Cardinal William H. Keeler called on his fellow Roman Catholics last night to seek out and encourage men and women to pursue religious vocations.
During the Archdiocese of Baltimore's annual Holy Hour at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in observance of National Vocations Awareness Week, Keeler said that increasing vocations in the church is the responsibility of each Roman Catholic.
The way to do that, Keeler said, is by offering "a word of encouragement and support to those we can see with our own eyes the Lord has given the kind of character and traits to be a good priest, a good sister, a good brother."
The Rev. Robert F. Leavitt, president and rector of St. Mary's Seminary and University in Roland Park, told the gathering that the number of seminarians is declining, but it is a mistake to focus too much on numbers.
"If the numbers increase in one year or decline in another, should I lose heart?" said Leavitt, who has been involved in the education of priests for nearly 30 years. "Only those with very short memories lose heart. Is God bound by quotas? Of course not."
Yet the numbers, particularly the decline in vocations to the priesthood, clearly have caused concern among church officials and have prompted efforts to recruit people for religious life.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore ordained six priests last year, four priests this year and has one ordination scheduled for next year. In 1998, seven men are in line for ordination and nine are scheduled for 1999.
Nationally, it is projected that there will be about 21,000 diocesan priests by 2005, a drop of 40 percent from the 35,000 priests in 1966.
After the service, Keeler said he thought part of the reason for the decline is that personal appeals such as he is encouraging "stopped or abated for a period." He visited a diocese in the Midwest recently where a concerted effort had been made to make such personal appeals, and the number of candidates for the priesthood had increased significantly.
Keeler said he was encouraged by a national survey of Roman Catholic adolescents that found that three in every 10 youths interviewed had thought about becoming a priest, a nun or a brother. The survey was conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University and released in August.
The survey also found, however, that only a fifth of those youths said their parents encouraged them to think about a religious vocation.
"We have to give these people words of encouragement, of support," Keeler said.
Pub Date: 10/16/96
