Facing shortage, New York taps parishioners to spot future priests

NEW YORK — In the Archdiocese of New York, where ordinations to the priesthood have sharply declined in recent decades, a new initiative is seeking to rekindle vocations. Launched this spring, “Called By Name” is the archdiocese’s latest attempt to spark interest in the priesthood.

“Only two men applied to seminary last year to be diocesan priests,” Father George Sears, director of vocations for the archdiocese, told CNA. “As far as I know, that’s the lowest number that I’ve ever seen.”

During Mass on Good Shepherd Sunday last month, parishioners across the city were invited to fill out pamphlets or scan a QR code to nominate young men they believe might be called to the priesthood.

According to Father Sears, since May 11 more than 260 names have been submitted. Each nominee will receive a personal letter from Cardinal Timothy Dolan inviting him to dinner in August. Called By Name comes at a time of mounting concern for the future of the priesthood not only in New York but also across the nation.

Within the Archdiocese of New York, the number of priests has fallen by more than half since 1970, according to data published by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. 

Fewer men are entering the seminary and many parishes now rely on one priest to serve communities once staffed by two or more. In the past 50 years, many parishes in New York have been forced to merge or close, leaving communities without a resident pastor.

Father Sears said he speculates that the reason for a waning interest in joining the priesthood is layered. “There’s a greater fear of making a long-term commitment,” he said. “Also the idea, somehow that fulfillment comes from a certain checklist, like, my life is fulfilled if I have the right career as opposed to happiness coming from a relationship based in love.”

He pointed to other factors including a growing secularism in society, the migration of Catholic families from the Northeast to other regions of the country, and the lingering impact of the Church’s sexual abuse crisis. 

“We’re still very much suffering from the results of the sexual abuse scandal,” Father Sears said. “I think we’re still in the shadow of that.”

Daniel Ogulnick, a Catholic man in his early 20s and a native New Yorker, first heard about the archdiocese’s initiative on Good Shepherd Sunday while sitting in the pews of St. Joseph’s Church in Manhattan. For him, “Called By Name” may not go far enough.

“The same way that God calls us as individuals, maybe the Church should approach it through parish priests really getting to know the young men in their parish and thinking about each one’s unique talents and gifts,” Ogulnick said. He said he believes a more personal approach may be more effective, especially for men like him who are actively discerning a vocation.

Father Sears doesn’t disagree, but he stressed the limits of the current situation in the diocese. “When we’re in a ‘vocations crisis’ … you’re spread thinner,” he said, adding that “Called By Name” can help priests foster relationships with young men discerning the priesthood whom they might not otherwise reach. 

“The hope is that the priests who are involved in this can say to everyone, ‘Hey, come … join us. Come and pray with us a little bit. Meet some other men who are also curious,’” Father Sears said. 

Father Sears said parishioners are still encouraged to submit nominations to “Called By Name” well into the summer and nominees can expect to receive a personal invite from Cardinal Dolan to one of several dinners and events hosted by the archdiocese before fall arrives in New York.