Priest Shortages?

[CuriousityKilledThe]

Hello. It seems like I am always hearing about the pressing problem of a shortage of priests in the Catholic church. In fact, just this Sunday at Mass we got a special letter from the Bishop urging vocations and prayers for vocations because this is something they are really worried about. Is the Orthodox church dealing with the same problem of not having enough new priests? If you are having the same priest shortages, what measures is the Church taking to bring in new priests? If you're not having these problems...what is your secret? ;-)

[repentant]

Not really, I don't think so. Our secret is...we allow our Priests to marry, lol.

[EricTheRed]

lol yea that would do it

[moses916]

We have a surplus of Priests here in Toronto, I think one priest is going to be sent back to the middle east. :)

[EricTheRed]

surplus you say? Well then if all the catholics join the orthodox church there will be plenty of priests to go around ;)

[xenia]

Our church has four priests.

[EricTheRed]

four!?!? :eek: The one I went to has one and a archbishop

[Matrona]

There don't seem to be enough where I'm from, IMHO, but apparently that's not true in other parts of the country. :) Maybe some of the "surplus" could come here, or go to the missions.

[choirfiend]

We don't have quite enough in many places where new missions are being started, but that is because we're growing faster than we can get men through seminary!!! As well, parishes are generally required to support their own priest and his family, so some small congregations may not have enough to support a full time priest.
However, in general, no, we're not lacking, our seminaries are full and parishes and missions are growing by leaps and bounds.

This is because so many people are being attracted to the Truth Faith and because we feel that Priests are better at serving a community when they are married. There's no vow of celibacy--we reserve that for those who are called to it in monasticism.

[OnTheWay]

We have two priests and a deacon. Plus the Romanian parish that uses our building has two priests.

I honestly think if the Romans would abandon the restriction of priests from marriage they wouldn't have the shortage issues.

[Annoula]

we have 3 priests in our parish.

but i know that there are villages around Greece that do not have a priest (never happens in towns or even small cities).
i see this problem at our island which has many villages. i think they have some cyclical way like one village gets to have a priest this sunday, another village gets to have a priest next sunday.
something like that.

[ufonium2]

Alaska has a massive priest shortage. But the parishes in small towns are so small and broke that they couldn't afford to support a full-time priest if one were available. Several priests up there are "circuit flyers", flying planes from town to town, serving several different parishes on a part-time basis. I remember years ago there was one priest who was serving five parishes, plus the cathedral sometimes, plus he drove a school bus for a living.

[Xpycoctomos]

think a lot of the missions don't have one because they cannot afford to suppor a priest AND a family. Kind of a catch 22. The Catholic Church has a shortage in part because of their restriction (which I don't criticize), adn some places of ours may have a shortage because they simply can't afford a priest... and two to three additional people that follow along (benefits add up, living expenses, pensions and IRAs are all the MORE important).

Either way it can get compicated... but it seems the numbers show that allowing married priests is little less complicated than restricting marriages.

[Petronius]

Some time ago I was travelling thru Romania and took in the car two youg boys that turned to be students preparing to become priests. Their problem was to find a parish needing a priests and mainly it happens that they are accepted to help an old priest wairting that a parish becomes void of preists and become principal priests there...

[Matrona]

adn some places of ours may have a shortage because they simply can't afford a priest... and two to three additional people that follow along (benefits add up, living expenses, pensions and IRAs are all the MORE important).

A hieromonk can be a parish priest at the bishop's discretion, and a hieromonk wouldn't present nearly as much a financial burden as a married priest might.

[vanshan]

I recently read that the Greek jurisdication in the U.S. has a serious shortage of priests. In the report one parish had to go three years before they got a new priest.

Basil

[Xpycoctomos]

A hieromonk can be a parish priest at the bishop's discretion, and a hieromonk wouldn't present nearly as much a financial burden as a married priest might.

True. From what I understand though, they usually do not like monastics being a priest in family parishes, but this would surely be better than nothing. Also, are there a lot of hieomonks? I mean, do they have many to spare in the US? Just curious... perhaps they do.

John

[Mary of Bethany]

I'm not aware of a priest shortage in our diocese (under Archbp. DMITRI).

We have a full-time priest now and are able to support him. :clap:

It would be nice to have a Deacon, though, to help with services.

Mary

[ShiFuBill]

There's only one in my whole country. The only way we'll get another is by import, which is unlikely for a while, if we get a convert priest, or if I become one. Unfortunately the latter is the most likely.
s.

[drewmeister2]

Not really, I don't think so. Our secret is...we allow our Priests to marry, lol.

Lol, actually, before Vatican II, we had a huge number of vocations. This is why I urge the RCC needs to go back to the Traditional faith and Sacraments, as this will surely increase vocations. But this will take time. Ultimately, though, I don't think allowing men to be married priests will encourage vocations. It may actually drive some away.

[gzt]

I hear that traditionalist Catholic dioceses [like Lincoln, Nebraska, IIRC] are having no trouble with vocations while the liberalist ones are dying.

[OnTheWay]

I hear that traditionalist Catholic dioceses [like Lincoln, Nebraska, IIRC] are having no trouble with vocations while the liberalist ones are dying.

