I read an article in the National Catholic Register about the increase in vocations to the priesthood in several dioceses in the U.S. It was an uplifting piece which shows that the call is there and many are answering. However, looking at the regions from which they come defies established logic. The large population centers with many Catholics and beautiful churches are not on the list of these places. The percentage of young men pursuing priestly vocations in large urban areas of the United States is much lower than it is in smaller regions. In places like New York and Chicago this is apparent. Perhaps the noise of the big city is drowning out the call of God. It is easy to blame bishops and priests in these areas, or to point to difficulties in the seminaries, but perhaps the root cause is deeper than that. These troubling statistics reinforce the concerns of many, including the Holy Father and his recent predecessors, that the distractions of our present world obscure the call of God. He whispers, He does not shout.
The Register article refers to the number of Catholics in various dioceses per ordination, with one ordination for every 4,037 Catholics in Bismarck, North Dakota, and one ordination for every 187,917 Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York. Ouch! I do not have stats for Europe, but with the drastically low rate of church attendance in “Catholic” Europe, I suspect the numbers are much worse. Last year I attended the ordination of a friend in Chicago. He was one of four ordinands and is a member of a religious order. Only three came from the Archdiocese, which claims over two million Catholics. New York ordained four in 2025. These are disappointing metrics by any standard. One need only visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York to see the beautiful legacy of our Faith in the cities of the United States, but times change.
Perhaps we are witnessing what the late Pope Benedict XVI referred to as a smaller holier church in the days to come, where the established institutions and regions give way to a smaller but holier one. The disruption in urban life today affects both secular and spiritual sectors. We do not live in a vacuum and the reach of social media extends also to the smaller population areas. The exception is that the general tenor in these places leads to a sense of serenity. Another factor to consider is that larger families tend to gravitate to these areas where they hope for a safer environment for their children. In fact, they find it and nurture the Faith more successfully. It truly begins in the home.
Growing Away from Distractions
The West evangelized the Third World. Missionaries from many orders left their homes and the comforts that our developed societies afforded them to live with those “less fortunate ” and bring them the Gospel. It is the fruit of these efforts that brings many priests from Africa, India and other countries here today to help fill the void of priestly vocations in the United States.
Prosperity and sophistication are double-edged swords. As an International Public Association of the Faithful, the World Apostolate of Fatima has members worldwide. I have come to know many who hail from less prosperous regions than us These are Catholics who must stand and fight for the Faith. They do not share our freedoms and the general security that we enjoy. As a result, they grow in a greater love for the truths of Christ, not unlike the first Christians who gave everything for Christ.
God calls us all to His plans. I think of the message of Fatima. Would anyone have heard it if it had been given in downtown New York, Los Angeles or Chicago? Possibly not. The noise of the city, the cacophony of present-day life obscures that call and thus we fail to respond.
We pride ourselves in attaining knowledge and often fall victim to the tendency to follow our own path. The distractions of this world are many. Last month I wrote about the potential dangers which AI and other technologies pose to the spiritual well-being of all, particularly to young people. We need to heed the warning signs and look to the successes that are apparent. The Church is growing where there are less distractions. Perhaps we can learn something from this and be grateful there is a resurgence taking place in our troubled world.
God bless you and Mary keep you in her Immaculate Heart.
David M Carollo
Executive Director
If you wish to comment, please contact me at [email protected].
David M. Carollo is the Executive Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima USA/National Blue Army Shrine. He wrote this for his Voice of Fatima column.
If you would like to comment on this post, please contact him at [email protected].
