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KARL KEATING'S E-LETTER
TOPICS:
OUR SEMINARIES: STILL NOT MAKING THE GRADE
BRINGING BIG NAMES INTO THE CHURCH, ONE AT A TIME
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
The new Federal fiscal year started October 1. I already have lost any
confidence that my money will be well spent. Thank God I operate on the
principle that taxes simply disappear and will not be used to inculcate
a truly just, which is to say Christian, society. (It hurts less if I
think that way about what used to be my money.)
THE SEMINARY SYSTEM STILL ISN'T FIXED
I have been introduced to some great priests in recent months, and I
have noticed that many of them are young.
Of course, one's definition of "young" changes with the decades. I
remember when my priest and my physician seemed old because they were
older than I was. My current priest and physician seem young because
they are younger than I am. If I live long enough, every priest and
physician will be a young whippersnapper.
But I digress. What I want to mention is the age of the American clergy.
Only 17 percent of Catholic priests are under age 45. In comparison, 28
percent of Evangelical clergy are that young. About 36 percent of
Catholic priests are 61 or older, but only 21 percent of Evangelical
ministers fall into that age group.
These numbers are from "Pulpit & Pew," a research project at Duke
University Divinity School. Indirectly the numbers point to a continuing
problem: a paucity of priestly ordinations. Note that I don't say "a
vocations shortage."
I don't think there is any shortage of vocations. I think there are lots
of men who have an authentic priestly vocation but either get washed out
from the seminary system or, having paid attention to internal Church
affairs in recent years, figure it would be a waste of time to apply to
their local seminary, knowing that they would be perceived as "rigid"
(meaning: they believe what is in the Catechism) and would never be
ordained. Thus many vocations never make it to the seminary door or find
that it is a revolving door.
While there is no real vocations shortage, there is a real
shortsightedness in how the Church in this country takes advantage (or
fails to take advantage) of the vocations that actually exist. The fault
is not on the part of the laity, for producing too few vocations. The
fault is on the part of Church leadership, which often gives the
appearance of having no clue about what needs to be done--and, worse,
sometimes does not appear to care.
I don't like saying that, because I know there are fine exceptions, but
the problem is that they are exceptions. You can point to one diocese
where things are going swimmingly in terms of vocations, but I can point
to ten where vocations sink without a trace. I know of dioceses that can
take pride in how they foster vocations and produce many good priests,
but those dioceses are in the minority--and it is a small minority.
As much as I would like to say otherwise, I think we have to give the
American seminary system no better than a gentleman's D. I just hope to
live long enough to see a notably better grade point average.
BRINGING IN THE BIG NAMES
Two generations ago, Fulton Sheen was on a roll, not just on television
but also in making converts. Many of his converts were famous,
Congresswoman Claire Booth Luce, wife of the founder of "Time" magazine,
being just one example. Maybe it was a consequence of the circles Sheen
operated in. He met many "movers and shakers," and he shook a lot of
them loose from their complacency and nudged them into the Church.
Today the Church in America has no analogue for Sheen the television
personality, but we do have an analogue for Sheen the convert maker. His
name is C. John McCloskey, a 49-year-old Opus Dei priest who leads the
Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Not remotely as flamboyant as Sheen, the low-key McCloskey works quietly
and effectively. Among his better-known catches are syndicated columnist
and television commentator Robert Novak, Sen. Sam Brownback (Rep.,
Kansas), economist Larry Kudlow, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, and
Lewis Lehrman, who once ran for governor of New York.
Before becoming a priest, McCloskey worked on Wall Street. There he
learned how to "network," and that skill continues to pay off. From
Convert A he learns about A's friend, Potential Convert B. From B he
learns about C, who was overheard making a positive remark about the
Catholic Church. And so on.
This is not to say that most of the people counseled by McCloskey are
well known--quite the opposite, actually--but many people who are well
known are making their way to his office, which, of course, is very good
for them and, in the long run, for the Church in America as a whole.
If there is a common thread, an overarching theme, it seems to be the
Church's moral teaching. McCloskey says that most of the "name" people
he speaks with appreciate the consistency of that teaching. More than
that, they begin to see that they need to conform themselves to it
precisely because it makes sense. When something makes sense, it begins
to compel.
"Fr. C. John," as he commonly is referred to by acquaintances, has a
high profile in the world of convert making because of the high profile
of some of the converts he makes. There are many other priests, of
course, who succeed in bringing folks into the Church, but the people
they help seldom get their names in the papers. All of these priests,
whether working with the well known or the unknown, deserve our thanks.
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