Some U.S. seminaries report surge in enrollments even as nationwide numbers remain flat

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2023 / 08:00 am

Seminarian enrollment in the United States has been on a decadeslong decline as fewer young men seek out the priesthood and the number of active priests in the U.S. continues to dwindle. But some dioceses are reporting a notable surge in enrollment, signaling a potential turnaround in some regions.

Annual data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, released in June of this year, showed “a continuation of relatively slow long-term decline” in priestly vocations at the pre-theology and theology levels, falling from over 6,400 men in 1970 to 2,759 in the most recent academic year. 

Similar sharp drops have been observed in both college- and high school-level seminarian enrollment over the same time period. In recent years the decline in priests and seminarians has been observed globally as well.

Yet some seminary and diocesan officials told CNA that the number of seminarians they have in training for the priesthood has increased in recent years.

Father Joe Taphorn, the rector of Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity in Minneapolis, said the school’s current class of seminarians is the largest of his nearly five-year tenure there. 

“That first fall we had 70 seminarians,” Taphorn told CNA. “We’ll probably be at just over 100 this fall. And that’s basically almost full. We’re kind of nearing capacity.”

The school’s growth has been ongoing. In 2021, the seminary experienced its largest one-year increase in enrollment since 1975, going from 70 seminarians to 90 seminarians. In the spring of this year, 16 seminarians from the school were ordained transitional deacons.

“We’re never going to be the largest seminary, just because of our facilities,” he said. “But if we do formation well, and prepare our men well, and cast a positive vision — that’s attractive to young men. There continues to be interest and vocational visits from young men who want to learn more.”

Taphorn said the Church needs to be proactive in how it encourages young men to seek out the priesthood.

“We need a mindset not of retreat but of advancing,” he said. “I think young people are looking for something that is more than the world offers. I think there’s aspirations for greatness. That’s really found ultimately in holiness and in sacrificial love.”

The decline in vocations around the U.S. has for years impelled dioceses and bishops to take sometimes-drastic measures to address priestly shortages. A major initiative to merge parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, for example, is being driven in part by a looming priest shortage on the horizon as more priests retire and not enough are being ordained to replace them.

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Catholic Men’s Conference To Focus On Priesthood

By Joe Pisani

HARTFORD—The 16th Annual Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference will give men an opportunity to have “a stronger awareness of God in their lives” at a time when our culture no longer embraces faith.

This year’s theme is “The Priesthood: God’s Gift and Our Responsibility.” The day-long event will be held Saturday, September 23 at Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford. Tickets, which are $45 for adults and $30 for teens and include lunch, may be purchased online at www.ctcatholicmen.org. The doors will open at 7:30 am, and the event will conclude with a Vigil Mass at 4 pm. celebrated by Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, with a homily by Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt of the Archdiocese of Hartford.

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A MINUTE WITH MIKE

Joshua addressed the tribes of Israel saying, “If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling.”

We all know nothing is by coincidence. Just a few days after hearing these words from the reading from Joshua, two interesting points from two completely separate sources clearly brought the question front and center, “whom will you serve?” On the occasion of the Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, the homilist making a very convicting observation said, “I think one of the greatest things we do not talk about that often, that is a vice of our time…, is the vice of vanity. He went on to say, “When the phones were able to start taking our pictures and the selfie became popular over the last decade, I often thought the opportunity to preach on a homily, and I will use it now, would be: ‘cell phone, cell phone in my hand, tell me who is the fairest in all the land.’ And then you take that picture of yourself and put it up.” The very same day, an article on a military Website speaking to the idea of the military having become “woke” stated, “Allegedly, U.S. enlisted personnel and officers are being subjected to compulsory exercises in groupthink that devalue the American historical experience, spread contempt for traditional American values and diminish the appeal of military service in favor of other alternatives.” Joshua warned the tribes of Israel to the sin of serving idols. Summing up these two points, Joshua’s warning unambiguously applies today, to the sin of serving the idol of vanity and to the sin of serving the idol of individualistic moral relativism precipitated by secular culture. He warned, "You may not be able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God.” No one can serve idols and claim serving God in holiness at the same time. Nonetheless, the choice will most certainly be made; he will serve someone. Like we hear in Bob Dylan’s 1979 song “Gotta Serve Somebody:”

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody

In search of assuring a life lived correctly by faithfully making the right choice of whom to serve, one only needs to look to St. Paul. The ways of the tribes of Israel long ago and the ways of the world today all point to the old self. St. Paul tells us in chapter three of Colossians, “You have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.” No one would serve idols, serve vices, or submerge to worldly cultures if Jesus is all and in all in his life. Bishop Robert Barron writes, “God’s revelation draws us beyond what we can know and introduces us to a dimension of being vibrating at a higher pitch. To be a person of faith is to know that the universe of the senses is but the tip of the iceberg, a gateway. And it is to resist the idolatry of Enlightenment rationalism, which tells us that only superstition and obscurantism lie beyond what we human beings can measure.”

With eyes always fixed on Jesus, one’s practices will be in the image of God. With eyes always fixed on Jesus, he will “think of what is above, not of what is on earth,” as St. Paul tells us in Colossians. He will boldly echo the words of Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

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