A Glimmer of Light

After decades of glum trends new statistics give some cheer to Catholics across America. The statistic shows that more men are now enrolled in graduate level seminaries, the main feeder to priesthood. This year approximately 3,694 theology students have graduated. This is a 16 percent increase since 19995 and a 10 percent increase form 2005. This data came from the Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. People across the Catholic community believe the cause of this is the new pope, Pope Francis. Pope Francis is giving the sense that the Catholic Church is past the corrosive impact of the sexual abuse crisis that exploded in 2002. Most of these men that are now planning on becoming priests are now saying that God inspired them and that it was a “ calling in their heart”. Right now the majority of graduated theology majors are between the ages of twenty-two and forty-five. This is a relatively young group compared to past statistics. Reverend Mark Latcovich president and rector of St. Mary say how young men today “ want to give their life for something that counts. These men are tired of living in a culture of relativism. They want to say there must be something true, beautiful and good. They have discovered the beauty of God.” Many of these men have been living in the South West of America. This is a strange difference from the past. In 1995 statistics show that most Catholic priests lived along the east coast. Now it almost seems as though they are migrating to the west coast.

My thoughts on this article is that I think it is really interesting because even in my own church where my pastor left to go to Rome and it took over 5 months to get a new priest. Although, this is great news because more people are getting closer to God and they will help other people also get close to God. This article points out a very important thing