"Despite High-Pofile Scandals, Seminary Numbers Increase"

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They say that true love is validated only by trial and struggle , and that fidelity forged in the hot fire is something real and lasting.

I believe that, " because of " , rather than , "in spite of " , the scandals , that the Church will be graced by a noble and honorable group of future clerics. What a great blessing that will be. Let us pray that this truly occurs. I believe it will.
 
mdgspencer said:
Though Catholics are being deluged by the secular media with stories about scandals in the Catholic Church, young Catholic men, undeterred, are becoming priests in increasing numbers.
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/boca-raton/fl-catholic-seminary-20130303,0,6125904.story
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I know, it seems especially bad lately… but the Church has had a very good Vibe I’d say and then something depressing happens. That Seminary could be in a number of cities or at least, I read an article similar to one in Tennessee.
 
IIRC even Boston’s seminaries are filling up.

As always, we live in the best of times and the worst of times.
 
BroomWagon said:
I know, it seems especially bad lately… but the Church has had a very good Vibe I’d say and then something depressing happens. That Seminary could be in a number of cities or at least, I read an article similar to one in Tennessee.
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Seminarian numbers are way up since the seventies and eighties. If you look at the numbers, it’s like this everywhere. There’s a 300% increase in seminarians in Africa.
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
Seminarian numbers are way up since the seventies and eighties. If you look at the numbers, it’s like this everywhere. There’s a 300% increase in seminarians in Africa.
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Let us pray that they turn out good priests. Quality matters as much as quantity.
 
Yes, but keep in mind that the Church is still in a drought of vocations compared to the 60’s. We are at 10% of the level they were 50 years ago.

We still need prayers.
 
I think it’s because we know scandals are nothing new. They will always happen. The solution to these problems starts with us. Our seminarians are realizing this. 🙂 Renewal will happen, one person at a time!
 
The global economic slowdown also plays a role. Well, that’s what I was told. Either way, Alhamdullah!
 
Our seminiary is bursting at the seams and we ordained FORTY new priests! As to “quality not quantity” we were blessed when our parish’s assigned seminarian took us on a back stage tour of the seminary. We were able to speak to a number of the seminarians, ask them questions, and find out about their lives before and after joining.

One seminarian said there is the perception (like the army) that they’ll take anyone who’s upright and breathing. He said that was not the case, that standards were very high both scholastically and also from an emotional and mental point of view. He said they were questioned in depth about their vocation and what led them to make the decision for the priesthood.

The tour was followed by participating in the evening prayer. The chanting and music and readings were so inspirational. “You are a priest forever…”

Lisa
 
LisaA said:
Our seminiary is bursting at the seams and we ordained FORTY new priests! As to “quality not quantity” we were blessed when our parish’s assigned seminarian took us on a back stage tour of the seminary. We were able to speak to a number of the seminarians, ask them questions, and find out about their lives before and after joining.

One seminarian said there is the perception (like the army) that they’ll take anyone who’s upright and breathing. He said that was not the case, that standards were very high both scholastically and also from an emotional and mental point of view. He said they were questioned in depth about their vocation and what led them to make the decision for the priesthood.

The tour was followed by participating in the evening prayer. The chanting and music and readings were so inspirational. “You are a priest forever…”

Lisa
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That sounds great. I’ll take quality AND quantity. But if I have to choose, quality. 🙂
 
I think that these scandals will go away and hopefully, will be prevented in the future. If Seminaries are better able to weed out the fake candidates, than the issue will probably be prevented entirely in the future. It is good to here positive news regarding priest enrollment numbers.
 
You can almost hear the frustrated cursing behind the article, can’t you? “In spite of the media’s fervent attempts to paint the entire Catholic Church as corrupt and vile, people aren’t listening to us! How dumb are these guys to even think about becoming priests?”

I love the sound of the media gnawing on its own liver.
 
Borealis said:
You can almost hear the frustrated cursing behind the article, can’t you? “In spite of the media’s fervent attempts to paint the entire Catholic Church as corrupt and vile, people aren’t listening to us! How dumb are these guys to even think about becoming priests?”

I love the sound of the media gnawing on its own liver.
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:rotfl: Wonderful. I am really delighted with the Priests and laypeople representing the Church particularly with respect to the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI. Of course we can’t control all of it and HuffPo and the Chicken Noodle News type cable shows trot out some heretical former Catholic or a supposed victim of abuse to speak for the Church. But I’ve heard some really good interviews by very articulate individuals. Cardinal Timothy Dolan is great because he has not only a tremendous command of the facts, he is also a great communicator. His jovial and joyful demeanor really disarm the Long Knives coming his way.

One of the Priests ordained this year was from our Parish and we were incredibly proud. In fact one of his friends and brother Priests was assigned to our Parish for a couple of months in the summer before returning to Rome. These young Priests are just so sincere, so on fire for the faith and such classy men in every way. I see a great future for the Church and a lot of Parishes are going to be blessed with these great young men.

Lisa
 
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