Orthodoxy brings vocations.

Orthodoxy (from the Greek meaning "correct teaching") is the key to solving the vocations crisis in the Western world. The Church's correct teaching is that which is stated by its divinely established teaching authority, called the Magisterium, and is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The denial of this teaching, or the simple refusal to accept it, is called dissent. Dissent is a major cause, perhaps the chief cause, of the lack of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.

Dissent in the Church today is often called Modernism, a term frequently used in the early twentieth century for the doctrine that the Church must adapt to the modern world by changing some of its basic teachings. The present dissent arose in the Western world in the 1960s, occasioned chiefly by refusal to accept the teaching of the 1968 encyclical Humanae vitae (On human life), which dealt with married life, contraception, and abortion. Dissenters tried to develop a theory of dissent, but a general theory is bound to cover more than the particular case it was invented to cover, and so dissent spread rapidly concerning many teachings, especially on sexual matters. Indeed, if contraception is approved of, and thus with it the separation of the procreative and unitive aspects of the marriage act, it is much more difficult to defend the prohibition of fornication, adultery, and homosexual genital sex activity.

Also, since contraception is the chief cause of abortion, approval of the former is bound to beget approval of the latter, as has been the case in every country that has approved of contraception. Canada legalized contraception in 1967, and then abortion and homosexual acts in 1969. There is wholesale dissent among members of the Church today in Europe and North America. Many Catholics, including priests and consecrated persons, also approve of ordaining women priests, allowing divorced and remarried persons to receive Communion, having General Absolution when it is not allowed, helping older persons to take their own life, changing the Liturgy without permission, and so on. It is a fact and a blessing that dioceses and religious communities in which dissent is widespread are getting very few vocations, and that dioceses and religious communities which defend the faith publicly and insist on orthodox theological training are getting many vocations.

This is true of priestly vocations and also of vocations to the consecrated life. A book published in 2002, Passionate Uncertainty: Inside the American Jesuits, tells us that "dissent from the Magisterium is a fact of life in the Society of Jesus," and it speaks of a "lack of conviction about once solid moral verities." It also reports a statement of a Jesuit of fifty years' standing concerning clerical dress and the liturgy: "I hate the fact that we have dropped clerical dress and are embarrassed to be recognized as priests ... . I hate the sloppy way we do liturgy, the fact that liturgical vessels are now cheap five-and-dime glassware. I hate the fact that liturgical music is just guitar music. But I still love God and the Church and try to say a public Mass as reverently as I can despite the liturgical chaos."

Passionate Uncertainty then says that "the Society has lost more than half its membership in the United States," having decreased from 9,000 to 4,000.

In Great Britain, the editor of the Catholic monthly Christian Order writes that the bishops of England, Scotland, and Wales do not study the successful dioceses, and that, "by suppressing orthodoxy in general and discriminating against orthodox vocations to the priesthood, the Modernists create a shortage of priests; they then present the shortage as a fair accompli requiring the introduction of strategies to laicize the clergy and democratize the Church." (1)

The same is true in some parts of the United States, according to Archbishop Curtis of Omaha:

"It is time to pay close attention to the dioceses and religious communities reporting an increasing number of candidates. I personally think that the vocation 'crisis' in this country is more artificial and contrived than many people realize.... It seems to me that the vocation 'crisis' is precipitated and continued by people who want to change the Church's agenda, by people who do not support orthodox candidates loyal to the magisterial teaching of the Pope and bishops, and by people who actually discourage viable candidates from seeking priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines these ministries.... I am personally aware of certain vocation directors, vocation teams, and evaluation boards who turn away candidates who do not support the possibility of ordaining women or who defend the Church's teaching about artificial birth control, or who exhibit a strong piety toward certain devotions, such as the Rosary.... When there is a determined effort to discourage orthodox candidates from priesthood and religious life, then the vocation shortage which results is caused not by a lack of vocations but by deliberate attitudes and policies that deter certain viable candidates.. .. And the same people who precipitate a decline in vocations by their negative actions call for the ordination of women and married men to replace the vocations they have discouraged. They have a death wish for ordained priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines them.... They undermine the vocation ministry they are supposed to champion.... The more a religious organization compromises with society and the world, blurring its identity and modifying its teaching and ethics, the more it will decline. I am convinced that shortages of vocations in any part of the country can be reversed by people who share enthusiastically in the agenda of the Church. We have to learn from the dioceses and communities which are experiencing an increase in vocations.... Young people do not want to commit themselves to dioceses or communities that permit or simply ignore dissent from Church doctrine. They do not want to be associated with people who are angry at the Church's leadership or reject magisterial teaching." (2)

Michael Rose has written a whole book on this subject in his examination of American seminaries? It gives many examples of American vocations personnel doing things which a faithful Catholic finds abhorrent. Rose sums up his findings as follows:

"Bishops and others charged with fostering vocations can easily look to the dioceses that are having success and try to model their own programs after these. Unfortunately, it seems that although most bishops are aware of the success stories and well understand what it takes to attract vocations, there appears to be a wilful incapacity on the part of diocesan leaders to learn from their own past mistakes. They are unwilling to admit that the vocations shortage is not a naturally occurring phenomenon but rather a man-made crisis. Those who have the 'death wish' for the male, celibate priesthood and who, further, promote agendas that are counterproductive to the mission of the Catholic Church, simply do not want the candidates that present themselves with a willingness to serve the Church." (4)

Edward McBride, professor emeritus in Halifax, came to the same conclusion for Canada. He writes:

"Those religious orders and diocesan seminaries that contest the culture, rather than bow before it, are precisely the ones that enjoy an increasing influx of candidates for ordination. It is instructive to note that not only are certain congregations flourishing but that these vibrant ones conform to a certain type of religious dedication.... Which are these congregations, and what is their common denominator? Since this denominator is the determinant of their strength and growth, it should receive primary consideration. This common bond comprises three essential features: reverence for the Eucharist, devotion to Mary, and obedience to the Magisterium."

