Priest shortage.

[tenfootpole]

For real, our diocese has about 15 priests that will still be around in 20 years for 120 parishes. There are 2 seminarians at the moment. What is going to happen? Will Catholics goto other churches? I know the faithful ones won’t but who will marry and bury us?

 

[KCT]

We don’t have a vocation crisis, we have a hearing problem. I don’t believe God has stopped calling young men. Many men are not willing to listen for the call. —KCT

 

[Flopfoot]

There are some islands in the Pacific Ocean, where some missionaries went and made converts to Catholicism, and then left - and now those islands often go for ages without a priest. The Church there still survives. Priests come and visit every once in a while, at those times people can have the Eucharist, and for the rest of the time they just have services led by lay people. People can get married without a priest - the priest is really an official and it is the couple who ‘marry each other’ with God and relatives as their witnesses. Of course, these sorts of things, you wouldn’t do if you didn’t have to, but the point is that there is always ways of getting around it.

Your area is not going to go to that extreme. Even if there’s only 1 priest in the diocese, well he can celebrate mass at a different parish each week and people can travel there for mass - all the more blessings for them for making the effort. And also, the missions can send more priests to Canada like they have to Australia, and so on. Always ways of getting it to work.

True Catholics don’t leave the church at the first sign of difficulty. The Catholics who would leave just because of a shortage of priests probably don’t go to church regularly anyway. Catholics face serious persecution in some countires and that still doesn’t stop them going to church.

There are some who even say that it’s easier to be a Catholic when things are hard for you. It stops you from taking things for granted, and makes you more prepared to face adversity. Some even say that God will make up for the lack of resources by sending out his Spirit to help those Catholics who are in hard times. I’m not sure how true these ideas are. But the point is - don’t despair.

One thing that you can know for sure is that no matter what happens, there will always be at least 1 Catholic in your area and that’s you. And know that while you stick to your guns, there are plenty of others out there who can say the same thing. They don’t know about you yet but they would probably meet you at the only mass in the diocese if things ever got that bad.

GB

Flopfoot

 

[awalt]

My biggest fear is if we cannot get the Eucharist and confess. I am willing to drive a long way for them however.

I believe there have been discussions at the Synod about moving clergy around, I feel pretty confident they would not let a major metropolitan area have no priests. There are also areas of the country where there are overflowing seminaries, so there is clearly hope.

 

[Angels_Watchin]

tenfootpole:

For real, our diocese has about 15 priests that will still be around in 20 years for 120 parishes. There are 2 seminarians at the moment. What is going to happen? Will Catholics goto other churches? I know the faithful ones won’t but who will marry and bury us?

You have a fabulous Archbishop in Peterborough, Ontario. Archbishop Nicolae De Angeles. He WANTS this!! Contact his office for some help.

Go the the Inside the Vatican link

insidethevatican.com/status-ecclesiae-aug-sept-2005.htm
It explains the focused will of bishops to decrease the number of priests.

There is a blueprint for creating vocations

Truly authentic Catholic worship.

I live in Orange County CA - 1.2 million Catholics.

In 2004 our homosexual agenda promoting, liturgical abuse supporting, world traveling, $1 to $2 million dollar home buying (10 or 12 of them within the diocese for his special priests along with pastorships for his favorites) bishop ordained 3 priests last year. 3 priests out of 1.2 million Catholics

Go to www.stagnes.net , read their homilies, look at the “desktops” photos of the masses., listen to the music

There are 13 men in seminary from that ONE PARISH this year!

IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THESE NUMBERS?

St. Agnes knows how it’s done,
now let’s make it happen.

Get these articles and this info to everyone you know - and tell them to call your pastors and bishop’s office weekly to complain about liturgical abuses and the artificial vocations shortage that THEY CREATED! Show them the proof - then you’ll know if they truly want vocations or not. Then you can go to work to support their return to truly Catholic worship (from only boys and men on the altar to only Catholic music - Gregorian Chant and sacred music, kneeling to receive, modest Sunday Best attire for mass) or begin the work to have them removed.

Keep in touch.

God help us,

Angel

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

On the bright side, if “Catholics” abandon the Church due to an extreme priest shortage, that will serve to alleviate the shortage and give priests greater ability to minister to the remaining faithful.

 

[Kielbasi]

On the bright side, if “Catholics” abandon the Church due to an extreme priest shortage, that will serve to alleviate the shortage

I think very, very few would abandon Catholicism because of a shortage of priests, just don’t see it as a likely scenario.

I don’t think the problem of a priest shortage is critical yet , but it definitely is increasing. Even if many Catholics aren’t in attendance at mass on Sunday, most are buried in church. Requeims as well as the last rites are tasks which take a lot from a priest, and need to be done for all of the faithful, not just the weekly attendees.

I expect that daily mass will costumarily be a mass for the dead, a funeral mass, in many, many locations within the next few decades