Vocations—Small dioceses doing much better than large archdioceses

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From The Catholic Thing:

“Just for comparison, I looked up a couple of small dioceses that have been far more successful in recruiting. In Wichita, ten men were ordained in 2017; in Lincoln Nebraska, there were five. Now Wichita serves approximately 120,000 Catholics, Lincoln about 95,000. So, two small dioceses with a combined population of 215,000 produced almost half as many ordinations as five major archdioceses with a combined population of 12.5 million! How is this possible? How can two small dioceses have no vocation crisis while the largest archdioceses in the country have a tremendous problem?”

Full article here:

The continuing vocation crisis in the U.S.
 
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The larger archdioceses were the ones who were rocked by the sex abuse scandals. They have also largely secularized populations in every aspect. Cardinal Sean and the Archdiocese of Boston, MA, have the added problem of witchcraft and Satanism being either under or close to their roof, as in Salem. This is never anything to take lightly. We Catholics have gotten away from fasting because of a misinterpretation of Vatican II, and the Church has taken a lot of damage because of it.

Coordinated vocational promotion efforts are necessary. The archbishops themselves, and the parish priests, have to reach out to the young men of the archdioceses. They should also consider the widowers. An increase in Eucharistic adoration assists with vocations. There’s a number of programs that can be implemented, such as the Melchizedek Project. Enrolling the sick and homebound of the archdiocese to pray for priesthood vocations, alongside the active efforts have proven effective in other places. Praying for one section of the archdiocese a day helps, too. The opportunities are boundless, and the archdiocese has to come out and say that they are open for business where vocations are concerned, and not just concentrate on the priesthood. Vocations are to priesthood; religious life; and secular institutes/third orders/oblatures.

There are solutions, but the locals have to make the decision to act. What they do for the sacraments in the meantime remains to be seen. If we can’t import priests, then something in canon law needs to be adjusted to permit retired priests and bishops to serve again. How can we Live+Jesus! if we can’t receive Him?

Blessings,
Mrs Cloisters OP
Lay Dominican
http://cloisters.tripod.com/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/charity/
 
Apart from the completely ahistorical allegations about “witchcraft in Salem,” even those allegations are nearly 400 years old. Please. To make claims like that is simply irresponsible. On what credible sources do you base them?
 
Plenty. They’re called Wiccans or neo-pagans, but they’re still witches. The Satanic Temple just set up their headquarters in Salem, MA, as well. That was covered by all major news outlets. A witch with a series of books lives there, and her daughter has a witch museum. There’s been a lot about the present-day witches in Salem in the news, plus the fact that areas high in abortion also have large witch populations. Even Catholic universities have had to make space – as well as the armed services – for Wiccans.

Abortion is “pure child human sacrifice” for Wiccans, and is considered the Sacrament of Artemis. There’s a group of abortion clinics in Florida run by Wiccans.

Follow Spirit Daily. He prints a lot of information on spiritual warfare. My forebears are from Salem, MA, and I can’t even entertain the thought of taking vacation there because of the spiritual warfare there.
 
The article describes the likely reasons. As the writer points out, it is odd that the USCCB is failing to look closely into factors why vocations are plentiful, or scarce, but the USCCB seems to be preoccupied with whatever issues the media is emphasizing this week.

We are reaping the effects of bad catechesis in most dioceses in the decades after Vatican II. Most young people were not exposed to absolutes of true/false, and right/wrong, but everything is relative. If the whole purpose of religion is to make people more happy, more equal, you can do that as a layperson.

We also see the results of bad liturgy and preparation. The Mass can be presented with devotion in the OF or EF, but if children are taught nothing about the Real Presence, if the Mass has no hint of the Crucifixion, little hint of any “Consecration” but is mostly the priest, and others, facilitating a Gathering Experience…well, you can be a social worker and do all that.

The Deemphasis on the Consecration, and on the priest in the confessional, eliminated a lot of vocations. The retired bishop of Lincoln strongly emphasized the priestly role in Mass, and confessions, so he fostered many vocations.
 
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re: Nebraska, I know the FSSP have a major seminary there, with six ordinations all by themselves this past May. So it looks like the diocesan statistics are separate from the FSSP’s statistics (which had 17 total ordinations in 2017). This year, they also had 10 ordinations to the diaconate, and 10 ordinations to the sub-diaconate, just from counting noses in photos. (So my numbers may be wrong.) But you still probably get some overlap in the kind of culture that nurtures that kind of thrivingness.

re: Kansas, I know that they’ve made a big push to encourage Catholic education amongst families, going to the point of offering tuition-free Catholic schooling for active parishoner families.
After the model was adopted throughout the diocese, schools continued to expand and to be financially stable, and since 2002 every Catholic school in the Diocese of Wichita has been tuition-free for active parishioners. Wichita’s 38 schools educate nearly 11,000 students [as of the 2013 article], forming them to be disciples of Christ.
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The presence of priest and religious in their schools helps the students to see that life as a way to thrive and flourish. Voboril reported that 70 percent of the diocese’ seminarians are graduates of Catholic schools.
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So— connection to our roots and our spiritual anchorings, plus a good solid foundation in Catholic education, are two things that those two particular diocese have, that lead to such a flourishing of vocations. For Kansas, the community has to work very hard to support the resources necessary for (11,000? how many now?) students to have free tuition. So the laity is also involved in their own way-- the vocations don’t happen in a vacuum.
 
