The Wall Street Journal has an article up Traditional Catholicism Is Winning -There were 467 new priestly ordinations in the U.S. last year, and Boston's seminary had to turn away applicants..
In case that article disappers at a latter time it has been copied on this page.
A few thoughts on this.
I put the Diocese of Lafayette poster up there for a reason. The sex abuse cases first broke in the Diocese of Lafayette. There was even a TV movie back in the 80's. It rocked the Dioceses. Yet recovered and is a thriving dynamic Diocese. The vocation numbers are a sign of that.
So we keep theses numbers in context above is the Diocese of Lafayette. It has 121 Parishes , a Catholic Population of 304,921 , and Catholic Families are 103,293. I think this is a healthy number. It could be better , but perhaps the sex abuse scandal shows us more is not always better. It's pretty amazing to see how God uses a sin and crisis to purify his Church and bring forth renewal.
It's clear the Vocation uptick in the United States in not in all places. But I can't help but notice it is becoming more uniform year by year.
This is a story that has been going on for some time. Yet the secular media refuse it seems to highlight it that much. It goes against so many story lines.
What's worse is several major Catholic publications have ignored the increasing trend For them it REALLY goes against some invested storylines. This is a shame. Catholicsneed to know what is working in other Dioceses to ask why not here. Yet for every 1 success story we get 30 we are running out of Priests we need to ordain married married men and have female priest stories.
A question should be asked. What kind of back ground did these new Priests come from. That is did they come from conservative or more liberal homes. By Liberal I mean families that dissented on many core teachings of the Church. Evidence shows I think the vast majority of these came from rather Orthodox homes.
What's working and what is not. Needless to say the Bishop plays a key role. However everything from a good Vocation office, to college campus ministry, to a rich on the ground Parish life no doubt plays a role. We should study this , and spread the GOOD NEWS.
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