My diocese is dying. What to do?

[Possenti2264]

My diocese has only ordained 4 priests in 20 years, but we have buried as many priests in the last 1 year. Our next two ordinations will be in 5 years, then two more three years after that. There are a great many priests in our diocese in their 70s and 80s who are not retired, but are beginning to experience health problems. One parish has already been closed this year, and others are on the cutting board.

What can be done to save our diocese?

 

[Layman]

Considering asking the bishop to sponsor men who want to say the old rite, who don’t want to enter homosexual-friendly seminaries and who wish to save souls rather than be social-workers-for-justice.

I only have anecdotal evidence, but I think liberal dioceses and orders are the cause of their own vocation problem. You hear some odd and displeasing stories.

 

[Ockham]

Don’t limit yourselves to priests from within your parish or diocese. Ask for new priests from where ever they are available.

I’ve read that regular Benediction increases parishioners and probably seminarians. Do you have regularly scheduled Confession? Do you have a reverent liturgy?

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Most important is to pray:

37* Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Matthew 9:37-38

Our diocese, Orange CA, has exposition of the Blessed Sacrament one day a week in each parish; so there is always exposition in one or more parishes. The objective is to pray for vocations. We are not doing great on vocations, but I think we are holding even. Our former auxiliary bishop, Bishop Driscoll, was sufficiently impressed by the results that he took the practice to Boise when he was appointed ordinary there.

On a more practical level, our parish has a fund raising Vocations Dinner each year to raise funds to give scholarships to seminarians and those entering religious orders.

 

[Hesychios]

On a more practical level, our parish has a fund raising Vocations Dinner each year to raise funds to give scholarships to seminarians and those entering religious orders.

Do the seminarians pay their own way through school?

 

[Adeodatus]

Promote the EF.

Get people praying the Rosary for vocations.

Check on the seminary situation and make sure that your seminarians are being sent to a good environment.

Get the priests you do have to give orthodox, conservative homilies and to hammer away at the topic of vocations.

Get parents to talk about vocations with their children.

That’s what I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[DrSharkey]

I know it’s been said, but prayer is your only real option. Our society is becoming less and less religious. Our popular media tells young men and women that the most important thing one can do is sing, dance, be popular, and take care of “number one”. They’re taught that it’s weird to sacrifice yourself for others.

Pray, pray, pray. God has promised that the gates of Hell shall never prevail, so don’t give up hope.

 

[callmeChris]

Be a traditional parish. I dont know whether yours is or not, but like another person said, Bring back the EF. You wont have vocations by ‘lowering the standards’ I should know because that is how my parish is like sadly. Ask permission from your Bishop. Remember he cant deny you the privilege of having the Latin mass if the priest himself wants it. In a recent poll studies have shown that many people, especially young people are more likely to attend the Latin Mass over the NO mass.

Other than that, just continue praying your rosary. Continue receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist.

 

[Aramis]

Get people praying together. If there is no daily mass, get people together at the church for morning or evening prayer, Liturgy of the Word, and/or a rosary.

If the mass isn’t reverent, or violates the rubrics, gently inquire as to why. If it violates the rubrics, also write the bishop, citing date, parish, time, priest, and error; just the facts, too, no opinion.

Encourage the boys to serve.

Encourage Catholic youth activities like Jr. Legion of Mary, Columbian Squires, and helping the Holy Name Society and St. Vincent DePaul society as they can.

See to it that the scouts have groups at the parishes, and encourage the Catholics to pursue the religious merit badges.

Get EWTN on local cable.

 

[DrSharkey]

And, as mentioned above, strive to be an orthodox parish. If people want squishy, touchy-feely, liberal “Christianity”, there are plenty of dying Protestant denominations out there to choose from.

Places that are more orthodox are still growing. Check out the Dominican sisters in Nashville. They are growing year after year, and it doesn’t get more orthodox, more anti-“American-Idol-MTV-soap-opera Lifestyle” than the Nashville Dominicans. Young people know when some place truly has a heart for Jesus, and when a place “of the world”.

 

[journierman]

I agree with the main points: pray, pray, pray, adore our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, talk directly to boys/young men who you think might have a vocation. I do think that what we are seeing though is what our Holy Father predicts, a shrinking of the Church in numbers but a strengthening of the Church in faith. It is very sad but for too long in my opinion there has been the attitude that if they are in the door they are in the Church. Well some of these people need to either believe the Catholic Faith or hit the door the other way and find someplace else.

I do not mean to sound harsh but it would be better for them and better for those who remain if they were gone. Then they can always come back after they have been in the spiritual wilderness for a while. I am not convinced that we are doing anybody any good by giving them the feeling that they are “faithful” Catholics. It might actually be better in the long run for some of these parishes to close, for those who are serious to sacrifice to travel farther to Mass. Then the priest shortage will not be as serious either because there will be fewer parishes to staff.

