What constitutes a "priest shortage"?

[Pitcairn17]

Not an answer but a priest I met once said we don’t have a priest shortage at all because God gives us exactly how many priests we need.
Definitely makes one think. He is a Carmelite.

I’m sure our diocese is not unique, but in the wake of in our own diocese: priests falling into substance abuse, emotional breakdowns requiring being sent away, several who have just walked away, one suicide, early retirement due to health / exhaustion, and a fair number of veterans who have become increasingly bitter and remote —. Well, it’s hard to believe that we have “exactly how many we need.”

 

[JHFamily]

Well, it’s hard to believe that we have “exactly how many we need.”

I have to concur. We have a priest crisis. And a religious crisis. And a family crisis. Priestly and religious vocations do not spring up in a vacuum. While there is the occasional exception, most vocations grow from intact, religious families. There’s not very many of those around anymore, so I don’t think we can see the end to the shortage for quite some time.

 

[casslean]

I grew up in Alaska where one priest would service up to five parishes that we’re a considerable distance from one another and had to be accessed by airplane or watercraft. Oftentimes Sunday Mass wasn’t offered, Confession Times were limited, and Daily Mass was unheard of. I think that is what a true priest shortage looks like.

In our diocese at the moment we have several areas where one priest is servicing 6-8 churches which have been grouped together as a “parish”. Sunday Mass is held at one or two locations and lay people are called upon to offer Liturgy of the Word with Communion at the other churches.

Of course, there’s no effort being made to encourage vocations and the few young men who I know have expressed an interest in the priesthood have gotten such a runaround they either give up or leave our diocese for another.

 

[dconklin]

The RC parish up the street has 12,00 or 14,000 families.

It has two priests, although I believe that a couple of masses a weekend get handled by juggle.

That’s incredible! A parish in our diocese is the largest parish in the USA at just over 10,000 (2017 numbers) families. They have four priests, six deacons and a religious sister. Our parish has over 3500 families and two priests.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Not an answer but a priest I met once said we don’t have a priest shortage at all because God gives us exactly how many priests we need.
Definitely makes one think. He is a Carmelite.

It’s very good that he is a priest and a Carmelite, but that doesn’t make it true. I respectfully disagree. We do not have all of the priests we need. Due to lack of faith and the abundance of mortal sin in the Church, we may have all of the priests we deserve. But “need” and “deserve” are two different things.

 

[dochawk]

That’s incredible! A parish in our diocese is the largest parish in the USA at just over 10,000 (2017 numbers) families.

hmm. We have two here in Las Vegas larger than the largest parish in the United States? Did we secede while I wasn’t looking? :crazy_face: (It wouldn’t be such a bad idea, if we could decline citizenship to anyone who moved here from California after 1995. They can even stay; they just can’t vote until and unless they go native [up to that point, fleeing Californians were assimilated. After the, the flood was too great, and they seem to stay and vote Californian . . . {and, no, that’s not party politics; until the time, parties just didn’t mean the same thing here as in most of the rest of the country in this state where the pro-life Democrat defeated the pro-abortion Republican candidate for governor . . . }])

 

[Bluebright]

I understand your opinion is by far the most popular hence me saying it makes you think.

He was saying to my limited understanding and thought ( I did not question him on it) if your trust in God is absolute and perfect as it should be, then you know and believe He takes care of us, as we are (broken, sinful and damaged ) and gives us what we need not what we deserve. We did not deserve Jesus coming to die for us on the cross, yet we both needed it and were given it. I think the priest may be right, but that just my opinion. We may need to suffer without priests for our sanctification. God always knows best and always gives us what we need, regardless of whether we deserve it or not.

 

[Shasta-Rose]

Not to mention, they are now zipping around between two to four churches, at least in many dioceses. Our main priest is a young, vigorous man, and he’s running himself ragged, trying to be everywhere at once.