According to the NYT, U. S. bishops are beginning a program to encourage priests to recommend the priesthood to young men. Only one in three priests, the article reports, actively encourage young men to enter the priesthood.
Father Burns[, executive director of the bishops’ Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation, ]said polls showed that 90 percent of priests were happy in the priesthood and had no regrets.
But many priests believe that "morale is low for everyone else," he said, so they hesitate to encourage others to join.
Now where would they have gotten that idea?
(Incidentally: How many Americans in general say they are happy with their jobs? Fifty percent and falling. The priesthood is looking pretty good.
But wait, you say. The priesthood is a vocation, not a job. OK: How many Americans are happy with their marriages? Certainly less than 90 percent. And that’s just the currently married, speaking of their current marriages.)
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