Andrew Sullivan gleefully notes that New York City had only one diocesan priest ordained this year and gleefully blames traditionalism:
The brilliant campaign of the current hierarchy to alienate their own flocks with political posturing, moral baseness, intellectual rigor mortis, and reactionary theology, along with purging the seminaries of any gays or gay-friendly candidates, was supposed to create a more committed, more orthodox, purer, smaller church. It’s working! Congrats to Dolan and Ratzinger. Very soon they will have their church. And it will be empty.
Sullivan mistakes for weakness what is the effect of increased vigor. As Christopher White noted on this blog last month, the New York archdiocese is having a dry year because of beefed-up curricular requirements that have added an extra year to the studies of one class. From his post:
Fr. Luke Sweeney, explained the low number for this year noting that “the seminary formerly had a five-year program: one year of philosophy and four of theology. In 2006 the U.S. bishops asked for two years of philosophy; inserting the extra year caused a “gap year” in which there were no candidates.”
While dissidents within the Church may try to use this year’s low numbers in New York to bolster their calls for women’s ordination and a removal of the celibacy requirement for priests, the latest data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) reveals that ordination rates to the priesthood are at a 20 year high.
And that, friends, is why you read “First Thoughts.”
June 13th, 2012 | 6:03 pm
I actually have one or two other reasons for reading “First Thoughts”, as well as the other offerings here.
Andrew Sullivan, as usual, has his blinders firmly in place. He fails to note that the orthodox dioceses and religious orders have increasing numbers of vocations. That’s the rest of the story.
June 13th, 2012 | 7:42 pm
Not to be too negative, but: (a) that’s not why I read First Thoughts; and, (b) that’s why I do not read Sullivan’s weblog.
June 13th, 2012 | 9:43 pm
Gosh, an extra year of philosophy. I’m sure that will make the homilies ever so much better.
June 13th, 2012 | 9:56 pm
As one “on the ground” in our seminaries not so long ago, it is clearly evident to anyone with eyes that our seminaries are filling up (yes, enrollment nation-wide is on the rise) for…. well, precisely the reasons Mr. Sullivan mocks Cardinal Dolan and Pope Benedict.
It is indeed working, and we couldn’t be happier.
June 14th, 2012 | 2:16 am
Excellent article Mr. Schmitz! If the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska (the smallest archdiocese within the United States I believe) could manage to have four seminarians this year as well as 28 priests, 43 women religious, 13 deacons, and 3 religious brothers then I think New York’s archdiocese will be just fine (I’m from Illinois by the way so I really had to search for those stats!)
It is unfortunate that Mr. Sullivan has apparently not taken the time to investigate the results of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate’s 2009 study entitled “Recent Vocations to Religious Life: A Report for the National Religious Vocation Conference”. This particular study found that the most popular and growing religious orders are those that follow, “a more traditional style of religious life in which members live together in community and participate in daily Eucharist, pray the Divine Office, and engage in devotional practices together. They also wear a religious habit, work together in common apostolates, and are explicit about their fidelity to the Church and the teachings of the Magisterium” (no surprise there I know.)
The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist for example have grown from 15 members to over 100 in just fifteen years with the average age of a sister being 28 years (I realize that this probably does not come as a shock to anyone, but I think it is still important to reiterate the point, especially to those who might not be aware of it.)
June 14th, 2012 | 9:12 am
My rather ordinary parish in western Massachusetts saw three of its own sons ordained in the past two years, and the ordination class in the diocese of Springfield (MA) — hardly a hotbed of renewal — experienced this year its largest number of new priests since the early 1980s.
Deo gratias!
June 14th, 2012 | 9:13 am
Inspector Clouseau strikes again !
June 14th, 2012 | 10:09 am
I think we have a textbook case of confirmation bias here. But I’m with Jack. I don’t read Sullivan either. He’s become far to turned inward.
June 14th, 2012 | 10:21 am
I would urge the readers of “First Thoughts” to read Andrew Sullivan’s blog simply to see what it means to be an “alternative” Catholic. Do it for a few weeks, which is about as long as you will be able to stand it. In between his essays on behalf of the Obama campaign, you will find insightful pieces on the wonders of smoking ganja; the science of “pooping” (I kid you not); calls for war crimes trials for Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld; the merits of beards; the joys of listening to the music of the “Pet Shop Boys”; and views from various people’s windows, which are about as empty as Sullivan’s theological insights. The latter is informed by his belief that gay marriage and various forms of sodomy are simply divine, and that the Pope and Archbishop Dolan are authoritarian, anti-gay, pedophile-enabling misogynists who are killing the church. I strongly recommend a look at Sullivan’s site if you want to understand the views of many in the West — he offers a glimpse of the kind of pleasure-oriented, self centeredness that is the hallmark of those intent on destroying the Church, one of the last impediments to the fulfillment of their agenda.
June 14th, 2012 | 8:35 pm
I would urge the readers of “First Thoughts” to read Andrew Sullivan’s blog simply to see what it means to be an “alternative” Catholic.
I was a seminarian during the 90s for a diocese that shall remain nameless (a lot of good clergy and religious there, then as well as now) but which had what most would call a very liberal bishop. I remember being told that the new missal, which was imminent, would eliminate the Gloria, so there was no need to use it any longer at Mass, especially outside the Easter and Christmas seasons. A priest told me that he didn’t even speak to God on his weekly day off. And, I had ready access to the National Catholic Reporter when the whole WomynPriest movement started.
So, thanks, but I think I have a pretty good idea what it means to be an “alternative” Catholic already.
June 15th, 2012 | 10:09 am
[...] trouble is, it just ain’t true. And looking a little bit closer usually shows why. While dissidents within the Church may try to use this year’s low numbers in New York to [...]
June 15th, 2012 | 12:00 pm
“Fr. Josh Miller
June 13th, 2012 | 9:56 pm
…our seminaries are filling up (yes, enrollment nation-wide is on the rise) for…. well, precisely the reasons Mr. Sullivan mocks Cardinal Dolan and Pope Benedict.”
No, seminaries are filling up because of increased immigration of prospective seminarians. There has been no reversal in the decline of seminarians from the dioceses they are from.
June 15th, 2012 | 12:01 pm
[...] In New York This Year, Ctd Posted at 12:01 on June 15, 2012 by Andrew Sullivan Matthew Schmitz says I erred in my interpretation of this year's low number: Sullivan mistakes for weakness what is [...]
June 15th, 2012 | 12:24 pm
It is obscene to label as ‘dissent’ a call for the removal of the celibacy requirement for priests. Rather, it is a call of compassion. Celibacy is unnatural. It is a vacuum. Reserve it for men and women who live in community where they can at least share the burden.
June 16th, 2012 | 9:00 pm
Bernard,
I’m sorry your are so easily upset by words. “Dissent” means one disagrees. And indeed those who would have the requirement for celibacy removed do disagree. Obscene?
“Celibacy is unnatural”? We are born into celibacy. It does not become otherwise until puberty. All children live in a vacuum? Perhaps you have something against biology? Priests do not live in community? Of course, some do not but only a few are full fledged hermits.
I think you should be more open to those who dissent from your viewpoints.
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