Let's be real about the shortage of priests

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There are even orders who care for the sick and elderly, so it would be perfect!
 
Oh, you’re thinking to be a nun? God bless you, I don’t think I could be cloistered! I would prefer being a sister, but those who are nuns are blessed! You’re right, that active sort of work tends to be for sisters, not nuns.
 
My guess is that “all of the above” are true. But I’ll add that there seem to be a few dioceses here and there that have lots of vocations. My guess is that’s due to the bishop in those places. If the bishop doesn’t actively recruit for vocations and keep the “tone” of the seminaries up, there’s no reason to expect a lot of vocations.

And, frankly, the stories one hears about dioceses where vocations are up usually have bishops that are strongly and vocally faithful to the teachings of the Church themselves.
 
I’m not going to college and am going to start visiting some communities in the summer. At one point I considered rooming with someone and just working and not taking any classes which is what a lot of people do if they want to take some time off to figure out what they want to do. I, however, decided to just move back for the meantime.
 
Brittany said:
Besides, lots of orders prefer it if their women have some college experience, especially a bachelor’s degree. And since I’m going for nursing, perhaps it’ll pay off a little quicker than I think!
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Here’s one you might want to look at. A lot of them are nurses. Their 'specialty" is aiding women in danger of abortion, so that’s not surprising. Some are social workers by education. Look at them. They’re an awfully young group, and growing.

 
You know, they do have community college two-year RN programs that don’t cost all that much. But not all sisters or nuns require college educations. It’s just that RNs or LPNs are pretty popular with orders of sisters that take care of the very young, the sick, or the very old.
 
Yeah a lot of people just room with random people in the college town where I lived for awhile. Craigslist works pretty well but of course one should always be careful.

I know the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles are doing really well as far as vocations in case you are curious. I’m visiting them in a few months.
 
I don’t know what the solution is to the vocation shortage in some areas. It is less of a factor in my own diocese. Within driving distance of my house there are at least 5 parishes that I could drive to within 20 minutes. Some parishes become too large and new parishes have been formed. We expect to ordain ten new priests this year (current transitional deacons.) (See here.) Even so, more priests would be a blessing. Priests are very busy and most parishes could use an additional priest. I think the key factor is Catholic families. Good Catholic seminarians come from faithful Catholic families.
 
Yeah I considered that for awhile but most of the communities I’m looking at don’t require any sort of degree, plus I don’t want to be in debt or have to wait too long to go.
 
Not trying to sell you on the Sisters of Life (maybe a little :)) Their order combines an active life helping women at risk, and a contemplative aspect as well. A significant part of their lives are spent in prayer and contemplation.

Oh, one other thing they do is have retreats for teenage girls, to sort of get them headed on a right track in life morally and spiritually. There is a real mix of girls in those retreats. Some might be suburban girls from Boston and some might be girls from the South Bronx or rural Tennessee.

I have had occasion to know two of those sisters, and they are the happiest, sweetest women I have ever known. One of my granddaughters attended one of their retreats, and she absolutely learned to love those sisters.
 
@Brittany you know, there are groups that would help you pay back student loans. Basically you discern and when you choose a community and they formally accept you, you apply to one of these groups for help. Two that I know of will pick up your repayment plan once you enter. If you leave, you pick up where they left off.

If neither of these two groups accept you (they can’t assume everyone’s dept) there’s a third group that will put you through a fundraising boot-camp to help you raise money yourself.

I’m in a similar boat. I just finished nursing school and am scheduled to take my state boards on St. Joseph’s feast day. I have student loans to pay back before I can enter religious life. I plan on applying for help as soon as I know what convent I want to enter and they formally accept me. I’ll give every cent I can in the meantime.

Let me get back to you with the names of those groups I mentioned (I don’t remember their names off the top of my head), if you’re interested. Don’t lose hope. God is rich.
 
