The Church will observe World Priest Day on July 1, which comes shortly after the 60th anniversary of the ordination to the priesthood of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, on June 29.
Much has changed in the Church since the young Fr Ratzinger took holy orders—and some of these changes he had a hand in himself, especially as an advisor at the Second Vatican Council. The changes that resulted from Vatican II have largely enriched the clerical ministry, but one change that has been out of the Church’s control is the decline in vocations to the priesthood, especially in Europe.
The vocations crisis has also affected the Southern African region, which has long benefited from a rich mix of European missionaries and locally-born clergy. Once, the missionary priests (and religious) to Southern Africa tended to come from Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland or Britain. Now they also come from countries such as India and Poland, from South America and from other African countries. We must be grateful for the missionaries who have been so fundamental in building up the local Church, and for those who are coming now to foster the faith in our region.
South Africa, like many African countries, has also become an exporter of priests. Much as we may miss the fine local priests who are serving in other continents, this is a good thing. It is a way for the local Church to repay those churches that helped plant and build the faith in our region.
The African Church can no longer depend on a rich supply of foreign priests for its parochial needs, because the countries that traditionally supplied the mission territories with priests are now suffering serious vocation crises. At the same time, Africa’s statistically impressive increases in vocations to the priesthood are not keeping pace with the growing numbers of Catholics who require pastoral care. In that light, the old models of priesthood will soon become unviable, as in many places it already is.
Some tough questions need to be addressed, including to what extent the laity can be permitted to assume some functions of the ministries currently entrusted to priests; how the model of Small Christian Communities can be developed and applied to the greatest common good; and how the necessary engagement of the laity will affect traditional hierarchies of authority. The answers will affect the relationship between clergy and laity, which already has been fundamentally altered in the past half century — with encouraging results.
Some debates about the future of the priesthood will touch on very sensitive areas. The question of admitting women to ordination to the priesthood in particular is deeply divisive and frequently lacking in charity. It encourages a mutual suspicion that grievously divides the Body of Christ.
The admission of married Anglican clergy in terms of Pope Benedict’s apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, will reignite discussions about whether mandatory clerical celibacy is a necessary and indispensable element in the Latin-rite priesthood, or an anachronistic extravagance at a time when vocations are diminishing.
Dialogue on the future of the priesthood, conducted with charity and love for the Church, can indeed be commendable. At the same time, we also must take care of our priests today.
Our priests need the support of their bishops, of the laity and of one another. Priests need loyal and loving friendship, care, good counsel and competent assistance, tolerance, solidarity and so on. Above all, they need the prayer of all the Church.
The priest in the parish fulfils many roles, such as sacramental minister, administrator and counsellor. However, his chief function, according to Pope Benedict, is to sanctify humanity. “Sanctifying a person means putting that person in contact with God,” the pope said at his general audience of May 5, 2010, adding that “an essential part of a priest’s grace is his gift, his task to establish such contact”.
The Body of Christ must apply its thoughts and efforts towards enabling priests to perform this principal sacerdotal task.
Dear Gunther: thank you for the article. At one part you say, “Africa’s statistically impressive increases in vocations to the priesthood are not keeping pace with the growing numbers of Catholics who require pastoral care. In that light, the old models of priesthood will soon become unviable, as in many places it already is.
I’m having trouble seeing how this follows. Can you please say more?
I meant the models of priesthood in terns of their workload at a time when the numbers of parishioners per priest increase. The idea of one or more priests per parish or mission, doing everything themselves, is not going to be viable. SCCs have provided one response in Africa especially. If the old model was clerically driven, the “new model” involves the laity to a much greater degree (as the editorial proceeds to discuss)
In the 6th paragraph, it is written that ” some tough questions need to be addressed…..etc” . I do hope , I do pray that more liberalization will not be effected. I mean giving even more powers to the laity, giving them duties and powers that are the priest’s. The argument is always: there is a crisis of vocations, we must adapt the Church to the realities, the present, we must try different ways, experiment, innovate. Well, the tree is judged by its fruits. The Church which is Traditional (she cannot be anything else) has 2000 years behind her, she has trusted ways to deal with the liturgy and the well-being of the faithful, she has the mass of all time which is slowly coming back.
I would say take a leaf from Tradition, see how the traditionalists run their seminaries,which produce excellent , well-adjusted, confident priests, see how the sacraments are administered, watch how respectful the faithful are of their priests, see how these same priests spend their life around the altar, in the confessional, praying, santifying thermselves and their flocks, see also the large families which in turn give generously so many priests, nuns, and religious (brothers and nuns) all over the world.
In paragraph 7, the question of women ordination is broached. That’s not necessary : that will not happen in the Holy Catholic Church and there is frankly no need to raise any hope in this matter. I would suggest that the ‘Southern Cross’ should not encourage debate on the ordination of women. Heaven knows how divisive that question is among Catholics. We must follow the Pope, always.
In paragraph 8, the question of married priests is broached. There is always the insinuation that by allowing priests to marry, the seminaries would face a massive invasion of candidates….Nothing could be further from reality. More liberalism and changes would bring a final catastrophe to our Holy Church.
The time has arrived when one must ask those who propagate these revolutionary ideas (ordination of women, marriage of priests, among others) : what is their agenda ? Do they want the Holy Church to come out of this terrible crisis or do they want her to go further down that slippery road of Modernism and ecumenism and Collegiality ?
The solution is rather simple. The Church was not built in 1965, she has a rich history, she has Tradition and her many traditions, countless Saints and Martyrs, she has the encyclicals and teachings of the Popes, she has the means to fight Error, she was successful in fighting errors in the past. For instance, Modernism did not suddenly appear during the Council. It was lurking underground for 200 years but was dealt with by various popes (St Pius X among others, with his famous “Pascendi”).
The reality today is that many Catholics have no idea of the Errors which are destroying the Holy Church, our leaders never mention the word Modernism which fundamentally is what is the cause of our problems. Modernism is the gutter of all heresies.
Dear P.R Margerot: thank you for your wise words. If only more people would listen to what you have to say!
For my part, it seems to me that the only places where vocations are drying up are precisely the places where there is lots of talk about changing the priesthood. At the university where I studied, over 10% of the graduates end up entering the priesthood or the religious life. In fact, I have more than 6 friends who have already entered the seminary or joined a religious order, including my roommte and best friend from universtiy, and I can assure you that none of them were inspired by the modern conception of the priesthood which is considered in this editorial. Instead, they all wanted to become the kind of priest who is conspicuous in the following areas: a strong desire to save souls, unwavering fidelity to the Magisterium and the Pope, and finally a deep love for our Lady and the the Eucharist.
One sure sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our communities is an abundance of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Looking at the rates of vocations in our own comminites, pehaps we could ask: are our communities listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, or are they instead following their own “spirit”?
Dear PR Margeot
Well said!
PR Margeot well said arrticle. I am a seminarian and I tell you all dioceses with Orthodox bishops are being blessed with vocations. The seminary I go to this year has 130 seminarians the highest number in thirty years. It’s really moving to see so many young man graduating from high school and college entering seminary. There is more to priesthood other than the changes that the writer is suggesting. Therefore I ask for your prayers and that the Lord may touch the hearts of so many young people to respond to Christ invitation to the priesthood and religious life.