Catholic Sensibility

If the institutional church were interested in making an accurate assessment of the priesthood, it would consider taking some concrete steps to study the situation of declining priest-to-laity. The two frequent positions I hear trumpeted most often leave me dissatisfied: A It's the Holy Spirit's work B It's selfish human nature rearing (i.e. the culture) its head in the young While touted by opposite ends of the Catholic ideological spectrum, these positions share one commonality. The passive approach might have worked well enough for the middle part of the previous century when vocations were booming, presumably. On point A, I would counter we're all adults making discernments here. Actually setting aside one's possessions and attachments, picking up one's cross, and following Christ is a life activity God invites us to do. But thinking human beings have to accept the invitation for it to work. It may or may not be spiritually or ideologically convenient the priesthood is trimming down. People are still being attracted to it in significant numbers, and staying on board in significant numbers despite new challenges. That tells me God is at work in the invitation, and people are saying yes. Point B is popular with those who ascribe to modern society a cornucopia of evils that circumvent the healthy routine of call and response. I don't buy this either. People who have themselves failed to look in the mirror tend to blame others for their problems. Even if it's accurate, the blame game cultivates a similar acedia in its players. An alternative would be to survey clergy of all ages to discover the environments they were in that attracted them to the priesthood. What would we find? What age would the call be coming, and how would the shape of that age dynamic change over the past forty years? Where would the call come: the parish? the home? school? A few factors that would interest me that would help vocation directors focus their efforts: - How much has higher education drawn teens away from considering the priesthood? Many parents of the past two generations autoslot their kids into college. In society, career and marriage have been put off till after college. One can still meet available future spouses in and after college, but are seminary-recruiters giving up at the wrong time? The relevant study would be to see how the GI Bill affected seminary enrollment in the late 1940's. But is such a study even possible today? - The old profile of a kid going up the ranks through a whole line of all-boys' schools sounds impressive on paper. It presumes that a lack of female presence in their lives will result in lean, mean celibate (and orthodox) machines. But does it? One would think a call from God would be persistent all through dances, dating, co-ed classes, college life, and all. And with guys coming to the priesthood in their thirties and later, we see it is so. One side note on Mass attendance. Only ostriches and hyperreligious eugenicists deny the problem of declining Mass attendance. But there's no doubt that many potential religious vocations are sitting at home because the parents can't be bothered with Sunday Mass. I've met dozens of kids over the past twenty years who have a deeper spiritual connection to God than other kids with the advantages of parental support. People still put all their eggs in the parish school basket, and unless their main objective is a cheap college prep education, they're missing the boat. In casting their kids adrift without the faith grounding previous generations had, they misdiagnose that intellect and social environment are not the main cultivating environment for religiosity. Where do I think the best diocesan and parish efforts for vocations awareness should be? - Liturgy: making it attractive for inactive Catholics, especially their kids. It stands to reason that twice as many people active in their parishes will net at least twice as many candidates for religious life or priesthood. - Young adult ministry in colleges and amongst twenty-somethings. Dioceses might as well shut down their vocations offices if they're intent on closing down campus ministry. Parishes should be at the front lines for the young out-of-college crowd. - Pastoral presence of clergy everywhere. Just hanging out (and being approachable) should be 10-20% of a priest's time on the clock.