There is a small subset of Catholics moving toward a more fundamentalist approach. But in the real world, the sheer numbers are alarming. More and more parishes with no priests, shrinking attendance, rampant school closings. The majority of new priests are coming from other continents, and there aren’t nearly enough of them. The status quo is not working.
I live in the real world. I see overflowing parishes. I see new parishes being built. I see new schools being built. I see packed seminaries.
No, I'm not in SSPX land ... not even in FSSP land. I'm in Virginia.
You want new priests? Find an orthodox bishop.
You want new religious? Find an orthodox order.
You want dying parishes, closed schools? Find a "relevant" bishop, who's trying to "give the people what they want".
Sorry, lady, you can't snow me with this stuff. I've seen too much first hand.
“The majority of new priests are coming from other continents,...”
Not in my archdiocese, but still, it's true, a large number are coming from other continents.
Interestingly, they're coming from places where Catholics are significantly more “conservative” in belief than most dioceses in the United States. The foreign-born priests that I've been privileged to know are far less likely, as they move into the hierarchy, to push for womynpriests than some of the folks currently in the hierarchy.
As well, the homegrown priests we have in our archdiocese are nearly all significantly more “conservative” than the previous generation.
The greatest shortages of priests are in the least orthodox dioceses.
Kind of a self-correcting problem, it seems to me.
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