and its coverup. It is the moral failure of the hierarchy that is to blame for this apostasy.

Furthermore, the culture in America is one that is geared toward options in choice. Becoming a priest for the Roman Catholic Church must be viewed as important and meaningful. Until the Catholic Church comes to terms with Jesus Christ’s vision for justice in the world, and champions that justice, it will just continue bumbling along.

 

[Unfinished]

Furthermore, the culture in America is one that is geared toward options in choice. Becoming a priest for the Roman Catholic Church must be viewed as important and meaningful. Until the Catholic Church comes to terms with Jesus Christ’s vision for justice in the world, and champions that justice, it will just continue bumbling along.

That is why parishes that teach pure, solid, orthodox Catholic teaching without compromise have plenty of vocations.

On a smaller, parish level, it is working. But as a whole, the Catholic Church in America is not doing this. So, vocations are lacking.

 

[Saint_Michael]

Read “Goodbye Good Men” and you’ll understand everything you need to about the lack of vocations.

 

[Shoshana]

Father john corapi says that if there is orthodoxy and we do things the right way…there will be many. The liberal mindset is a suicide for any vocation…

 

[BLB_Oregon]

Another factor to consider is that they are turning away many young good men in developing countries, because there is no room in the crowded seminaries. Vocations have always thrived in poor countries. The materialistic society that we live in does not have time for religion.

I think that having men in one’s life who include holiness in their definition of manliness and who themselves have healthy relationships with priests–rather than a reverence that makes priests into some other kind of being–makes a big difference. IOW, what does Dad’s life say about what Dad will think if I decide to consider being a priest?

As it is, we see athletic prowess or material wealth buying permission to give virtues the short shrift, rather than lack of virtue being a deal-breaker in the definition of masculine hero. Genital expression of sexuality is also being sold in our society as something as necessary as breathing, making abstinence an impossibility. Returning violence for violence is even a prerequisite for manliness to some.

This kind of definition of masculinity makes the priesthood either irrelevant or simply unbelievable as a life choice for more young men.