Just my opinion. That and $0.50 will get you a cup of coffee but not at Starbucks, if you know what I mean.

 

[Pregustator]

My diocese has only ordained 4 priests in 20 years, but we have buried as many priests in the last 1 year. Our next two ordinations will be in 5 years, then two more three years after that. There are a great many priests in our diocese in their 70s and 80s who are not retired, but are beginning to experience health problems. One parish has already been closed this year, and others are on the cutting board.

What can be done to save our diocese?

Why, are you the bishop of this diocese?



Your diocese is not alone, but is typical of the way the clergy is “shrinking” in modern times. Now, let me ask you, in your diocese is the matter merely a problem of a decline in clergy, or is there a dramatic decline in the Catholic population, as well?

Just as parishes close, so can a diocese be dissolved (or more likely merged with another diocese) if there is no justification for maintaining a diocesan structure in a place where few Catholics are anymore.

There is nothing an individual Catholic can do to “save” a diocese, neither should he feel concerned that he is burdened with any such responsibility. A diocese is merely a territorial jurisdiction. It might not even be a matter of dying faith that causes a diocese to “die”, as you put it; it could merely be a matter of population shifts.

Let’s say, for example, you have Diocese A and Diocese B, which border one another. And let’s say Diocese A is all urban, and Diocese B is all suburbs and country. Then let’s say all the Catholics in Diocese A, over time, move to flee urban blight and they settle in suburban Diocese B. Eventually, there’s no justification for maintaining a bishop and a chancery structure in Diocese A because there aren’t any Catholics living in that territory anymore. The “Church of A” has essentially vanished. The Catholics haven’t vanished: they’ve just moved over to B. And so it won’t be long before the Holy See dismantles the diocesan infrastructure and makes Diocese A part of Diocese B, or creates a Diocese of A-B.

Sometimes there’s nothing really to save. It’s just a matter of changing tides and shifting sands.

 

[PaulinVA]

How do you increase vocations? Glad you asked.

1. Don’t bad mouth the “NO” Catholics and berate priests for not being orthodox enough for you. Especially don’t do this around your children. They hear everything.
2. Work to end EMHCs and Communion in the Hand. These practices lower the percieved need for Priests and reduce Priests to nothing special.
3. Pray for vocations.
4. Address the abuse scandal head on when talking to young people and have answers as to how it happened and why things have changed.
5. Work to increase the prestige of Priests, while still gently holding them to a standard of humility.

 

[Possenti2264]

Orthodoxy, EF Mass, etc. are at this point all ends, not means. There’s a step before and that is to get them to that point.

Here are the main issues:

1. We got a new bishop 2 years ago. He replaced the only bishop this diocese has ever had.
2. So far, the new bishop has discouraged the EF Mass. He has been invited to participate and has refused. The bishop has said to me that the EF is “just a fad”.
3. We have only one priest who has taken any interest in the EF. Consequently, he manages to scrounge up 18 altar servers/torch bearers for the EF Mass while other parishes have to use girls and adult men and women to fill their ranks.
4. Most of the priests in the diocese are 60+ years old, in seminary around Vatican II. They hold centering prayer and enneagram workshops, use Meyers-Briggs as a tool for spiritual direction, gather congregations around the altar for consecration, and half don’t even dress like priests outside of Mass. There’s even one priest with quite a reputation. If you ask women about him, they say “he’s so nice and tells great stories”. All the men say “Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” It’s a horrible thing to say, even more horrible if it’s true. Another priest regularly gives talks on ecumenism at the Unitarian Universalist church. He and I have spoken at length and he basically believes in indifferentialism or the idea that religions are just different personalities or different roads to the same end.
5. Our area is largely comprised of three cities, each with a population between 100,000 to 200,000 people. Only 3% of the area is Catholic.
6. RCIA does not teach sexual morals, contraception, anything controversial. I have quite a few friends who converted and kept right on with the pill, living together, etc… Eventually they discovered the Church is against those things and they ceased, but they said it was never taught in RCIA.
7. Other priests have mocked the EF Mass, even during their own Mass by doing the hokey-pokey and saying “should I do Mass like Fr. [so-and-so]”. Sickening.

My conclusion is that our diocese is dying because many of the shepherds are letting the lions eat the sheep. Many of the shepherds are not guiding the flock toward Christ, and thus the flock scatters.

We do have some good priests in our diocese, but it is the same problem that most are old and in poor health. The priests will be gone before the Catholics are, and if it weren’t for schism, I know several families who would be at the Greek Orthodox church because they aren’t having this problem.

