Nil desperandum! Never despair!
We have reason to celebrate.
12+ years ago when I first started to get the clue that what was being handed to me as “Catholic” in school was not kosher, what resources did I have? Now we have the net, more orthodox books being written and more reprinted than EVER before in history.
Thousands of Catholic websites and resources for teaching, apologetics, spirituality, Church history…
In 2 years the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter will turn 20 – they are celebrating ordinations monthly. I am no insider, but from what I hear, their seminary in Nebraska – Our Lady of Gudalupe – is bursting at the seems. (Same too for their German seminary). Senior seminarians are graciously agreeing to “double bunk” in rooms intended to be single rooms for senior seminairians… and that was built way back… oh, 8 years ago?
It was full the day building was complete.
The Norbertines in Orange County are having a vocations crunch- they are too crunched in to a small property and need a BIGGER place…
In less time than the most orders have been around Bl. Theresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity have grown to over 4,500 nuns and is active in 133 countries. The numbers of the priests and brothers are ALSO growing.
The Diocese of Arlington is about to have more priests than rectories to put them in. What to do? They do have a “Vocations crunch” too… They have 60 parishes… “Of those 60 parishes, only 42 are now staffed by diocesan priests. “We’ll ordain 22 men in the next 14 months,” Father Gould the vocations director points out. “The real problem will be finding 22 beds for them.
The Archdiocese of Newark recently did ordain 17 men to the priesthood.
So did the Archdiocese of Denver…
Do you know what else Denver, Newark & Arlington have in common? For all their vocations, none of them can be found on the list of the top-12 diocese with the highest seminarian to Catholic ratio which includes:
1. Lincoln ( 38/93,988)
2. Juneau (2/5473)
3. Tulsa (17/55,462)
4. Rapid City (7/25,729)
5. Cheyenne (13/49,121)
6. Duluth (18/68,037)
7. Peoria (43/174,008)
8. Denver (93/384,611)
9. Wichita (28/120,527)
10. Lexington (11/48,070)
11. Tyler (14/61,390)
12. Bismarck (14/62,898)
13. Fargo (18/82,891)
14. Nashville (15/69,400)
15. Spokane (21/97,655)
16. Pensacola-Tallahassee (14/65,209)
17. Memphis (14/67,342)
18. Mobile (14/67,434)
19. Yakima (16/77,149)
20. Sioux City (17/87,528)
In the past 20 years over 1000 Orthodox clerics – the descendants of the crushed Greek Catholic unia – have returned to Rome and they built a new university in Ukraine…. You would not have seen this many seminarians in the Greek Catholic seminaries of Eastern Europe 20 years ago. Well, you would not have seen a Greek Catholic seminary period. It was illegal to be a Greek Catholic in many places 20 years ago.
In the past 20 years over 500+ Evangelical ministers have joined the ranks of the Scott Hahn march to Rome sweet home…
In the past 20 years over 400 ministers of the Anglican communion have “poped.”
Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist haven’t finished building their new motherhouse yet and are already almost out of room…
There are now over 16.6K permanant deacons in the US. On balance, we have MORE clergy in the US than we did 40 years ago when they are counted. They are not priests, but they are under the grace of Holy Orders and many of them are working doing amazing things… Currently there are 3.5K men in various stages of formation. It is reasonable to expect that there will be over 20,000 deacons in the US within 10 years.
Not Too Shabby Greek Catholics is an article that points to the growth of the diaconate in 2007 among the Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian) parishes in the US. The Eparchy (Diocese) of Van Nuys now enjoys the distinction of having the highest deacons to faithful ratio in America.
Community Of St. John: 32 Years, 500 Members & Growing is another well kept secret in America… founded in 1975 by five or six university students under the guidance of a Dominican priest, Fr Marie-Dominique Philippe. They are now a Congregation of diocesan right, approved by the Church, with over five hundred members, about two hundred of whom are priests. Not extremely well known in the US, I believe they soon will be. They have set up in NJ and Texas and by all accounts they are doing land-office business in attracting new vocations.
Also from France, but not yet here in the US… The Canons of Lagrasses. These worthy gents have just (as of 2004) moved into and begun to restore an ancient abbey in France that was looted and closed during the French Revolution. They are the Canons of Lagrasse.
