As if we don't have enough troubles. Can you imagine the problems when we have married priests getting divorced, etc. Ending celibacy is not the answer! More wrong solutions to poorly defined problems. Why don't we try some really radical things: don't ordain homosexuals; restore the liturgy; teach the doctrine; serve the poor, sick, and suffering; do the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.... Becoming the Episcopal Church is not the answer. Let's face it, good answers never come from that part of the world. Remember the Dutch catechism?
Catholics Rethink Celibacy Rule
Amen! The problem is not clerical celibacy but the abuse of priestly formation and the failure of the church to teach true Christianity. Instead they teach a watered down Kumbaya sweetness and light and let's be nice to one another which has never been the teaching of the church.
ReplyDeleteThe Church teaches follow Christ ... take up your cross and follow me. Die to yourself and be reborn. You cannot serve the Lord and mammon.
But realistically... what young man is attracted to the priesthood anymore? Those who truly feel a calling probably account for about 10% of seminarians. Our newest young priest flat out tells everyone that he went to seminary because he couldn't find a job out of college. I'm not sure your suggestions are going to help much, either. I'd rather have a married priest than no priest at all.
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree that I would rather have a married priest than no priest at all, but that is the fallacy of the false alternative.
ReplyDeleteI think you underestimate the power of orthodoxy to attract. Look at the women religious. There are few and old vocations among the unfaithful religious orders. The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, as one example, are bursting at the seams with vibrant young women!
God will not be outdone in generosity. The vocations are there. My two previous bishops had a large number of young men entering every year. We had a tremendous vocations director, many orthodox clergy, and many parishes with multiple priests. When Bishop Loverde came, a lot of things changed including the success with vocations. What was the difference? The bishop and his policies. He is more of a CEO than a shepherd. I pray for him every day and hope he is never moved because I don't want to see him advance in the Church hierarchy for his own sake as well as the Church. But he has been hard on the diocese in many ways. Fortunately, orthodox clergy and laity have been able to stymie some of his worst efforts, like trying to institute the horrendous Good Touch/Bad Touch program.