THE NEED
The Need for Priestly Vocations
Dioceses have closed down some churches and seminaries due to lack of priests and seminarians. Dioceses have employed a few priests to minister to many parishes at a time, thereby reducing the number of Masses and priests’ availability to the people of God. Other dioceses have also relied upon inviting priests from other parts of the world to assist in pastoral work. These steps, amongst others, been taken in different dioceses in response to scarcity of priests make the problem obvious and undeniable, and something more has to be done.
“When people want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest; for when there is no priest, there is no sacrifice: and when there is no sacrifice, there is no religion.”
St. John Vianney
Churches and seminaries are being closed
Ratio of Priest to Laity
The glaring possibility of closing down of more churches and seminaries due to lack of priests and seminarians in the future is quite obvious. The momentary closure of churches during the covid19 pandemic is a sample test of the level of adverse affects that will result from permanent closure of churches due to lack of priests, if nothing more is done. The consequences of lack of priests if not fully addressed now will lead the world to a dead end in every sense of it. The consequences will be evident in all facets of life, and even transcending the earthly to eternal existence. The awareness of the approaching danger is as important as the prayer. A 50-year plan would require a multifaceted response to the decrease in vocations to the priesthood, of which Global Lay Apostolate for Priestly Vocations is an apostolate in the right direction and a contribution towards achieving this goal globally.
Many dioceses across the globe rarely hold priestly ordination annually, especially in Western world. Some dioceses have periodic priestly ordinations of which the number ordained at each moment is highly insufficient. A good number of believers, as devoted Catholics have supported the building and maintenance of the local and universal Church structurally, but the fact is, if nothing more is done regarding the dwindling number of priests, our efforts in building and maintaining physical structures, for instance, is not enough to sustain the existence of the Catholic priesthood, nay Catholic faith and morals. Although this situation is more in the Western world but the Catholic priesthood still faces challenges in different regions of the world.
YOUR PRAYERS
WITH THE G.L.A.P. APOSTOLATE
