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Priestly Vocations Dry Up in San Diego

We're Second to Last in New Vocations Among U.S. Dioceses

BY ROBERT KUMPEL

In June 2005, Catholic World Report published "Priestly Vocations in America: A Look at the Numbers." The article examined which dioceses were successful with priestly vocations, which were not, and why. The diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, led by the redoubtable Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, was number one in bringing in new vocations. The diocese of San Diego was ranked 175th of 176, second only to Honolulu as the weakest diocese for attracting new vocations. I interviewed local priests and lay Catholics, as well as some priests with ties to San Diego, to try and find out why San Diego ranks so low.

Bishop Brom, contacted by email responded on February 2, "I do not have an answer ... at this time. The presbyterate will be addressing ... the whole matter of promoting and supporting priestly vocations on the first day of our annual convocation in September which will bring to culmination a new program developed by the Committee on Vocations of the USCCB entitled: Priestly Life and Vocation Summit: FISHERS OF MEN."

Father Tom Shaw went through all of his priestly training for the Diocese of San Diego only to be told in his final interview that he did not have a priestly vocation and would not be ordained here. He was subsequently ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois. He believes that the diocesan leadership knows what to do to attract vocations but won't do it. "You have to have a commitment to orthodoxy," Father Shaw says, "which isn't there. When they let me go, I was told by a nationally prominent lay leader in San Diego that they didn't want orthodox priests."

Father Shaw feels that for all the talk of "diversity," the diocese is more interested in molding a priesthood of entrenched dissenters. "You have to have a seminary and a bishop that nurture vocations, not recruit people that fit into a specific mold. They don't do that. The year I was supposed to go on from pre-theology to theology, the diocese had four students. They told two of them to take some time off. They told me to go somewhere else. One person was sent on to theology. That person dropped out the first semester and the other three of us are all priests for other dioceses."

Father Feinberg (not his real name), a priest of the diocese of San Diego, agreed with Father Shaw. "Many of my friends who are pastors complain about sending candidates to the diocese, only to have them rejected. And most of them were guys who were conservatives."

Carl Horst is a former board member of the Tridentine Latin Mass community -- a community which has produced a handful of vocations in the last ten years, though none to this diocese. "From what I have seen and heard in San Diego," he commented, "men who refuse to buy into the modernist agenda found in seminaries like Saint John's in Camarillo [where San Diego's seminarians are sent to study] are turned away."

One priest with ties to San Diego, call him Father Reisner, thinks that the local Church leadership keeps too low a profile. "I once mentioned the bishop to a Protestant friend and he said, 'I didn't know you had a bishop here!' I'm from the East Coast where the bishops are right in there, often in political battles. Also, the mood among the clergy of the diocese is so liberal and so secular that it's not very inviting. It creates low morale."

Father Feinberg believes the dearth of vocations isn't a priority at the chancery office. "Without question," he says, "it's a low priority for the bishop. He has so much in lay ministries that it's clear that priestly vocations are number ten in a lineup of one to ten. Just one example: the seminarians that we have aren't involved in any diocesan ceremonies. You'll have a couple of gals in high heels and some laymen praying in the round, but seminarians are kept in the congregation. I'm talking about ceremonies like the Rite of Election, the Chrism Mass, and other functions. We no longer even have a seminary, it's now a 'House of Formation.'"

The House of Formation Father Feinberg speaks of is the former Saint Francis seminary, located on Santa Paula Drive in a canyon behind the University of San Diego. Its director, Father Matt Spahr would only affirm that it is no longer a seminary. "Its official title is the 'St. Francis De Sales Center for Priests and Priestly Formation.'" The center consists of a chapel, a meeting center, several apartments, and Bishop Brom's house. An employee of the University of San Diego said that at present there were four seminarians living at the center.

So how could we get more vocations here in San Diego? Father Greene (not his real name), another priest of the diocese, thinks the key to the problem is looking at dioceses that are success ful in attracting vocations. "I'm thinking specifically of the dioceses in Nebraska. Bishop Bruskewitz and his predecessor expected their priests to be loyal to the Church and all that the Church teaches, and not apologetic either. They teach the fullness of the faith and let the chips fall where they may. I think that's the most important factor. I think the great breakdown in vocations is due primarily to dissent. Young men are not encouraged by dissent. It causes so much confusion, and people don't know what the Church is about. Where dissent reigns, vocations go down."

Rancho Santa Fe Attorney Charles LiMandri, director of the Thomas More Law Center's West Coast office, agrees that a commitment to orthodoxy might make a difference. "We see that with Saint Michael's Abbey (Norbertines) in Orange County and the Legionaries of Christ. We need to look at our local seminary and ask if it is in line with the level of orthodoxy of some of these other seminaries and whether it will attract young men with a true vocation, men who want to dedicate their lives to God through the teachings of the Catholic Church."

