VOCATIONS CAMPAIGN
Oct-17-2005

Vocations campaign hinges on power of inviting men to priesthood

By Patricia Zapor

Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) --
A new vocations campaign is being launched by the U.S. bishops with the idea that more men simply need to be invited to become priests by priests who are happy with their lives.

Announced in Washington Oct. 14, the program, called Priestly Life and Vocation Summit: Fishers of Men, is based on having dioceses and religious orders convene priests to discuss their vocations, emphasizing the positive aspects, and then encouraging them to invite other men to consider following them.

Father Edward Burns, director of the Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, cited a survey of the 2003 U.S. ordination class in which 78 percent of the men about to be ordained said a priest had invited them to consider the priesthood.

Another poll of young adult Catholics found that only 15 percent had ever been encouraged to think about a religious vocation. In that study by the University of Notre Dame, those who said they had been encouraged to consider the priesthood or religious life said the suggestion came primarily from family members.

A 2001 survey by the USCCB found that about 30 percent of priests actively invite men to consider the priesthood.

Since the 1960s, the number of ordinations in the United States each year has dropped by more than half, to 467 last year. The 2005 Official Catholic Directory reported a total of 43,422 religious and diocesan priests for about 68 million Catholics in the United States, a ratio of about 1 priest for every 1,580 Catholics. In 1966, there were 59,000 priests ministering to 46 million U.S. Catholics, a ratio of about 1 to 800 Catholics.

Father Burns said that in the six dioceses where the program was tested he was surprised by how much the priests appreciated the chance to reflect on what made their vocation rewarding. Even when that part of the program ran for an entire day, he said, some priests said "it wasn't long enough."

Despite the contrary impression sometimes given in popular media, "priests love being priests," Father Burns said.

Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, S.D., chairman of the bishops' Committee on Vocations, said that as a bishop he hoped the program is able to: bring his priests together and encourage them to invite more men to consider the priesthood; help his priests become more enthusiastic about their work and their vocation; and eventually lead to increased numbers of priests.

The four-part program includes interviews with priests to find out what encouraged them to consider a religious vocation; what excites and gives them hope about their work; what about their vocation has nurtured their relationships with God; and what they value most about their vocation.

During a daylong summit, priests are encouraged to reflect on the results of those interviews and discuss ways they can use their renewed sense of commitment to invite others to the priesthood.

"We found that the priests were energized by such discussions," Father Burns said.

The program includes a follow-up phase to keep priests actively encouraging men to consider vocations.

Father Burns said it takes about six months to prepare a diocese to begin the program, which would then be ongoing. Costs to individual dioceses should be no more than whatever it normally costs to gather all the priests for a convocation or other meeting. Preparing the program cost the USCCB about $200,000, including $60,000 for a video depicting priests discussing the rewards of their vocation.

Bishop Cupich said that although there is no mandate to adopt the program he expects all dioceses to participate.

Religious orders also will be encouraged to adopt Fishers of Men, but Bishop Cupich and Father Burns pointed out that because orders tend to have members scattered across multiple states and countries it is much more difficult to bring all their priests together for a summit.