On the 19th of June, Pope Benedict inaugurated the Year of the Priest – a year of reflection and prayer on priesthood as a gift of God to the church and the world.
This may have come not a minute too soon. Some journalists even in church media have been predicting the demise of the priesthood for some time now. And the news does not get any better. Waves of new revelations of clerical abuse arise regularly, and more seminaries are still precariously near to closing in many Western countries. There is some good news – numbers of recruits in British seminaries are up, and in Seoul, South Korea for example, two seminaries each have 400+ students. The Regional Seminary in Suva is full. However the way to healing and restoration of morale of the present generation of clergy is not obvious.
About the time the Holy Father launched the Year of the Priest my Marist ordination group began our 40th year as priests. Of the 18 Aspirants who began in my year, 12 took First Vows two years later, 6 were ordained to priesthood, of whom 3 remain in ministry. Of our corresponding group at the diocesan seminary 32 started, 9 were ordained, and 5 are still in ministry. This geometric attrition rate is fairly common for intakes in the 1960s, and the arithmetic points to critical shortages being experienced now. Already Asian and Pacifican priests are staffing parishes in Australia and New Zealand, and this aid from sister churches has been a feature of church life since the Acts of the Apostles.
But renewing the priesthood is about more than filling vacancies.It is about admitting something important has gone wrong. In my view, what developed as the ministerial priesthood in the Western Church was a long way from what Christ wanted and what the Church needed. Christ wanted pastors after his own heart, weak enough to suffer like the Master and feel the sufferings of the people to whom they are sent. What we got was an all-too-human monarchical power-structure with the priest at the top with autocratic control over people and resources. Difficult for a good man, and disastrous for an ambitious one. In a word, clericalism has trumped the suffering servant.
Iris Barrow, an NZ psychologist and author of many books, once remarked, “most of the priests I know are on their pedestals quietly cracking up”. Obviously she would be in contact mostly with the strugglers. Other research done by Steve Rosetti in USA gives a different picture – most priests are happy with their lot. Of course, those answering his survey have survived the tsunami and are still in ministry.
The vocation has always required a certain degree of isolation, but the accompanying prestige is often small compensation, if it has survived at all. Young men who might choose such a life need to be humble and ready to suffer with their people. And ready to love their fellow priests as brothers in the Lord. The priesthood is indeed a taonga (treasure) but in earthen vessels.The Year of the Priest needs to encourage the men who carry this gift of God that it may be a joyful burden, and encourage young men to contemplate the journey.
– Brian O’Connell SM Editor of the Marist Messenger
Source: Marist Messenger