 

[Possenti2264]

How do you increase vocations? Glad you asked.
5. Work to increase the prestige of Priests, while still gently holding them to a standard of humility.

The first time I met the bishop, I genuflected and kissed his ring. He had no idea what was going on and was very embarrassed.

 

[tskrobacz]

My diocese has only ordained 4 priests in 20 years, but we have buried as many priests in the last 1 year. Our next two ordinations will be in 5 years, then two more three years after that. There are a great many priests in our diocese in their 70s and 80s who are not retired, but are beginning to experience health problems. One parish has already been closed this year, and others are on the cutting board.

What can be done to save our diocese?

Turn it over to God in prayer and trust his will is being done…it could be that the death of you diocese has a purpose that is not currently visible.

 

[At_Trent]

Orthodoxy, EF Mass, etc. are at this point all ends, not means. There’s a step before and that is to get them to that point.

Here are the main issues:

1. We got a new bishop 2 years ago. He replaced the only bishop this diocese has ever had.

**2. So far, the new bishop has discouraged the EF Mass. He has been invited to participate and has refused. The bishop has said to me that the EF is “just a fad”. **

1. We have only one priest who has taken any interest in the EF. Consequently, he manages to scrounge up 18 altar servers/torch bearers for the EF Mass while other parishes have to use girls and adult men and women to fill their ranks.
2. Most of the priests in the diocese are 60+ years old, in seminary around Vatican II. They hold centering prayer and enneagram workshops, use Meyers-Briggs as a tool for spiritual direction, gather congregations around the altar for consecration, and half don’t even dress like priests outside of Mass. There’s even one priest with quite a reputation. If you ask women about him, they say “he’s so nice and tells great stories”. All the men say “Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” It’s a horrible thing to say, even more horrible if it’s true. Another priest regularly gives talks on ecumenism at the Unitarian Universalist church. He and I have spoken at length and he basically believes in indifferentialism or the idea that religions are just different personalities or different roads to the same end.
3. Our area is largely comprised of three cities, each with a population between 100,000 to 200,000 people. Only 3% of the area is Catholic.
4. RCIA does not teach sexual morals, contraception, anything controversial. I have quite a few friends who converted and kept right on with the pill, living together, etc… Eventually they discovered the Church is against those things and they ceased, but they said it was never taught in RCIA.

**7. Other priests have mocked the EF Mass, even during their own Mass by doing the hokey-pokey and saying “should I do Mass like Fr. [so-and-so]”. Sickening. **

My conclusion is that our diocese is dying because many of the shepherds are letting the lions eat the sheep. Many of the shepherds are not guiding the flock toward Christ, and thus the flock scatters.

We do have some good priests in our diocese, but it is the same problem that most are old and in poor health. The priests will be gone before the Catholics are, and if it weren’t for schism, I know several families who would be at the Greek Orthodox church because they aren’t having this problem.

The bolded parts are disturbing. That is your true hurdle.

Do people in the pews laugh when the EF is mocked ? If so, get out of there fast.

Find one of these near you. As long as they are not “vacant chair” groups,
latinmasstimes.com/Louisiana

 

[puzzleannie]

My diocese has only ordained 4 priests in 20 years, but we have buried as many priests in the last 1 year. Our next two ordinations will be in 5 years, then two more three years after that. There are a great many priests in our diocese in their 70s and 80s who are not retired, but are beginning to experience health problems. One parish has already been closed this year, and others are on the cutting board.

What can be done to save our diocese?

the solution is the hand of Catholic laity, specifically families who are the source of priests. Catholics must stop contracepting, as they have refused to accept God’s gift to them of 2 generations of priests and religious.

 

[Possenti2264]

the solution is the hand of Catholic laity, specifically families who are the source of priests. Catholics must stop contracepting, as they have refused to accept God’s gift to them of 2 generations of priests and religious.

I understand that, but contraception is a symptom of a bigger problem within the church, namely priests refuse to talk about it. I believe even the Vatican released a study last month saying the increase was because priests refused to address the problem.

 

[puzzleannie]

I understand that, but contraception is a symptom of a bigger problem within the church, namely priests refuse to talk about it. I believe even the Vatican released a study last month saying the increase was because priests refused to address the problem.

I refuse to believe there is an adult Catholic alive who does not know the Catholic teaching on this subject. our enemies certainly do because it is one of the most prominent features in their attacks on us, so even if one did not hear the message from the pulpit, they could not avoid hearing the message. no fair blaming one’s own sin on someone else. Each Catholic who approached the age of dating and courtship should have heard the message loud and clear from their own parents, and did not because their parents contracepted.