How to deal with the problem of too many vocations

New blog Discalced Yooper via Unam Sanctum

Yesterday I learned that Oregon Press has answered the call from India’s struggling Catholic Church. While in the US and Europe vocations are low, in India vocations are extremely high. They are too high with many concerned that there won’t be a role for the laity left.

VOTF-India coordinator commented, "With all the priests available, how will women participate in the mass? It is difficult enough currently finding places for women to be RE directors and parish administrators. My goodness, we can’t even get parishes to allow Eucharistic Ministers because of the abundance of priests."

Fortunately help has found its way to India. Oregon Press has begun production on a missal specific to India. The missal will be loosely based on the US version. The melodies will be modified for Indian culture with one of the goals being to strongly appeal to women. Many parishes expect to start receiving copies at the beginning of Advent.

Ha! Plus we can send the theology departments from a bunch of our Catholic Universities and if they still have too many priests maybe they can ask Cardinal Mahony for an assist. He obviously knows the secret for keeping a seminary small and mostly free of men from the local population. They will in no time transform a harvest into a famine.

Via Amy Welborn is part of the 12 page document used in the recent visitation to seminaries.

¶"Is there a clear process for removing from the seminary faculty members who dissent from the authoritative teaching of the church or whose conduct does not provide good example to future priests?"

¶"Is the seminary free from the influences of New Age and eclectic spirituality?"

¶"Do the seminarians or faculty members have concerns about the moral life of those living in the institution? (This question must be answered)."

¶"Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary? (This question must be answered)."

Now if we change seminarians to religious I wonder how many religious orders here in the United States could bear the same scrutiny. Leaving beside the question of homosexuality I would easily surmise that many would get an F on the influences of New Age and eclectic spirituality part and many Catholic universities would flunk the part about removing those members who dissent from authoritative teachings of the Church. Or maybe they do have a process for those who dissent – they give them tenure.

Not that there will likely ever will be anything like a visitation on religious orders unless some religious orders themselves ever decide to clean up their act.