A recent piece at the SSPX site deals with the “vertiginous” drop in priestly vocations in France, in particular, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe. The figures they used are from the French bishops conference and other non-SSPX sources.
The numbers are dreadful, even for a pessimist.
The results will be disastrous, given the present madness about synodality (“walking together-ity”).
This vertiginous drop in the number of ecclesiastics leads to abuses that the next synod on synodality is very likely not to sanction, and perhaps even to condone. To compensate for the lack of priests in Switzerland, they will not hesitate to call on lay people. In La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana on June 16, 2023, Luisella Scrosati notes that in the canton of Basel, it is now usual for lay people to exercise priestly functions: they preach; they preside over a liturgy of the Word which completely replaces the Mass; and they baptize and celebrate marriages.
Pray for vocations.
I once preached a Forty Hours Devotion. WE NEED FORTY HOURS!
I said that Forty Hours was instituted to beg God to avert disasters from the Church and society. In that particular Forty Hours I preached about the disaster on the horizon from the lack of vocations to the priesthood and that that should be our focus during those days of Exposition, prayer, and litaniac procession.
On the other hand, groups using the traditional liturgical books, faithful to the Church’s teachings ( = “We are our rites!”) are growing and their seminaries are full.
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In the Byzantine tradition, a service led by a deacon or lay person is called a reader service and, in general, omits the parts of the liturgy or office that a priest would say or use. In place Divine Liturgy we see a service called Typika. Fr. David Petras, the Dean of Ruthenian Byzantine liturgists, posts a Typika on FB each week for the next Sunday or other holy day. If Fr. Z and space limitations permit, the following is Father David’s Typika for this Sunday:
TYPIKA AT HOME: AUGUST 21, 2023
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
POST-FESTIVE DAY OF THE FEAST OF THE DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS
Opening Hymns:
Troparion, Tone 3:
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; for the Lord has shown the might of his arm. By his death the Lord has trampled Death; he has become the first-born of the dead; he has delivered us from the depths of Hades and has granted great mercy to the world.
Troparion, Tone 1:
O Theotokos, in giving birth you preserved virginity; and in your falling asleep you did not forsake the world. You are the Mother of Life and have been transferred to life, and through your prayers you deliver our souls from death.
Leader: Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Response: Amen.
Glory to you, our God, glory to you.
Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, everywhere present and filling all things, Treasury of blessings and Giver of Life, come and dwell within us, cleanse us of all stain, and save our souls, O gracious One.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us. (Three times)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.
Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse us of our sins; Master, forgive our transgressions; Holy One, come to us and heal our infirmities for your name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. (Three times)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Leader: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
Response: Amen.
Lord, have mercy. (Twelve times)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen
Come, let us worship our King and God.
Come, let us worship Christ, our King and God.
Come, let us worship and bow before the only Lord Jesus Christ the King and our God.
We chant the Typical Psalms:
Psalm 102:
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and never forget all his blessings.
It is he who forgives all your guilt,
who heals every one of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion,
who fills your life with good things,
renewing your youth like an eagle’s.
The Lord does deeds of justice,
gives judgment for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses
and his deeds to Israel’s sons.
The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
His wrath will come to an end;
he will not be angry forever.
He does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.
For as the heavens are high above the earth
so strong is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.
As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him;
for he knows of what we are made,
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flowers like the flower of the field;
the wind blows and he is gone
and his place never sees him again.
But the love of the Lord is everlasting
upon those who hold him in fear;
his justice reaches out to children’s children
when they keep his covenant in truth,
when they remember his commands and do them.
The Lord has set his throne in heaven
and his kingdom is ruling over all.
Bless the Lord, all his angels,
mighty in power, fulfilling his word,
who heed the voice of his word.
Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his servants who do his will.
Bless the Lord, all his works,
in every place where he rules.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever and forever. Amen.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Blessed are you, O Lord.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life.
I will make music to my God while I live.
Put no trust in princes,
in mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay
and their plans that day come to nothing.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.
It is the Lord who keeps faith forever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.
It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign forever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.
Now and ever and forever. Amen.
Hymn of the Incarnation
O only-begotten Son and Word of God, who, being immortal, deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and became man without change; you were also crucified, O Christ our God, and by death have trampled Death, being One of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us.
Troparia at the Beatitudes
In your kingdom, remember us, O Lord, when you come in your kingdom.
12. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11. Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
10. Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
( Tone 3) O Christ, from Paradise you banished our forefather Adam who rejected your commandment; and, O Compassionate One, into Paradise you brought the thief who confessed you on the cross, as he cried out, “Remember me, O Savior, in your kingdom.”
9. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
– Lord and Giver of life, when we sinned you condemned us to the curse of death; and, O Master, when you suffered without sin in your body, you gave life to mortals who cry out, “Remember us also in your kingdom.”
8. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
– Having risen from the dead, O Lord, by your resurrection you raised us with you from the passions; you destroyed the entire dominion of death, O Savior. Therefore we cry out in faith, “Remember us also in your kingdom.”
7. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.
– By your three-day burial you, as a life-giving God, raised with you the dead in Hades, and you, as a good God, poured out incorruption on us all who in faith cry out always, “Remember us also in your kingdom.”
6. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
– Having risen from the dead, you appeared first to the myrrh-bearing women, O Savior, and cried out, “Rejoice!” Through them, you reveal your rising to your friends, O Christ. Because of this, we cry out, “Remember us also in your kingdom.”
5. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
– On the mountain Moses prefigured the cross by spreading out his arms and turning back Amalek. Having received the cross as a powerful weapon against demons, we all cry out, “Remember us also in your kingdom.”
4. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
(Tone 1) Your three-day burial, O Lord, was prefigured by the sea monster, breathing forth fire; Jonah was the interpreter of this mystery; for coming forth from the monster safe and sound, he cried out: I will offer hymns of praise to you, O Lord.
3. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
– Your three-day burial, O Lord, was prefigured by the sea monster, breathing forth fire; Jonah was the interpreter of this mystery; for coming forth from the monster safe and sound, he cried out: I will offer hymns of praise to you, O Lord
2. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
– The Divine King of all bestowed upon you gifts that are beyond nature. Just as he preserved your virginity in child- birth, he saved your body from suffering corruption in the tomb. He exalted you, his mother, through your divine passage in glory. 1. Now and ever and forever. Amen.
– O Virgin, your Son has granted that you dwell in the Holy of Holies as a bright lamp, burning with the immaterial fire, as a golden censer burning with divine coal. You are the vessel containing manna, the rod of Aaron, the tablet written by God, the holy Ark, and the table of the Bread of Life.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3:
Sing praise to our God, sing praise; sing praise to our King, sing praise.
Verse: All you peoples, clap your hands; shout to God with cries of gladness.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Leader: A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.
Brothers and Sisters: Now I am reminding you of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Alleluia, Tone 3: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Verse: In you, O Lord, I have placed my trust; let me never be put to shame.
Verse: Be a protector for me, O God, and a house of refuge for my salvation.
Alleluia, Tone 8:
Verse: Go up, Lord, to the place of your rest, you and your holy ark.
Verse: The Lord swore a true oath to David; he will not go back on his word.
Leader: A reading from the gospel of the holy apostle and evangelist Matthew. (Matthew 19:16-26)
Response: Glory to you, O Lord, glory to you.
Leader:
At that time: someone approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Response: Glory to you, O Lord, glory to you.
Then:
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever and forever. Amen.
Remember us, O Lord,
when you come in your kingdom.
Remember us, O Master,
when you come in your kingdom.
Remember us, O Holy One,
when you come in your kingdom.
The heavenly choir praises you and says,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts;
heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
The heavenly choir praises you and says,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts;
heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
The choir of holy angels and archangels, with all the heavenly powers, praises you and says,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts;
heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Now and ever
and forever. Amen.
Profession of Faith
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, the only-begotten, born of the Father before all ages. Light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in essence with the Father; through whom all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. He rose on the third day according to the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of Life, who proceeds from the Father. Together with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified; he spoke through the prophets. In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I profess one baptism for the remission of sins. I expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Remit, pardon, and forgive our transgressions, voluntary and involuntary, in deed and in word, with knowledge and in ignorance, in thought and in desire, by night and by day, forgive them all, O God, for you are good and love us all.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Leader: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
Response: Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 3:
Today, you arose from the grave, O merciful Lord; you led us out of the gates of Death. Today, Adam exults and Eve rejoices. With them, the prophets and patriarchs ever praise the might of your divine power.
Lord, have mercy. (Twelve times)
Leader: Most holy Trinity, Consubstantial Power, Indivisible Kingdom, Cause of all good things, look favorably upon me, a sinner, at this present hour. Take away all the defilement of my mind and enlighten my understanding that I may always praise, glorify, and say:
Response: One is holy, one is Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen
The Leader bows his head and together with the faithful makes a spiritual Communion praying aloud:
O Lord, I believe and confess that you are truly Christ,
who came into the world
To save sinners of whom I am the first.
Although I cannot be a partaker now of your mystical supper, O Son of God,
Come at least spiritually into my heart by Your Divine Grace
for the healing of my soul and body.
