When bishops stifle vocations

  • Thread starter Thread starter IronHammer
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I

IronHammer

Guest
Our bishop has repeatedly stated that the vocations shortage in our diocese is our problem to fix. I agreed until he began closing/combining parishes. I agreed until I saw what a huge load our own priest is dealing with in our parish.

I am of the firm conviction that our bishop is actually hurting the faithful in his diocese with this policy towards vocations. Why not invite other priests, at least temporarily, into our diocese? Why not ask other bishops with extra priests (Bp. Bruskewitz?) to lend a few for a couple of years. Why not appeal to the FSSP or ICKSP (God knows we need priests of that caliber) for help?

Instead we are closing parishes and discouraging our existing priests. It sets a terrible example for those discerning the priesthood.

Sorry, but I just don’t understand how a bishop cannot ask for help when his diocese is in need.

Ora pro nobis, Mater Dei
 
I should also mention that this bishop has no visible program going to encourage vocations. I would think, in a diocese that’s hurting for priests, he would be out at every parish talking about vocations, talking at the catholic high schools, etc. We see nothing of him until Easter when he comes for the annual confirmation class.

It’s very discouraging.
 
Kind of hard to judge your bishop without all the facts, isn’t it? I would suggest softening your tone at least down to speculation, although going all the way down to faith isn’t a horrible choice.

Please realize that even if the number of priests in your diocese doubled, your local parish priest would still have one of the toughest jobs on the planet.

If you happened to be blessed with extraordianry financial success you might consider sponsoring some kind of priest scholarship for your diocese. Other than that, about all you can do is to do your best to honor the priesthood, encourage young people to listen for a call, and to pray diligently that the lord of the harvest will send more laborers into the harvest.

You’re right that it does start with the bishop, but even if you are right that there is fault on this level, I don’t see anything you can do on the practical level except, again, to pray for his holiness.

Most of us share your pain. Have faith in the Lord to fulfill his promises to shepherd us.:gopray:
 
bbentrup said:
I would suggest softening your tone at least down to speculation, although going all the way down to faith isn’t a horrible choice.
Click to expand...
You are right. I am just very frustrated like everyone else. I am sorry if I came across too strong. I am a firm believer in following the appointed leadership…following the Church to the letter. Sometimes I wonder where we would be if other decisions were made at the diocesan level, that’s all.
bbentrup said:
…about all you can do is to do your best to honor the priesthood, encourage young people to listen for a call, and to pray diligently that the lord of the harvest will send more laborers into the harvest.
Click to expand...
Our whole community prays in earnest every mass (myself, nightly) for an increase in vocations.
bbentrup said:
You’re right that it does start with the bishop, but even if you are right that there is fault on this level, I don’t see anything you can do on the practical level except, again, to pray for his holiness.
Click to expand...
There are two young men from our parish in formation. They indicate that their fellow seminarians are a new breed. They are loyal to the teachings of the Church and Her traditions. I pray that we are seeing the tip of a iceberg.
bbentrup said:
Most of us share your pain. Have faith in the Lord to fulfill his promises to shepherd us.:gopray:
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. Sometimes I forget to trust in Him. Lesson learned. I will say a rosary tonight for vocations.

Pax vobiscum
 
What diocese are you in?

Your address says Block Island, RI, which I believe is in the Diocese of Providence.

Their website has a Vocations Website with a seminary and 19 seminarians, an email address and a blog, among other things.
 
IronHammer said:
Our bishop has repeatedly stated that the vocations shortage in our diocese is our problem to fix.
Click to expand...
To a certain extent he is correct. The Catholic priesthood is obviously not a hereditary calling. Each generation must call out its own priests from within its midst. Each generation of priests comes from a particular generation of Catholic families.

Yes, the bishop and the diocese should do everything possible to encourage religious vocations. But so should families. If parents don’t encourage their sons to consider the priesthood, who will?
 
Saginaw and Lansing, Michigan both have relatively new bishops that are very dedicated to promoting vocations…a wonderful thing! 🙂
 
God does not stop calling men, men stop listening.

So . . . I’d say step up the prayers for vocations. Do some holy hours, too.

Doesn’t help the whole diocese, but it’s something you can do.
 
