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BISHOP'S COLUMN

A common duty to call forth priests

We face a serious crisis of vocations to the ministerial priesthood in our diocese. Our Diocese is not unique in this regard; it is the reality facing most dioceses in our nation and throughout the western world.

To put this into perspective, let me share some statistics from my years as a seminarian and priest in the Diocese of Albany. When I entered Mater Christi seminary in 1956, there were 25 candidates in my class and more than 150 in the eight-year formation process; today we have 11 candidates. 

When I was ordained a priest in 1963, there were more than 400 active diocesan priests, and 300-plus when I was named bishop in 1977. Now, 32 years later, we have 124 active diocesan priests. Fortunately, we have 35 retired priests who continue to serve and without whom we could not minister to the people of our Diocese.

Good for now 
We have just completed the Called to be Church pastoral planning process, which should hold us in fairly good shape for three to five years. But without an increase in priests, further closures and mergers will be needed and we may not be able to have a full Eucharist in all of our parishes each weekend.

We have been trying to remedy this situation. Rev. James Walsh is on the road every weekend preaching in parishes. He, Rev. David LeFort and Sister Rosemary Cuneo, the members of our Vocation Team, and our seminary candidates have been conducting high school, college and discernment retreats. We have established the Isaac Jogues House of Discernment for the formation of pre-theology students and for vocation recruitment. 

We have had the Called by Name program, Shadow a Priest Days, summer drop-ins and suppers with the Bishop. We have sponsored ads on radio and TV and even billboards. We have developed a website which is state-of-the-art. We have also promoted vocation awareness committees in the parishes and deaneries of our Diocese. 

Limited success
But, even with these efforts, over the past 32 years we have ordained only 70 priests, or an average of 2.2 per year. Why are our efforts not bearing greater fruit? 

There are a variety of factors. Let me mention briefly the most common. 

First, there is the growing secularization of our society where the material trumps the spiritual and where the role of religion and the clergy has been diminished in status. At one time the wider society supported the values and ideals of the various faith communities. This is no longer the case. 

Second, we have lost the close-knit "Catholic culture" where territorial and ethnic parishes were the center of people's lives. 

These were the hub of educational, social and spiritual activities which elicited deep bonds of loyalty and affection. People defined themselves as being from a given parish.

Third, there is the discipline of celibacy which, while a gift and a charism, can be seen as an obstacle in a society which places a premium on sexual intimacy and pleasure. The inability of the priest to marry and have a family is the reason most frequently given for declining or leaving the seminary.

Fourth, there is often a lack of parental support and even parental opposition to a son choosing the priesthood. All parents want their children to be happy. However, even though a recent Time magazine poll revealed that priests ranked No. 1 on the happiness and fulfillment scale, with the declining number of priests and the number of priests who have left priestly ministry to marry or for other reasons, many believe the priesthood is neither happy nor fulfilling.

Further, as families shrink, parents worry that if the son enters the priesthood there is less a chance of perpetuating the family name or of having grandchildren upon whom to dote. 

Fifth, there is the terrible scandal of clergy sexual abuse which has tarnished the image of priests and the priesthood. I would note, however, that the decline of vocations began long before these violations of sacred trust became daily fodder for the media.

Perceived sexism
Sixth, the rise of feminism has called into question the teaching of the Church which limits ordination to celibate males. This teaching is viewed by some, male and female alike, as discriminatory and the product of a patriarchal culture which no longer is credible or even acceptable in contemporary Church and society.

Seventh, the "graying" of the clergy (our median age in the Diocese is now 66 years old) can make it difficult for priests to relate to contemporary youth culture.

Eighth, there is an anti-institutional, anti-authoritarian mentality which arose in the 1960s and that continues to this day, now exacerbated by the failure of our economic leaders and government regulators to protect the interests of investors and consumers.

Culture contra
Ninth, along these same lines, the individualism, consumer-ism, moral relativism, hedonism, scientism and growing agnostic or atheistic trends within our society have created a powerful cultural mix which is antithetical to the core values of our Judaic Christian heritage. 

This cultural stew has made the relatively low-paying, and the perceived hierarchical and ritually-scripted ministry of the priesthood less attractive than it may have been to previous generations. 

Tenth, the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council shifted from a vertical hierarchical model of Church to the more horizontal, "People of God" concept. In the former model, clergy and religious appeared responsible for the life and mission of the Church. Further, it seemed that ordination or religious profession elevated a person to a status of spiritual superiority and a more perfect way of life.

Ministers all
The Second Vatican Council, however, emphasized that every member of the Church by virtue of baptism and confirmation is called to holiness and ministry. This shift in ecclesiology resulted in an explosion of lay ministry. 

Thus, the idea of a higher calling of priesthood and religious life, and the clericalism and privilege which it sometimes produced, has now been replaced in many quarters by a kind of egalitarianism which tends to look upon the ministerial priesthood as just one among many ways in which people can serve God and others.

In other words, in reaction to an exaggerated pre-Vatican II cultic status of the priest, over the past four decades the sacerdotal role has been diminished.

I am sure there are many other factors which have contributed to the challenge of recruiting candidates for the contemporary priesthood. Some people feel that until institutional issues such as married priests and women priests are addressed by Church authorities, they are not going to promote priestly vocations. 

Patient hope 
We must remember that ours is a universal Church which changes only slowly, and can never be the Church that any one of us wants it to be. 

Whatever the reasons men are not choosing the priesthood, we face a grave crisis and we must do what we can to address this crisis constructively and aggressively.

The bishop has a major role in this regard, and so do the members of the Vocation Team and Priesthood Formation Board. But we are not solely responsible. Rather, it is our collective mission as members of the Church to create a culture of vocations. 

All of us - priests, deacons, religious, catechists, youth ministers, parents, grandparents and parishioners - must create a culture of vocations within our Diocese. We must pray for vocations and be alert and attentive to any prospective candidates and cultivate that person's interest in a vocation to the priesthood.

Final vow 
I assure you of my commitment to make the promotion of priestly vocations for our diocese a priority in the years I have left as your bishop. I love priests and the priesthood and, having to do it over again, I would choose this ministry in a New York minute. 

I can't conceive of a more rich and fulfilling vocation or of a greater purpose for one's life than proclaiming the Good News, celebrating the Eucharist and the sacraments, building up the Christian community and serving our brothers and sisters in the society and world in which we live. 

In the years ahead, then, I hope all within the Church will make the promotion of vocations to the ministerial priesthood a priority. For without the ordained priesthood there can be no Eucharist. And without the Eucharist the Church, the Body of Christ, is incomplete and not able to nurture its members adequately to fulfill our collective and joyful mission.

(05/07/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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