Although the Diocese of Gary has adopted a strategy to build up the priesthood locally from within its parishes, the Catholic Church is increasingly recruiting priests from around the world. "Nationally, we're seeing more and more interested candidates from other countries," the Rev. Kevin Huber said. "India and Africa are really exploding with priests. We get many requests from Poland and Latin America."
Although foreign candidates may bolster the ranks, they also pose some challenges, he said, including language skills and different work and religious traditions, that don't always make them good fits for the United States.
"But international priests clearly have impacted the priesthood in the United States," Huber said.
The Diocese of Gary has three foreign priests serving area parishes, but Bishop Dale Melczek said recruiting foreign priests is not an integral part of diocesan strategy.
"We ought to first create a climate within our diocese in which our local faith community would provide the leadership for the future," he said. "I would hope that in our efforts in evangelization, we will convince people that they find joy by living their faith more deeply and, out of that context, I think we will get more priests."
That means reaching out to all local communities. Currently, there is one African-American priest in the diocese and six Hispanic priests.
The Rev. Charles Mosley, the first African-American to be ordained a priest here, said he also wishes there were more black priests.
"I think the Gary Diocese has tried to remove the stigma of racism that has persisted over the years," said Mosley, the pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Hammond, adding that most local African-Americans traditionally attend Protestant churches.
But to Huber, the welcome mat to the priesthood is open to men of all races and ethnic backgrounds.
"Our vision is that every parish in the diocese would offer, support and encourage vocations," Huber said. "In a perfect world, I would like to see a candidate from each parish every year."
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