Ironhammer, assuming you’re a man, have you offered yourself for the Diaconate?
 
bpbasilphx said:
Ironhammer, assuming you’re a man, have you offered yourself for the Diaconate?
Click to expand...
Yes, I am a man. If I had my conversion at a much younger age (and had I been Catholic back then) I would have been a priest. In the meantime, I do my best to instill strong Catholic values in my family. My vocation is my fatherhood and being a good husband. I am not currently able to study for the Diaconate for various reasons. Besides, I question their usefulness in the Church. With their sacramental abilities somewhat limited I just don’t see how having more Deacons helps the priest shortage.
 
I know it sounds backwards, but closing and combining parishes may have the opposite effect of what you imagine.

Presumably the Bishop is not making it a strain for people to get to a Parish, I know here I have 3 Churches within about 10-15 minutes of me. Innumerable well within an hour.

Now Imagine if Those three close to me were to combine. My parish has 1 priest, the next closest has I believe 3 plus one in residence and 2 deacons. The third has at least two. Imagine them all being at one Parish. 6 Priests, 2 deacons. Even if the did not all concelebrate. I have been at very few “normal Masses” with more than just one priest. It would be awesome to have 2 or 3 and a deacon up there every Sunday. Not to mention EMHCs would be reduced. Young men need to see the variety that is in the priesthood. That just because their priest is a 70 year old book worm, doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a 25 year old who likes to go sailing or hunting or any other thing.
 
A couple of things…first of all, where do you live that you have a parish with three priests and one in residence? What a great blessing.

Second, we need more parents to encourage their sons to consider the call. I was in the seminary for four years and then, much to my surprise, the Lord led me out of the seminary. I came home, and even though they did not explicitly say so, I could tell that many people were sad, upset, or disappointed that I did not continue on in the seminary. In general, people just didn’t understand, but I was kind of hurt by it because it showed me that they wanted me to be a priest because the Church needs priests, not because it is my vocation and my own path to holiness. The thing I wanted to ask all of them was, “Have you asked YOUR son to be a priest? Or, do you just want the priests to come from other people’s families?”

As it turns out, after taking a year to discern, I think that God really is calling me to be a priest and I’m planning to go back to the seminary in a couple of weeks and begin First Theology, and, God willing, be ordained in four years. The point though is that vocations come from families, and not just everybody else’s family, but YOUR family. Vocation work is not a, “Not in my backyard,” field.
 
There are many things that “stifle” a vocation and sometimes it is the very en that are put in charge of the seminaries. I know one who was “released” because he was “too pious”…another “too conservative”. Some are never considered because of debt from college…

There are young men out there and at times you have to wonder if it is a “manufactured shortage”. Has anyone ever read, Goodbye, Good Men? There are those who discredit the book but many on the inside say that there is much validity to it.

I love my faith…but the Church does cause harm to its flock at times.
 
I’ve read Goodbye, Good Men and I think there was probably truth to it in the day, but those days are long gone. The fact of the matter is that most seminaries today are very orthodox, in line with the Church on all matters. I have never known of anyone to get kicked out for being “too orthodox” or “too conservative.” I think a lot of times men who have been asked to leave a formation program give this as an excuse when the truth is much deeper. For example, a man who constantly criticizes his bishop and thinks that he is more Catholic than the Pope should be asked to leave if he does not reform these practices. He is just as much a dissident as someone who rejects the Church’s teaching on marriage for example.
 
buc_fan33 said:
A couple of things…first of all, where do you live that you have a parish with three priests and one in residence? What a great blessing.
Click to expand...
Diocese of St. Augustine, FL. Im really not sure why they have so many.
 
buc_fan33 said:
…“Have you asked YOUR son to be a priest? Or, do you just want the priests to come from other people’s families?”
Click to expand...
So far, my wife and I have had two girls. But we just found out we are going to have our first boy! I have no loftier hope than that he become a servant of God. I will spend the next 16 to 18 years doing my best to form him in the ways of God and make sure he knows that the priesthood is the highest vocation he could choose. Naturally, I won’t push him to do anything he doesn’t want to do but I have to ensure that he understands the priesthood as a very special vocation in life, indeed the most important. I also pray that my girls would one day consider the consecrated life and service to Our Lord.
 
Thank you! We need more parents who are willing to do what you are doing in forming your children in the faith. Blessings on your family and prayers for your wife and unborn son during her pregnancy.
 
reginacaeli said:
Are the Priests members of a religious order, or diocesan?
Click to expand...
all diocesan, the one in residence works for the diocese doing annulments and such, when I asked what he did, it was put “what doesn’t he do”.

I know the one priest is bilingual, and the parish has a huge spanish speaking population.

Other than that, they just luck out:p
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top