Is There a Clergy Vocation Crisis?

[Cordelil]

I have been perusing various seminaries in the U.S. and have noticed that some of them have quite a few men seeking to become priests. Granted, not all of them are experiencing such growth. For example, the very large Diocese Of Los Angeles seem to have low numbers of men in their seminary. However, one can go to the Catholic diocese’s website of the Little Rock, Arkansas, and Washington D.C.'s minor seminary and the numbers are impressive. Of course, there are others like Brownsville, Texas and Lafayette, Louisiana. Having spent most of my life in Los Angeles, California I thought that situation with men wanting to become priests was at a low ebb. Apparently, from my perusing’s that is not the case and am pleased to see some positive results in some of the nation’s seminaries.

 

[jvickers]

A quick internet search reveals there is an apparent clergy vocational crisis in the United States.

 

[ahs]

I HOPE that the number of seminarians will mark an upswing in Catholic Priests throughout the nation. But I’ve lived in/visited 3 states this year (Texas, Minnesota and Ohio) and the Dioceses in which I stayed were hurting badly for Priests. Anytime a Priest takes ill or goes on retreat, there is a circus of “musical parishes” that other Priests have to play just to keep up with the normal Mass schedule. I do keep hearing of large numbers of young men accepting the call, but so far I have not seen them make a dent in the crisis of the shortage of Priests (at least in the particular Dioceses I mentioned).

 

[Cordelil]

Yes, in Los Angeles there appeared to be a priest shortage and am sure it exists in other locales. I was just surprised to see men in somewhat large numbers in various seminaries across the country, especially in the smaller dioceses. What I don’t understand is an exceptionally large one like L.A. has dearth of newly ordained priests every year. Years ago I read where New York City had only had one. Yikes!