midori said:
re: Nebraska, I know the FSSP have a major seminary there, with six ordinations all by themselves this past May. So it looks like the diocesan statistics are separate from the FSSP’s statistics (which had 17 total ordinations in 2017). This year, they also had 10 ordinations to the diaconate, and 10 ordinations to the sub-diaconate, just from counting noses in photos. (So my numbers may be wrong.) But you still probably get some overlap in the kind of culture that nurtures that kind of thrivingness.

re: Kansas, I know that they’ve made a big push to encourage Catholic education amongst families, going to the point of offering tuition-free Catholic schooling for active parishoner families.
After the model was adopted throughout the diocese, schools continued to expand and to be financially stable, and since 2002 every Catholic school in the Diocese of Wichita has been tuition-free for active parishioners. Wichita’s 38 schools educate nearly 11,000 students [as of the 2013 article], forming them to be disciples of Christ.
…
The presence of priest and religious in their schools helps the students to see that life as a way to thrive and flourish. Voboril reported that 70 percent of the diocese’ seminarians are graduates of Catholic schools.
Click to expand...
OK. But it makes a huge difference if we are talking about solid Catholic schools, or liberal clones of public schools. In my diocese the schools founded by convents are horrible, and some of the diocesan and other schools are mediocre, locked into Common Core.

One way the local laity is involved in their own way is to start a new Catholic school using a classical model, with teachers taking an oath of fidelity to the Magisterium. Students attend daily Mass.

I have noticed graduates of home schools showing up in seminaries far more than graduates of Catholic schools.

If starting an orthodox Catholic school, or home schooling, is not possible, I would urge “the laity” (parents and alumni) to try to press existing Catholic schools for change, unless it is good enough to support.
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Yeah. I’d love a Catholic school in my area-- the closest one is about 45 minutes away. Getting a Catholic school with a solid classical curriculum? Awesomesauce!!

My parish (poor, rural) shares a priest with a much more affluent parish about half an hour away. I once asked him if the affluent parish had any plans for a Catholic school. He laughed… “Oh, no. Those are way more trouble than they’re worth.”

That’s the attitude you get a lot. 😦 Yeah, I know that they’re neither cheap nor easy, especially to generate out of thin air… but they certainly change the landscape when done properly.
 
We are required to speak on our vocation every year at one set of weekend Masses.

As to why the Archdioceses are not doing so well… It’s not (necessarily) the liturgy - my Archdiocese is actually somewhat strict (comparatively) about that. I would rather suggest that it’s not seen as a positive thing in the families.

It’s not like we haven’t done well in promoting the idea of priesthood, but what good is that if the family does not accept the message? What good is it if we promote it in the bulletin, but not in person (pastor or parishioner)?

While attendance might be low, and the family not as traditional as it may have been, these settings still have quite a bit of pull. I would suggest there is where the issue is. People in the smaller areas are more likely to believe that they are called to something that doesn’t necessarily represent “getting ahead”, or at least are more receptive to the idea that some are called to service, in whatever form that might manifest itself as.
 
This is giving a personal testimony. The Evangelicals do this sort of thing all the time. Catholics are doing it now somewhat more than they used to.
 
Wichita is our next door neighbor Diocese, and where both my children live. The Catholic faith is rich there. Adoration chapels abound. Parishes are vibrant and active.
 
Cloisters said:
I’ve been involved in Vocations Ministry for over a quarter century, and the priests are to be the ones to approach the young men about a possible vocation.
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Where, or how, do the priests find the young men?

In my diocese few boys go to Catholic high schools, and priests are rare even there. Most boys are in huge parishes, where they would rarely meet the pastor (no assistant anymore). Just saying we can’t ignore the second best options - seeing priests in EWTN, discernment of a parish youth group or Newman Center leader, and discernment of a parent.

Someone besides a priest perhaps starts the ball rolling nowadays.
 
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Doesn’t matter who does the approaching, there has to be a coordinated effort on the part of the Archdiocese, or a group of dioceses (which IMHO is better). The Ordinary has to show that there is interest in keeping the faith and keeping it going. Each (arch)diocese has a vocations director, and they need to either go out into the diocese, or have another priest go talk to parishes about local priesthood vocations. I emailed the Archdiocese of Boston’s vocations director, and sent him a link to the Melchizedek Project, but never heard back from him.

If something is important, that something is made a priority. Jesus’ first three apostles were referrals. The others, He went out and recruited Himself.

Parish vocations committees are very effective in raising awareness of all vocations. When I was in Missouri, the diocese held a retreat for young men. Out of 20+ participants, 10 were from our parish. We had gone to the parish secretary’s computer, and did a demographic search for the young men in the parish. Then one committee member made the phone calls, telling the guys about the retreat.

Boils down to this: DO something!
 
midori said:
Nebraska, I know the FSSP have a major seminary there, with six ordinations all by themselves this past May. So it looks like the diocesan statistics are separate from the FSSP’s statistics (which had 17 total ordinations in 2017). This year, they also had 10 ordinations to the diaconate, and 10 ordinations to the sub-diaconate, just from counting noses in photos. (So my numbers may be wrong.) But you still probably get some overlap in the kind of culture that nurtures that kind of thrivingness.
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I went to mass at an FSSP parish in Nebraska last night, and let me tell you, they are definitely thriving. It’s remarkable to see so many boys serving the altar, in sync at every step. There must have been about 8 altar servers.
 
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