In 2001 there were only 26 seminarians in England and Wales. Things are now changing. With more than 200 seminarians, the England and Wales Bishops’ Conference has confirmed the number of men training for the priesthood in England and Wales is at its highest level for nearly twenty years. This is the first time seminaries Read more
A severe priest shortage and a lack of priestly vocations has seen thousands of Belgian Catholics sign a manifesto urging their bishops to let lay people lead Sunday services. “It’s time for the Church to open its functions to people who are not only celibate men,” Mark Deweerdt, a layman among the 12 priests and Read more
The shortage of outback priests will be a point of discussion when a congregation of Australian Bishops meet in Rome, and may be discussed with the Pope. The administrator of the Wilcannia-Forbes diocese, Bishop Kevin Manning said a lack of men joining the priesthood is of great concern. He thinks one of causes of low Read more
In an interview with Anthony Gaspari of Zenit the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza touches on all the issues that will certainly emerge during the Papal visit to Germany. He comments on women’s ordination, the influence of the Vatican, ecumenism, celibacy and vocations. Is the ordination of women to be considered Read more
The average age of men ordained to the priesthood in 2011 is trending younger with the average age for the 2011 class at 34, with more than half between the ages of 25 and 34. This is slightly younger than in 2010, and follows the trend over the past five years of new priests getting Read more