For I will not reveal your mystery to your enemies,
Nor will I give you a kiss as did Judas,
But like the thief I profess to you:
+ Remember me, O Lord, when you come in your kingdom.+ Remember me, O Master, when you come in your kingdom.
+ Remember me, O Holy One, when you come in your kingdom.
O Lord, I also believe and profess, that this,
Which I would receive, and which is now here present with us in Mystery,
Is truly your most precious Body, and your life-giving Blood,Which, I pray, I may one day receive again
For the remission of all my sins and for life everlasting. Amen
Then immediately:
Psalm 33
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
In the Lord
my soul shall make its boast
The humble shall hear
and be glad.
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
The angel of the Lord is encamped,
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
Revere the Lord, you his saints.
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
Come, children, and hear me
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life and many days,
to enjoy his prosperity?
Then keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn aside from evil and do good;
seek and strive after peace.
The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes to the just
and his ears to their appeal.
The just cried out and the Lord heard them,
and rescued them from all their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many are the trials of the just,
but from them all the Lord will rescue them.
He will keep guard over all their bones,
not one of their bones shall be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked;
those who hate the good are doomed.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.
More honorable than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim; who, a virgin, gave birth to God the Word, you, truly the Theotokos, we magnify.
Leader: Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Response: Amen.
Closing Hymn:
The angels were struck with amazement beholding the dormition of the Most Pure; seeing how the Virgin was taken up from earth to heaven.
Irmos: The limits of nature are overcome in you, O pure Virgin, for birthgiving remains virginal, and death is the prelude to life: a virgin after childbearing and alive after death! You ever save your inheritance, O Theotokos.
My husband is not Catholic. Over the years he has attended the NO at my old parish with me. I’m now going to a parish with a regular TLM (daily & Sundays except the 1st Sunday)and once a month to another diocese for the 1st Sunday of the month.
A few months ago I invited my husband to come with me. He’s been to both TLM parishes regularly now. He recently made mention of the differences in the demographics between, and numbers of, Latin Mass attendees and the NO attendees. It is so obvious.
He says, “Clearly, they (referencing the Latin Mass churches) have the secret sauce. Why aren’t those other churches trying to do what they do?”
Even he sees it.
One more story. Years ago when we were staying in Milwaukee we went to Mass. On the altar the whole time was a woman dressed in a white robe. She appeared to be some sort of master of ceremonies. It was dreadful as she directed directed the children upfront for recognition before the homily, the 1st speaker of a 2-part homily and then Father and his part. Etc.
My husband gets in the car and asks, “who was that woman running around up there?”
He thought it was awful and he’s not even Catholic!
The Francis Effect™. During Cardinal Bergoglio’s tenure as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, the archdiocese’s ordinations similarly dropped by >50%. Past is prologue.
Sadly, few in Church leadership would likely diagnose the problem correctly. Rather, their proposed solution will be to triple-down on liberalism! No matter that liberalism has failed in every religion in which it’s been tried, always and everywhere. No worries, it’s what the public says it wants, so it’ll have to work eventually if we just reach peak liberalism, right? Right?
In any other organization, this would result in some serious soul searching and questions as to whether they were on the right path. But not in the Catholic Church, where the “new springtime” is frozen in amber, no such examination, nothing can change, we just press on over the cliff.
The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston (i.e.West Virginia) has announced an effort to pray one million rosaries between August 15 and October 7 for vocations.
https://dwc.org/onemillionrosaries/
This is ambitious for a diocese with so few Catholics. We have a better Bishop than before but perhaps still too much of the Spirit of Vatican II to inspire many men to commit.
Most of our Priests are missionaries, mostly from Africa and India.
Absolutely Beautiful Woody, I can almost hear the melodious chants and smell the incense.
maternalView:
If you ever get back to Milwaukee, come to St. Stanislaus on 518 W Historic Mitchell St. Sunday Masses are at 8 am, 10 am (High Mass), and 12 noon. Also a reverently celebrated OF Mass Saturday at 4 pm.
In how far is this, as the saying goes, ‘not a bug but a feature’? – in contrast to a Typika, the replacement of Priests with lay women, in particular: something like vested, distributing the presanctified Corpus, not preaching but speaking as well as Reading Lections, baptizing (though there is no emergency), witnessing at marriages without canonical form (as the husband and wife are the ministers of the sacrament: but how does that absence of canonical form work?), conducting funerals (of just what formal sort?) – but with maintenance – with rigid control – of seminaries and Ordination to preclude ‘the wrong sort of Priests’, while presumably awaiting ‘full formal “alphabeticity” (including “alphabetic femininity”)’ along assorted Old Catholic and Anglican lines.
