As a child attending Catholic schools in Rochester, Carol Dady remembers seeing priests regularly.“They would visit the classrooms and any school activities we were involved in,” said Dady, who attended Holy Rosary and the now-closed St. Augustine school. “My parents had a number of priest friends. We were able to see them as people.”
Today, that frequent interaction with priests can be a luxury. Some priests can't linger after Sunday Mass to talk with parishioners because they must lead services at another church in the next hour.
The 12-county Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, along with other dioceses nationwide, are coping with a shortage of priests now and forecasts a dire outlook for the future unless something is done to increase the number of men who are ordained.If the numbers of new priests doesn't grow here, diocesan officials predict that by 2025 there will be only 62 active priests to serve the more than 300,000 area Catholics.
“I pray always that we'll have sufficient priests,” said Bishop Matthew Clark. But to meet the needs of the diocese, “we'll need a tick up in the numbers of priests.”
The shortage of priests is not a new problem. It has played a role in the closings of some churches and prompted some church congregations to work in clusters established by the diocese to share priests, administrative tasks and spiritual programming.
Dady, 51, of Hamlin, coordinator of priesthood vocation awareness for the diocese, works with the Rev. Tim Horan, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church in Irondequoit, to find ways to encourage more men to consider the priesthood.
But they aren't alone in their endeavors.
“Today the job is every priests' and every pastoral administrators' to be alert to the presence of young men of faith who give example of service to others,” Horan said.
The challenge is that becoming a priest is a life calling that can't be marketed like a typical career, say those with the diocese, and there is not a magic number of recruits that the diocese is trying to achieve.
“We do need priests (but) we can't work by numbers,” Dady said.
But these efforts aren't encompassing enough, said Bill Droel, a board member of the National Center for the Laity in Chicago.
Catholic dioceses “are making the term ‘vocations' synonymous with vocations to the priesthood,” Droel said, which excludes women and men who want to serve their church but don't want to be priests.
Horan disagreed with Droel's observation, saying that the Rochester diocese makes a concerted effort to reach out to all young people, not just men.
Fewer churches
The Rochester diocese has 196 priests. Of that number 142 are “active,” which means they are assigned to churches, preside at Masses, administer the sacraments and have other ministry responsibilities in the community.These priests are bolstered by the presence of another 50 priests from various religious orders, such as the Basilians and the Jesuits, and about 30 international priests from Poland, Lithuania and several African countries who are assigned to work in the diocese.
Last summer, two men — Hoan Dinh and Jeffrey Tunnicliff — were ordained by Clark. Dinh was assigned to St. Rita's church in Webster, and Tunnicliff went to St. Mary's church in Elmira.
It's possible one other man will be ordained in June, and possibly one more in spring 2009.
With more than 160 churches and five Catholic communities on college campuses to staff, diocesan leaders say two ordinations a year is progress, but definitely not enough to fill the current and anticipated voids.
“Make no mistake. I wish we had more candidates than we have now, but we don't need to ordain huge numbers (of priests) to be where we need to be,” Clark said.
The diocese also has fewer churches.
Large numbers of Catholics have moved to the suburbs, depleting membership at city parishes and resulting in several parishes closing and merging with other locations. In some instances, Clark said, the decision to shutter churches was an effort to alleviate the financial burden placed on a small number of parishioners to maintain large church complexes, and not solely the result of the priest shortage.
Priests also are aided in their spiritual efforts by 102 deacons. Churches that do not have their own priest are led by pastoral leaders, who direct the day-to-day operations and report to the bishop. Only priests can consecrate bread and wine into communion and celebrate Mass.
‘Mysterious call'
Hoan Dinh, 37, knows intimately that life's changes can lead a man to the priesthood and describes his own path as “a winding road.”Growing up Catholic in Vietnam, he always wanted a career that involved his faith. But he thought more about becoming a teacher.
