Washington D.C., Dec 15, 2011 / 04:10 am
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, the head of the U.S. bishops’ committee on vocations, believes Catholics should be encouraged by great signs of hope for the future of the priesthood in America.
Archbishop Carlson told CNA on Dec. 12 that although there is a “great need for more seminarians” in the United States, several recent “positive trends” in seminary enrollment should “give us hope as a people of faith.”
The archbishop said that Apostolic Visitations in 2005 revealed that the vast majority of diocesan seminaries throughout the country are “healthy houses of discernment and formation,” filled with seminarians of a “very high caliber,” who bring with them “a variety of backgrounds, experience and talents.”
He pointed to recent statistics from Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which indicate a “steady increase in the number of theologians studying for the priesthood” over the last eight years.