The Church’s Shame, and the Priesthood

By Father James Martin
“I am deeply ashamed,” Pope Benedict XVI said this morning, briefly addressing the sexual abuse crisis in the United States. “We will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future.”
The pope was expressing the same sentiment of every priest I know, not to mention every sister, brother and layperson. American Catholics are ashamed of the crimes of some of their priests — and the actions of too many of their bishops. The reports that began in The Boston Globe in January of 2002 were shaming for the priesthood in particular.
Yet men are still entering seminaries. Why?
Over the last few days I’ve received at least a dozen calls from reporters trying to make sense of that question, and to grasp the parlous state of priestly vocations. In 2007, according to the Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate, 3,238 parishes (out of a total of 18,624) went without a “resident priest pastor.” That means over 3,000 “priestless” parishes. Overall, the number of priests stood at 41,449 in 2007, down from 58,632 in 1965. And the number of graduate-level seminarians is down from 8,325 in 1965 to 3,274 last year.
Why would anyone want to be a priest after the abuse crisis? Who would want to join an organization like the Catholic Church, much less represent it publicly? How could someone still hear the “call”? What will the church do without priests? A few observations:
First off, the call has little to do with hearing voices. As long as I’ve been a Jesuit (20 years) and a priest (9 years) I’ve never met anyone who decided to seek ordination because he heard a voice. Or saw a vision. Or seen anything, for that matter.
Second, the call comes from a simple attraction or desire, like any vocation. It’s not all that different from vocations in the life of the layperson. Two people may discover their vocation to the married life by being attracted to one another. A doctor may decide to become a doctor because he finds that life appealing. So in the life of a young man drawn to the priesthood
At the most basic level a “call” manifests itself as a simple attraction. In these ways God, I believe, “calls” people to fulfill their vocations. Those attractions are still operative in the lives of men who see that the vast majority of priests are living healthy and productive lives. Believe me, seminarians, as well as men in religious orders preparing for ordination, are fully aware, and “deeply ashamed” of the clergy abuse scandals. But they are also aware of the great satisfaction that the vast majority of priests report in their working lives.
Third, I’m not as crestfallen as some about “declining vocations.” Sure, I want the Mass to be celebrated in as many places as possible, and for that we need many more priests. (Currently that’s restricted to celibate unmarried men.) But declining seminary rosters may also mean more opportunities for the laity to exercise their roles in leadership, something that the Second Vatican Council championed.
Fourth, there’s not much evidence that the sexual abuse crisis has affected priestly vocations. The number of seminarians is declining, but that decline does not seem to have accelerated much since 2002. Perhaps that will change. But for now God is still “calling” men to seminary life, even after the devastating and deeply shaming sexual abuse crisis. And God will presumably continue to do so, for reasons that are as personal and unique as the men who answer that call.