Jas31784 said:
somewhere between 7,000 to 8,000 priests had abandoned the priesthood in Italy alone over the previous eight years. In the Church as a whole 21,320 priests were reduced to lay status between 1962 and 1972. Not included in this number are those who didn’t bother to seek official reduction to lay status.From 1967 to 1974, 30,000 to 40,000 priests abandoned their vocation.
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This has been attributed to two dynamics:
  • First, the change in the understanding of the difference between bishops and priests. Whereas the traditional understanding was that the change from ‘priest’ to ‘bishop’ was merely one of authority, Vatican II asserted that only bishops “enjoy the fullness of the sacrament of orders.” This was devastating to many priests in their understanding of themselves and their vocation, as they felt that Vatican II pulled the rug out from under them. Demoralized and shattered by what they felt was a ‘demotion’ and a devaluation of their vocation and ministry, many left the Church.
  • Second, many priests and consecrated religious thought that Vatican II was going to lift the requirement of celibacy, and were looking forward to getting married. When that didn’t come to pass, there were those who wanted to be married more than they wanted to remain in their current vocation… and they left, in order to get married.
Both of these are “one-time events”, reflecting the situation in the Church in the 1960s. I’m not certain it’s reasonable to use them in service of a “Chicken Little” perspective on vocations… 😉
 
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A few years ago, when two neighboring parishes were being merged (because of the dwindling number of priests), I spoke up [ quite like a raving lunatic] and said that every parish ministry should be refocused on encouraging more vocations.

Silence followed by no action, not even prayers.
I think every priests should recruit 5 seminarians or maybe 10 seminarians before he retires.

There is NOTHING going on in our diocese. Our bishop has cancer, and he will be distracted by his therapy, when an auxiliary should be appointed to keep up the vitality of the diocese, especially the recruiting of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

My mother was a widow, and if I had gone to the seminary as I wanted, the parish should have made a point of supporting my mother in my absence. We aren’t dealing with our responsibilities for raising up priests.

There should be a shortened path to the priesthood, as situations warrant…
 
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Well, I mean, usually you could still just go to seminary and such, but I don’t know all the details of your life.
 
Well, this sort of thinking didn’t happen overnight. The Body of Christ in the West was gradually, slowly poisoned by secular interests.
  1. Sex. I have self-control became “NO one has self-control.” And the media helps that wrong thinking by a lot of portrayals of people who have no self-control, have sex with whoever, and no consequences.
  2. Stable homes? Let’s destroy the family. Let’s divide men and women. Let’s create class warfare: Women, the eternal victims class, and Men, the eternal enemies class. Men are just sex-crazed pigs. All of us (yeah, right). So, where do you find a suitable mate?
  3. No-Fault Divorce. What a horrible idea. Before, it was divorce for cause. Now it’s “irreconcilable differences” even though one spouse wants to work it out (no, I’m not talking about abuse). So just pay the lawyer and you’re out.
  4. Commitment. It takes a sincere commitment to be a priest, a husband and a wife.
The Church knew what was happening. She tried to encourage people but starting at a time when people were more trusting, the preachers for sexual perversion, for illegal drugs, and forget about the Church and mom and dad, kept preaching. Soon to be joined by the media.

And at seminaries, one director said, “We’re looking for quality not quantity.” The Church knows it is shrinking in the West but it is growing elsewhere. Africa has the largest growth and is not experiencing what the West is experiencing. With over one billion Catholics globally, the Church is doing well. The United States may turn into mission territory.
 
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“Correlation is not causation” seems to be the new bumper sticker battle cry for all the VII fans.
Can you imagine the genius that came up with new Coke getting called into the board room to answer for the drop in sales saying “But…but…correlation is not causation…!”

May be true, but it sure didn’t help. And you simply cant just sit there and say that it all would’ve happened anyway. No way to tell. Maybe if the Church grew a backbone back then it would’ve strengthened society…even small pockets…sto withstand the storm and emerge stronger in the future instead of withering away while capitulating to society. No way to tell that either.
 
edwest211 said:
With over one billion Catholics globally, the Church is doing well. The United States may turn into mission territory.
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It already is. In our diocese, approximately 1/3 of our priests are loaned from other places, particularly India.

There are plenty of deacons who are married empty-nesters. That is the next option. However, more attention to our Catholic schools is an essential.
 
The Church does not force Catholics to do anything. A priest won’t be pounding on your door if you miss Mass on Sunday. The Church does not “drop the hammer” on people. Sure, a bunch of brainwashed people decided - DECIDED - to give a wrong way of living a try. Like the Prodigal Son. His father watched for his return and was overjoyed when he did. More than once, I’ve read “I haven’t been to Confession for 10, 20 or more years” here.

God is waiting for you. You did it somebody else’s way and now realize it was not a good idea. Perhaps some people feel like they sinned too much. God will forgive you. His infinite mercy is waiting for you.
 
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