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[Catholic Caucus] We Are Approaching Our Lefebvre Moment— But Not the One You ThinkIn 1988, despite having failed to secure papal authorization to consecrate new bishops for his priestly society, an aged Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre defied the the threat of excommunication and consecrated 5 bishops— 4 for the SSPX, and 1 for the Diocese of Campos, Brazil. As a result he and the other bishops were all excommunicated. Or not. The SSPX argued against the validity of the excommunication decree until Pope Benedict XVI declared them void (possibly ab initio) prior to issuing Summorum Pontificum. [As an aside, please note...

The Chinese government has allowed the ordination of Russian Orthodox priests, for the first time in 60 years, the AsiaNews service reports. Metropolitan Hilarion, who heads the external-affairs department of the Moscow patriarchate, announced the ordinations after his return from a visit to China. His trip came shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. Metropolitan Hilarion reported “very constructive talks” with government officials in Beijing, adding that China is a society that properly values the “role of culture, traditions and the moral factor in shaping the lives of...

There are now images up of the priestly and other ordinations of the Institute of Christ the King (ICRSS) that took place inside the beautiful Santi Michele e Gaetano church in Florence, Italy. The ordaining bishops were Bishop Basil Meeking, Emeritus of Christchurch, and Archbishop Raymond L. Burke.

CHICAGO ORDINATION Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago gives the greeting of peace to newly ordained Father Grzegorz Wojcik during the ordination of 11 men at St. Juliana Church in Chicago May 17. (CNS/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World) CHICAGO (CNS) -- None of the 11 new priests the Archdiocese of Chicago ordained May 17 were born in the archdiocese, or even in the United States. Five are from Poland, products of the Bishop Abramowicz Preparatory Seminary program that brings Polish seminarians and forms them to be Chicago priests. Two are from Mexico, one from Ecuador and one from Colombia --...

This analysis began with the question, “Does the bishop matter?” It arrives at an interesting pair of conclusions. The first is that there is no problem ailing the Catholic Church in America that is not being addressed successfully in some place, and typically in multiple places. Second, there is a cadre of bishops, invisible to the national media, largely unknown outside their dioceses, absent from Washington political circles, who are trulyunsung heroes of the Church, presiding over vibrant communities, building the Church, and effectively proclaiming the Faith—men such as Bishop Joseph Kurtz of Knoxville, Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe,...

WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 14, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The U.S. ordination class of 2005 continues to reflect a trend toward older, better-educated men with a large percentage born in foreign countries, according to a new survey. The survey was reported by sociologist Dean Hoge, who heads the Life Cycle Institute of the Catholic University of America. He wrote the report after considering trends in ordination classes since 1998 and comparing them with data on the men being ordained in 2005. "The average age at ordination rose from 34.8 to 37.0," Hoge said. "The level of education prior to entering the seminary rose,"...

Five new priests, reflecting a diversity of ages, cultural backgrounds and work experience, will be ordained for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles June 5 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Fathers Robert Patrick Fulton, James Halley, Francis Aytona Mendoza and Rodolfo Prado -- all of whom have completed their theologate formation at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo -- will be ordained by Cardinal Roger Mahony at the Cathedral, along with Father Artur Gruszka who completed his seminary formation in Michigan. The new priests will begin their first assignments as associate pastors on July 1.

I've heard much talk from tradationalists about the tragic decline of the priesthood since Vatican 2. I do agree that priesthood is a good indicator of the health of the Catholic Church, so I decided to do some research (1996 is the last full year I could find data for on the web; I did find data for 1997 but it seemed incomplete; showing significant drops in all data, including even deaths) Relative Low Secular 1970 1976 Year Number 1996 Europe 2548 1722 1980 1682 2458 LatAm. 414 476 1979 475 1434 N.Am. 890 798 1994 468 474 Africa 176...

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 11 No 7 (August 1998), p. 12 U.S. Priests and seminarians survey: more vocations in orthodox dioceses A comparative analysis of different 'styles’ of US dioceses was recently undertaken by Human Life International (HLI). The survey sought to compare the numbers of priests and seminarians in dioceses broadly typed as "orthodox" and "progressive". For the purposes of its study HLI defined an "orthodox" diocese as one that had exhibited a "general predisposition of fidelity towards the Magisterium since Vatican II." The term "progressive" was applied to a diocese exhibiting "a general predisposition towards liberal activism and...

Is There a Priest Shortage?  LAY WITNESS The number of seminarians worldwide has grown 73 percent during the pontificate of John Paul II. In 1978, there were 64,000 seminarians — compared to more than 110,500 in 2000. The greatest increases were in Africa, where the number tripled; and Asia, which showed an increase of 125 percent. As of 2000, the worldwide number of priests in active ministry increased by 189 over the previous year. This brought the total to 405,000 priests, which reflects an overall increase of nearly 800 diocesan priests, and a decrease of 600 religious priests. Baptized...

I Will Give You Shepherds: Addressing the Priest Shortage    FAITH FACTS Issue: Is there a priest shortage? What is being done to address shortages where they occur? What can be done to increase the number of candidates for ordination? Response: There is some debate as to what constitutes a priest shortage. Some compare current ratios of priests to faithful with ratios from other eras, though some say that demand for priests has diminished to the point that the ratios are not comparable. Others contend that "priest shortage" is a slogan used by those who seek structural change in...