@Venerator Sti Lot: indeed, it appears to be a feature…being in IT since the 80s…we laughingly use that to explain the unexpected behavior of most of advanced programs and applications. Sadly, ignoring it in IT has led to Patch Tuesday and ransomware.
It almost feels as if the boffins in charge have examined the failed activities and teachings over centuries by separated eccelesial communities…cherry-picked what didn’t work…and think, like those today in public office, that it was because it wasn’t done correctly before and just ‘trust us to get it right this time’ with their proposals.
I find it propitious that we just passed the memorial for Pope St. Pius X…who carefully pointed out the poison of modernism…which the current regime seems to have fully embraced. Like +Paul VI’s admonition in Humanae Vitae regarding the effects of a contraceptive mentality, a rereading of +Pius X’s writings certainly will point out just what is a consequence of ignoring his teachings.
The cratering of priestly vocations is not happening in a vacuum…and has been planned (there, I said it…) for decades. Michael Rose only scratched the surface back in the early 90s. I lived through it in the mid 1970s. It’s just that until now, there has not apparently been the support for what was done ‘in camera’ up to now…and with the current environment, is now out in the open (if you’re paying attention).
I can’t predict the future. I just have to pray I’m on the right side in the coming divine intervention.
I agree with Venerator Sti Lot above—this collapse in vocations is an ‘engineered famine’. A great deal of effort has been expended over the past several decades to make sure the wrong sort of seminarians are either refused admission or drummed out of seminary. And by ‘wrong sort’, the Powers That Be mean those men who are insufficiently ‘flexible’ with regards to Church teaching— especially Her teachings on all the “pelvic issues”.
.
Consider the case of Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, the now-retired Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska. Under his leadership his tiny diocese had so many priestly vocations that in the early 2000’s he had to do that rarest of all things: he had to build a new seminary. At one point, if I recall correctly, he was ordaining more priests per capita than any other diocese in the nation, and had more ordinations in raw numbers than many major archdioceses. Did his brother bishops clamor for his secret to attracting vocations? Did the USCCB draft him to chair a committee to advise fellow bishops how to replicate his results? Did bishops send their vocations directors to Lincoln to see how it’s done there?
.
No. No, there wasn’t the least interest in replicating Bishop Bruskewitz’ success— and that can only be because, on the whole, our bishops don’t really see the collapse in vocations as the problem it is. *Solving* the dearth of vocations is actually undesirable for some of our leaders.
The current rector came to the Cathedral in July 2021. I remember noticing that his previous parish had 40 hours devotion. I would not be at all surprised were he to implement for us during 2024.
I probably know the answer, but what about a comparison with those numbers with the numbers of TLM oriented ordinations? Also, I did read that there WERE some places in the US (more traditionally oriented) where the ordinations were actually increasing. . . . again, a comparison would be nice.
I hate to say this, but like Bryan Boyle I think our Church is heading backwards. I attended a Catholic college in the later 1980s. We had Masses where we stood during the consecration, gathered around the altar at smaller Masses, an older priest who would say daily Mass in 18 minutes, and confession was like “oh, it’s not too important anymore. ”
Anyway, this past week there was a good article in the National Catholic Register by Daniel Payne that some U.S. seminaries are having an uptick. One was in Fr. Z’s native place that I believe will have one of there larger classes in recent years. Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans was mentioned (the diocese where I live sends seminarians there) and Notre Dame Seminary (I heard) had a lot of trouble in the 1980s and 1990s. Sacred Heart School of Theology (it’s near Hales Corner Wisconsin) was mentioned in the article as well. Sacred Heart has a program for “late vocations” and some dioceses send widowers there.
It seems in several parts of the country there’s some “in-fighting” going on between “traditional” and “watering down” and “middle of the road. ” I wasn’t alive in 1958 when 70 percent of Catholics attended Mass. Today too many Catholics see their Sunday obligation as an option. Sadly, it’s like 1983 all over again.
The demographic situation in the West is a major factor here as well. Many of the countries in Europe have had birth rates below replacement rate for multiple decades, and at this point, there is simply a smaller pool of young people in the age range for a potential vocation (~20-35) than there has ever been. Even a great turnaround in some dioceses would result in fewer overall vocations than it might have in the past.
Note that the SSPX article points out that there was a precipitate drop in vocations before VII, this collapse started in 1950! And those figures are year of ordination so we can say that in France vocations started falling as the War ended.
God willing, I’ll be ordained to the Priesthood, on sunday 10th of september. Basilica Our Lady of the Rosary, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Please, remember me in your prayers.
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