And LiMandri suggests that Bishop Brom could bring in more vocations by encouraging more Eucharistic adoration in parishes. "Praying for vocations is very effectual, but our prayers need to be guided into action. And one way is to inspire a reverence for the Eucharist, the summit of our faith. And we should also develop a mindset among families that encouraging a child into a religious life is not a bad thing, but a good thing. For centuries, a vocation in the family was considered a great blessing"

Father Richard Perozich, former Pastor of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, current missionary in South America, echoes LiMandri's sentiment. "I would like to see families recover the sense of honor they once had when a child sought out a vocation, rather than discourage it."

Father Perozich added, "I would encourage a young man considering a vocation to approach Father Matthew Spahr, the vocations director for the diocese. Vocation directors have training in how to help a young man discern where God is calling that young man: diocesan priesthood, religious life, marriage, or perhaps profound conversion before proceeding to apply for seminary."

Father Feinberg believes that reversing low priestly morale would encourage vocations. "Promote the dignity of the priesthood and stop undermining the authority of the clergy. I would also curtail many of the lay ministries that are replacing priests -- things in the parish such as visiting the sick, instructing the converts, and administering the sacraments. If you undermine the clergy, how can you promote the priesthood?"

When told that Lincoln, Nebraska was the top diocese for attracting vocations, Father Feinberg wasn't surprised. "Bishop Bruskewitz doesn't allow the undermining of priestly life."

Father Greene believes Bishop Brom should encourage orthodoxy. "If he would encourage his priests to be faithful to the Church and preach what the Church teaches, he would see an increase in vocations. It would also help if he would make it clear that he will not tolerate doctrinal or liturgical aberrations. That would greatly encourage young men."

Father Reisner would like to see Bishop Brom foster more fraternity with priests. "He's too distant," he says.

Karl Keating, founder of Catholic Answers, likewise feels that the bishop should take a more personal and active role in pursuing vocations. "I would suggest that he go to the parishes and preach from the pulpit that he wants young men to think about vocations and invite them to call him directly. I know that some bishops have done this and it's worked."

"You have to recognize vocations," Father Shaw says. "I would suggest having a diocesan-wide program. The diocese of Peoria has a very active program, and they encourage pastors to seek vocations. Seminarians are given summer assignments in parishes and they meet to encourage each other. Kids see seminarians and priests who enjoy what they do encouraging them to think about it, raising the consciousness. I don't recall anything like that in San Diego."

Father Reisner says that the deeply secular culture of Southern California might play a part in low vocations. "It's so alienating. There are no social supports, especially for young people. They think that the real world is what they see on MTV and movies. Unless they have some other influence, there is nothing in the culture that would propel them toward religion, even though virtually everything in the Southwest was founded by the Church."

"The lifestyle offered in San Diego is very good," Father Perozich adds. "It may be harder to discern a vocation from the good life we have here in order to promote the gospel, freedom from sin, to celebrate Jesus and the one sacrifice of our salvation."

But cultural challenges, Father Perozhich believes, aren't peculiar to San Diego. "The culture in all of America is less spiritual and more material. The sense of sacrifice for the good of the community has diminished. 'Let the government do it' mentality affects everyone, including young men whom God may be calling."

Some believe San Diego's dire vocation situation will never be corrected without full implementation of the recent Vatican instruction precluding from the priesthood men with deeply rooted same-sex attraction. "Clearly," Horst says, "there has been a problem with young men there who are homosexually inclined."

"When young men see nothing but effeminate priests," says Father Feinberg, "that doesn't attract vocations. Fortunately, I can say that the younger priests we've seen ordained more recently seem to be pretty solid."

Sue Lopez, local pro-life leader and a Catholic homeschooling mother of four, says that her son made the same point when he heard a priest from Priests for Life speak recently. "My son and two of his friends have all thought seriously about becoming priests. When he heard this priest -- he was very masculine, from the Bronx, and totally orthodox -- my son said, 'If I ever become a priest, that's the kind of priest I want to be."

Father Shaw says that seeing so many homosexual priests not only discourages vocations, but also discourages society at large. "Man has been emasculated," he says. "Now you have to be a 'sensitive man.' The entire culture has been emasculated. The Church is reeling right now because it bought into the culture. The Church is supposed to be counter-cultural. The Church teaches truth when it encoun ters falsehood. You don't water down the truth. But too many priests -- and it's happened widely in San Diego -- have bought into the culture."

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