Yeah, I've heard that for the first time in years more Romans are holding the liturgry in Latin than are holding it in the common language of the people. Maybe this push towards Tradition will lead them back to Orthodoxy, let us pray.

[Prawnik]

I hear that traditionalist Catholic dioceses [like Lincoln, Nebraska, IIRC] are having no trouble with vocations while the liberalist ones are dying.

I have read the same thing and thought about posting it, but I am not sure whether or not Lincoln's surplus of candidates is because Lincoln is attracting traditionalists from all over the US or not.

If other Catholic dioceses were to follow Lincoln's lead and take a more traditionalist line, they might attract candidates that would otherwise have gone to places like Lincoln, thus eroding Lincoln's priest surplus.

On the other hand, and perhaps this is just me, but I can't fathom why anyone would want to give their life to what seems to be a diluted version of their own religion. If the priesthood requires sacrifice, why sacrifice oneself for a limp, vague, dumbed-down version of Catholicism? Why not either go for the real thing, or just stay in bed on Sunday mornings?

So maybe the Archbishop of Lincoln is onto something?

[Xpycoctomos]

I have read the same thing and thought about posting it, but I am not sure whether or not Lincoln's surplus of candidates is because Lincoln is attracting traditionalists from all over the US or not.

If other Catholic dioceses were to follow Lincoln's lead and take a more traditionalist line, they might attract candidates that would otherwise have gone to places like Lincoln, thus eroding Lincoln's priest surplus.

On the other hand, and perhaps this is just me, but I can't fathom why anyone would want to give their life to what seems to be a diluted version of their own religion. If the priesthood requires sacrifice, why sacrifice oneself for a limp, vague, dumbed-down version of Catholicism? Why not either go for the real thing, or just stay in bed on Sunday mornings?

So maybe the Archbishop of Lincoln is onto something?

Because you believe it's the Church... Christ layed His life down for a "limp, vague, dumbed-down version of " humanity... and we might do the same for His Bride... however tattered she would be.

If I believed in Papal infallibility and Supremacy in Jurisdiction and so on, I would be Catholic, I HOPE I would lay my life down for Her, celibate or otherwise, no matter how much she might be abused.

I will say that I believe fully that the OC is the True Church. This is not because we have a beautiful liturgy that is truly respected with reverence and keeps a sense of awe... that helps and I am not tahnkful enough for that (I take it for granted that i pretty much go to any EO parish and find the DL treated with respect reverence and that expounds on a sense of Mystery), but we could one day go through the same problems... may in different ways.. but liturgical abuses on a wide scale nonetheless... some feel that there are already liturgical abuses... where do you draw the line. The RC has obviously crossed that line... but how far is too far? i pray to God we never have to deal with this... but at least in the West where we all (Orthodox or not) tend to be scholastic (which leads to a lot of the abuse we have seen in many post-VII american parishes) I think to some extent this is inevitable. But I will stay with Her because I believe She is the Church made up of fallible people that can make bad mistakes.

Just my thoughts.

John

[Prawnik]

I'm not trying to make an anti-Catholic statement - but when faced with a version of a Church that offers a watered-down teaching, but continues to demand a rather high sacrifice from its priests, it's not surprising that candidates for the Priesthood are not abundant.

That doesn't mean that men qualified and called to become Priests in the Catholic Church shouldn't do so, whether in Lincoln or elsewhere. However, the shortage of candidates doesn't surprise me, under the circumstances.

[Xpycoctomos]

I hear where you're coming from. Just wanted to make that clarification. it is a high sacrifice and I am glad that the OC does not see it as a necessary sacrifcie or any indication of whether or not one can/should be a priest.

john

[pilgrimtim]

Demographics are playing a part in the shortage of priests. There is also a shortage of protestant pastors. During the Vietnam conflict many men around 20-24 hid from the draft by attending college and seminary. After Theological training the only sure way to avoid going the Vietnam was to become a priest or pastor. Now forty years later that large influx of priest/pastors are retiring and everyone is seeing enrollment for seminary decrease at the same time large number of men are leaving the work.
In the protestant church they can change their requirements more easily to fast track people. In the Greek Archdiocese there is a 8 years 160,000 dollar price to be a priest. In the GOA there is a need for 60 priests now there are maybe 8 in the pipeline. The Antiochian and Romanian Dioceses do not seem to be suffering from a shortage.
I have a friend waiting to be a priest in Romania or America. We are working through the maze of Orthodox Church in America.

[Xpycoctomos]

In the Greek Archdiocese there is a 8 years 160,000 dollar price to be a priest.



That's ridiculous.

[HandmaidenOfGod]

My priest recently posted in an article in our weekly bulletin that stated in the coming years there will be a shortage of priests due to a generation of priests retiring. This was a pan-Orthodox study that covered all of the major dioceses in the U.S. & Canada. The study also stated that the Church has been trying to encourage priests to put off retirement as long as possible.

On the other hand, I have also read that seminaries such as St. Vladimir's in NY, and St. Tikhon's in PA have been graduating larger and larger classes of late.

At any rate, God will provide.

:)

In XC,

Maureen