Dinh entered Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut in 1997. After enduring several personal challenges, including the death of his father in 1998, Dinh asked for a leave of absence. He applied to an education doctoral program in 200l but wasn't accepted.
Confused and disappointed, Dinh sought advice from a friend who was a priest in Connecticut and was told the rejection in his quest to become a teacher was a sign to re-think his life's purpose.
In 2001, Dinh came to the Rochester diocese and moved into Becket Hall, a residence for those studying and deciding whether to enter the priesthood. The two-year discernment process, followed by eight years of training is necessary to allow men to make sure they want to be priests, he said.
“God's call is a mysterious call,” said Dinh, the first Vietnamese priest ordained in the diocese.
But that call is not always plainly evident. Dinh said it is important for priests to talk to youth about what they do and for the diocese to make visits to local colleges and universities to discuss the vocation to the priesthood.
Life's calling
In addition to shrinking numbers, the ages of priests in the Rochester diocese is a concern.Ninety-nine of the diocese's active priests are ages 51 to 70; only 37 are 50 years old or younger.
The pitch for becoming a priest is made in Catholic schools to children as young as third grade. But Horan, who is 59, and Dady also are reaching out to older men who not only have a clear interest but who also are younger than 50.
The key is getting people to continuously think about their life's calling, said Dady, who partners with local Catholic schools and organizations to spread the word about vocations. Information is distributed via printed fliers and online at the diocese Web site.
She said the most effective method, however, is getting priests to talk about the vocation.
“We've also hosted events where young people can hear from others who are discerning a vocation to priesthood or religious life, and hopefully, they've come away understanding a little more about those lives of service,” Dady said.
Unlike religious order priests, diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty. Diocesan priests are paid for their work, based on the year they were ordained and the years of service to the diocese, much like a public school teacher, Dady said.
The diocese refused to share the base salary for a new priest because it does not generally release salary information “out of respect for privacy,” said spokesman Doug Mandelaro. Priests do receive health benefits, housing and a pension upon retirement, he added.
On a national level, a 2005 survey by the National Federation of Priests' Councils determined the median salary of U.S. diocesan priests was $19,110 in 2004-05. But survey author William P. Daly wrote that a better indication of compensation would be to include “all components of priests' taxable income and support,” which increases the median compensation to a U.S. average of $39,361.
Administrative tasks
The role of a priest has also expanded greatly over the years.Not only must they tend to the spiritual needs of church members, they often juggle the management of aging church complexes, which can include a school, a rectory and sometimes other buildings, oversee parish finances and collaborate with fellow priests and volunteers from nearby churches to provide religious education and minister to the elderly.
All of those administrative tasks can take priests away from their primary duty of spiritual guidance, said Droel, who edits the newsletter of the National Center of the Laity.
For that reason, he believes every church needs a competent business manager to assist the priest. “We really have to get serious about that,” Droel said.
The relationship parishioners traditionally had with their priest has changed because some are working with multiple churches, said Ramona Moore of Pittsford, a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Church in the city's Corn Hill neighborhood.
On Sundays, the Rev. Paul Gitau says Mass at Immaculate Conception at 9 a.m. and then leaves to prepare for the 11 a.m. Mass at St. Bridget's church, about three miles away on Mark Street.
The two parishes, which share some services and worship together every fifth Sunday, have decided — at this point — not to merge. The two serve a little more than 200 families.
Moore, 54, serves on a joint parish council that oversees activities and administrative functions at both churches. Each church still maintains its own parish council.
The diocese has been sensitive to parishioners' needs, but “I feel we are at a crisis mode,” Moore said. “Priests are being stretched.”
But no priests would say they're putting administrative responsibilities above ministering to the congregation, said Dady, adding that “I think that's where the involvement of the lay people and the deacons does help out.”
Ultimately, Moore said, the Catholic Church is re-evaluating what traditionally attracted men to the priesthood and what needs to happen now to keep the church vital.
“When you are called to (the priesthood) you realize what it is that you are giving up and what it is you are gaining,” she said.
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