The seminarians that are in place to become priests in the US are a rather impressive breed these days. Gone are the watered down, effete guys who seem like they would do better as social workers..
I give you some of the seminarians from the Diocese of Saginaw:
And the gals that make a cameo? They are The Intercessors of the Lamb a community that was erected May 27, 1998, as a Public Association of the Christian Faithful. They now have over 65 members and are going rather strong. They include sisters, brothers and priests. They pray for priests and are involved in family formation.
The Missionaries of the Poor: “The Missionaries of the poor is an international monastic order of Brothers dedicated to Joyful Service with Christ on the Cross to serve the poorest of the poor. The order was started in 1981 by Father Richard HoLung and has now grown to over 300 brothers.”
Here is a list of orders that are growing and that celebrate the Tridentine Mass (a rite the most of the bishops in dying diocese would likely cross the street to avoid!):
* Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
* Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem
* Canons Regular of the Mother of God
* Religious Institute of the Holy Cross of Riaumont
* Benedictines – Triors
* Benedictines – St. Pierre de Clairac
* Benedictines – Randol
* Benedictines – Le Barroux
* Benedictines – Gaussan
* Benedictines – Fontgombault
* Benedictines – Clear Creek
* Institute of St. Philip Neri
* Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer
* Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
One such group, consists of a group of priests and faithful who were fully and wholly reconciled to the Holy See under Pope John Paul II.
* Apostolic Adminstration of St. John Mary Vianney
Exciting new movements?
*Miles Jesu
*Heralds of the Gospel
Watch This: Vocations Crisis – Is There One?
The OSJ fathers isn Nigeria
Divine Word ordinations in the Phillipines
Opus Dei in Rome
Dominicans in Poland
Passionists in the Phillipines
Dominicans in the Phillipines
Keep your eyes on the prize, brothers and sisters – Catholics are called to joy even in suffering. But at times, if you look closely, you can be fortunate enough to notice, it is not all suffering.
David Bennett
Jennifer
asimplesinner
Fr. J.
Chad Toney
Jorge Flores
Jonathan B
carmelbennett
nicenehobbit
Jason S
jaybird68
papaz
Dave Hartline
July 15, 2007 at 3:47 pm |
Simple Sinner;
Thank you for all the info! It was a wonderful, uplifting thing to see first thing this Sunday morning. You’re right, we don’t hear all the good news that’s out there, but there are, indeed, signs of revitalization and growth and…gulp!…dare I say it?…a return to ORTHODOX Catholicism! Yay, God!
July 16, 2007 at 7:49 pm |
Thanks for this uplift. BTW, the Pensacola-Tallahassee link is http://www.ptdiocese.org. I’m kind of shocked to see us in the top 12. We only have 15 seminarians, and only 1 ordination this year, though we will obviously have some years coming up with 3 or 4. I guess 15 seminarians to 60K Catholics in the area is not bad, but I guess the real problem is the low Catholic population in the area (probably over a million people). It’s still frustrating, though, to be at the largest parish in the diocese, 2600 families, 6 weekend masses, with only 2 priests who are stretched to their limits.
July 16, 2007 at 7:58 pm |
Mephibosheth,
A parish that size could certainly use a few good deacons to help alleviate some of the work of the priests.
Per chance is this a vocation you have considered for yourself?
July 16, 2007 at 8:30 pm |
We do have 3 permanent deacons, though 1 is rather limited in his duties due to serious illness. We have 3 in formation, all to be ordained in 3 years, I believe.
I am open to the possibility, though the diocese requires 5 years after conversion/reversion–and I’m only 1 year into that window.
July 17, 2007 at 7:33 am |
Mephibosheth,
Welcome home. Its great to be back, isn’t it?
5 or 6 deacons to be expected in your parish in the coming years?
What a happy blessing! Do keep them in your prayers!
In the mean time, what work around the parish might you and your family be able to offer to help?
Also, confessions of an ex-seminarian here… In the time I spent at the seminary, a handful of people sent me Christmas cards or little notes of encouragement… sometimes with a small gift card for a restaraunt or passes to go see a movie.
They were always welcome!
Encourage your seminarians and diaconal candidates with notes, cards, small tokens. It goes a long way.
