News stories have been all about the blogosphere as to the situation of the priesthood in Ireland. Namely, there are not as many priests as are needed, and the average age is somewhere in the 60s, with no replacements coming up through the system to replace them. The claim is made, Ireland is running out of priests?
But are they?
What are they running out of exactly?
Priests and candidates…?
… or bishops and formators that will go out into the street and ask for seminarians?
There are a number of small and growing religious orders that seem to find the fields “ripe for the harvest” and are having no trouble finding men…
But to find them you have to look, then you have to ask, then you have to repeat.
13 years ago when I was 18ish and newly graduated from high school I and another Catholic lad of the same age and circumstance were spending a Saturday afternoon – a beautiful one at that – volunteering in some capacity (pulling weeds or something) at an inner city parish. The plainclothes-wearing priest came up, introduced himself, we talked for a few minutes, told him what Catholic high school we just graduated from, which Catholic parishes were our home parishes… The conversation was brief and filled with small talk.
Several months later I would come to find out that Father Smalltalk was actually the vocations director for the diocese! In the course of his chat with two 18 year olds who were sacrificing an afternoon that could have been better spent at a pool or out messing around playing softball or throwing back some beers, we were there offering some service and were known to be Catholics he did not seize on the opportunity to ask us if either ever thought about priesthood.
(Conversely I ask every unmarried man I trip over NEAR a Catholic Church to pray about it and pray for vocations…)
Do you think that might in part explain why the diocese (which now has a new director, new bishop, and 25ish seminarians) only had 1-2 seminarians a year for most of the 80s and 90s?
The vocations are there – we just aren’t asking.
I tell people that there is no priest shortage – there is a shortage of Catholics. I really don’t think there are that many of us. And I don’t mean only cranky, wanna-be traditionalists (like me) are Catholic. I would include the whole Vox Nova bunch as well! They are at least engaging their faith. Most people suffering from a priest shortage are a lot of TV-slurping goobs who don’t really want a priest anyway. They just want Oprah or Dr. Phil. When a population of Catholics is serious about the faith…priests appear! (Of course, it takes a while, even under perfect conditions it seems they always need about 25 years to get through infancy, childhood, school, etc. )
When the Missus and I went to Ireland in 2002, to see all the places where my mom’s family is from. I was scandalized by all the Anti-Catholic Catholic Irish people. I thought to myself that Cromwell must have won afterall! We need a new Cardinal Cullen in the Emerald Isle.
Let’s not put the cart before the horse. Given many of the the bishops we have, none but the most heroic of young men would consider the secular priesthood. Why give up so many good things, marriage, family, etc. to live in the mainstream of this watered down religion in a suburban mega-parish? Once our shepherds teach the true faith and the true gospel, we’ll have plenty of priests.
Jacobus – what you say isn’t all that off the mark… though I try to be more optimistic.
Honestly I believe that we are facing a period where – once again – the monastics will come to the fore in aiding the reform. When the bishops don’t act, the monastaries and religous orders will. So invite the Nashville Dominicans, the Ann Arbor Dominicans, the FSSP is gangbusters and has more priests than assignments… The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, Miles Christi, Miles Jesu , Clear Creek Benedictines, Eastern Province Dominicans to come set up shop in Ireland (or wherever) and let them go at it.
Give them a decade – it is still Ireland.
am no Christian leave alone a Catholic, but I agree with Jacobus fully that if the salt of this earth loses its saltiness, it’s pretty useless to whine for more priests.
@ asimplesinner
I think you have a point there about the monks coming to the fore…