McBride then picks out, as examples, some religious communities of men in Canada which are obedient to the Magisterium and which have numerous seminarians. He says that the Legionnaires of Christ, only fifty years old, is in 100 cities in 19 countries, and has 440 priests and 2200 seminarians. And the Companions of the Cross which started in 1988 with 20 members number over 50 today. His conclusion is:

"To the refrain lamenting the lack of priests, therefore, there is a most fitting response: 'Adore the Eucharist, honour Mary, obey the Pope, gain vocations.' It works for any religious order, male or female, contemplative or active, domestic or international, preaching or teaching, just as it would work for any country, diocese, or parish." (5)

We get the same message from Australia following the appointment of a new bishop: "When I commenced my diocesan appointment as Director of Vocations in 1999, there were 18 Melbourne seminarians and about four names on a list of individuals making inquiries about the diocesan priesthood. Now there are 33 Melbourne seminarians, and over 30 names on a list of those interested in the priesthood as a possible vocation. This positive trend has been evident since 1996. It has been observed that where a diocese is led by a bishop who is strong and public in his pastoral and moral leadership, where his orthodoxy is unambiguous, and where he invests resources into priestly ministry and vocations equal to or greater than lay alternatives, that diocese then tends to attract more young men into the seminary." (6)

My own Community, though it is at present drawing up a new Initial Formation Program, has in its present program guidelines for ministering "in a society where most people have difficulty accepting certain teachings of the Church, where many of the prevailing cultural factors militate against appreciation for traditional Christian values." One guideline given is "that Basilians have a profound appreciation of the role of the Magisterium in the life of the Church and for the role of theologians and other thinkers who strive to express the traditional teachings of the Church in ways that are intelligible to contemporary people." (7)

There is, however, a problem with this guideline. It might give the impression that there are two equal Magisteriums in the Church, the official one on the one hand and the teaching of theologians and other thinkers on the other hand. Besides, it is not sufficient for priests to have a profound appreciation of the role of the Magisterium in the Church, since even a dissenter can have that. What is needed is obedience to the Magisterium. And certainly this should not be the only reference to the Magisterium in a program of formation.

I wrote to the authorities once or twice about this, but no change was made.

The Third Continental Congress on Vocations to the Ordained Ministry and Consecrated Life in North America was held on April 18-21, 2002, in Montreal. The earlier congresses were held in Brazil in 1994 and Rome in 1997. This third congress was attended by 1100 delegates chiefly from Canada and the United States, with guests from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Rome. Included among those present were cardinals, bishops, priests, and deacons; major superiors, sisters, brothers; members of secular institutes and societies of apostolic life; diocesan and religious vocation directors; seminary and religious formators; seminarians and novices; campus and youth ministers; teachers and students; young adults and their parents; and members of lay associations.

To prepare for the congress, earlier meetings were held in dioceses or regions. I attended the meeting in one of the three Toronto areas. At that meeting, there were three interventions stressing the fact that the orthodoxy of the clergy or religious was an important, perhaps the most important, factor in attracting vocations. This conviction however was not reflected in the official document preliminary to the congress (called the Instrumentum Laboris). The Instrumentum stated that God is certainly calling young people to serve the Church in ordained ministry and consecrated life but that throughout North America not enough are heeding the call.

It said also that vocations are more likely to come from parishes that offer Marian and Eucharistic devotions, and from homes that actively foster vocations, but it did not discuss the effect of "cafeteria" Catholicism present in the clergy and religious of a diocese or religious community. It stated too that "Catholic schools are still the primary place outside the family where vocations are nourished," but it did not mention that many, perhaps most, of Canada's Catholic elementary and high schools, and colleges and universities, are riddled with dissent.

I sought with interest an account of the Montreal congress but, in the twenty-page summary of it in the Supplement of the April 29, 2002, B. C. Catholic, there was only one reference to the necessity of being in harmony with the Church's Magisterium: Cardinal Grocholewski, the head of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, said that the priesthood must be presented "in full harmony with the teaching of the Church." I am convinced that the most important factor for a diocese or a religious congregation in attracting vocations is the orthodoxy of priests and religious, and that the Montreal congress has failed to grasp this easily observable fact.

End notes

(1.) "Orthodoxy = Vocations" (Feb. 2002) 78.

(2.) "What Vocation Crisis?", Christian Order (Feb. 2002) 83-85.

(3.) Goodbye! Good Men: How Catholic Seminaries Have Turned Away Two Generations of Vocations from the Priesthood (Cincinnati, 2002). See the review of it in C.I., Sept. 2002, pp. 44-43.

(4.) Ibid. p. 332.

(5.) E. McBride, "Where Vocations Thrive," Catholic Insight (Sept. 2000) 33-35.

(6.) P. Stuart, "Melbourne Archdiocese: Positive Trend in Priestly Vocations Continues," A.D. 2000 (Feb., 2002).

(7.) Basilian Fathers' Initial Formation, Toronto, 1991, D 4 (d).

Father Kennedy has taught philosophy to seminarians in many of his almost fifty years of teaching and has written against dissent in hundreds of articles and book reviews.