July 17, 2007 at 1:24 pm |
Thanks for the encouraging post. I linked to it on my blog today after yesterday’s news about the abuse settlement in LA. It was a breath of fresh air.
July 18, 2007 at 3:31 am |
Tiber Jumper,
You have a great blog yourself!
NEVER despair.
20 years ago when things seemed really bad – orders dying, the Church in Eastern Europe underground or oppressed, liberation theologians holding sway everywhere, appeals to “the spiriti of Vatican 2″, “re-imagining the laity” (i.e. clericalization of select laity) as well as any number of methods and tactics to explain away some of the “out-moded”/”old-fashioned”/”out-of-sync-with-the-consensus-of-the-laity” teachings like male priesthood, celibate priesthood, contraception, etc.
But while the worst of this was going on, what was else was happening? The faithful remained strong in their faith, and some of these new and renewed orders blossoming today were just starting out. Mere seedlings of the saplings they are today, and the strong trees they will be tomorrow.
You know, there are MANY orders I did not mention….
I also did not touch on the statistical manipulation done on the part of some writers about the number of vocations today relative to 100 years ago (priests per capita) or the number of vocations when deacons are included (a very positive growth rate when that is considered.)
If anyone happens to know of a good site or blog dedicated to this sort of reporting, please share.
If anyone is ever in the Columbus, OH area, look me up. We will go pay a visit to the PCJ – Pontifical College Josephenum – and I can introduce you to some REAL MEN under 40 studying for the priesthood.
Your spirit will sore, and your hope will be renewed.
We aren’t dying, just waking up from a nap.
July 23, 2007 at 12:05 am |
Great information you provided…as always! Thanks!
August 2, 2007 at 12:22 am |
Web links:
Benedictines Randol – http://www.randol.org/
Benedictines Le Barroux – http://www.barroux.org/
Benedictines Gaussan – http://www.bizanet.net/Gaussan.htm
Benedictines Fontgombault – http://site.voila.fr/fontgombault/abbaye.htm
Benedictines Clear Creek – http://www.clearcreekmonks.org/
Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer – http://www.chemere.org/
August 2, 2007 at 8:25 am |
much obliged for the links…
I will make an effort in the next few days to attach them to the post…
August 5, 2007 at 11:23 pm |
A little nitpicking. Your stats from the Diocese of Arlington are 12 years old (1995). Fr. Gould is not the current vocations director, and that diocese is definitely not ordaining that many these days.
August 6, 2007 at 6:46 am |
“A little nitpicking. Your stats from the Diocese of Arlington are 12 years old (1995). Fr. Gould is not the current vocations director, and that diocese is definitely not ordaining that many these days. “
Ahhh… The difficulties of using online materials at times… Those stats were taken from an article that appeared in 2003… I will have to do some research and get this one right…
Thanks for the tip!
August 6, 2007 at 7:00 am |
http://www.arlingtondiocese.org/offices/vocations/vocspot-seminarians.html
Hmm… They are not ordaining as many as they were that year…
But 23 seminarians listed there…
Not too shabby.
August 8, 2007 at 11:43 am |
Thanks for the nice comment about our abbey’s “vocation crunch”. We got a lot of hits from the link you posted! :-) God bless!
Fr Joseph Horn, O.Praem.
Webmaster, http://www.StMichaelsAbbey.com
August 20, 2007 at 3:14 am |
Fr. Joseph,
You keep training all those fine men for service to the Church, and I will keep posting links to it!
Keep em coming!
October 16, 2007 at 9:47 pm |
I do make efforts to update this post on a regular basis.
If you know of orders or diocese that are much-blessed and orthodox, please leave comment so that I can include them. With your comment – if possible – also include a link to their websites or other websites where photos or videos can be found.
November 15, 2007 at 5:14 pm |
See also Scotland’s Sisters of the Gospel of Life (not related to the New York community): http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uaHXbSaxo&eurl=http://cardinalwinningprolifeinitiative.wordpress.com/
December 7, 2007 at 11:24 pm |
Thanks Anonymous… I posted that vid.
March 15, 2008 at 12:24 pm |
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April 5, 2008 at 1:47 pm |
OH! Thank you raising my spirits up. That is wonderful information. God bless all the priests and religious.
December 7, 2009 at 11:32 pm |
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