CWR: Bishop Daly prepares to take the helm in Spokane by Jim Graves
(I hate chopping up interviews like this. It is worth reading the whole thing, but the talk of vocations jumped out at me.)
Last month Pope Francis appointed Bishop Thomas Daly, 54, an auxiliary bishop with the Diocese of San Jose, California, as the seventh bishop of Spokane, Washington. Daly will be installed in his new position at Spokane’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes on May 20. He succeeds Archbishop Blase Cupich, who was installed as archbishop of Chicago last November.
[now to the interview]
CWR: What are the most pressing issues you think you’ll face when you become bishop of Spokane?
… [talks about the bankruptcy] …
Bishop Daly: I’ll also have to focus on vocations to the priesthood. I’ll ordain two men to the priesthood this year, but there are only three or four seminarians for the entire diocese. [YIKES! – I hope things go better for Archbishop Cupich in Chicago].
CWR: Does this low number concern you?
Bishop Daly: Yes. When I was first named vocations director in San Francisco, we had seven or eight seminarians for the archdiocese. Over the next nine years, we got it up to 21. Our focus was on “homegrown” vocations, rather than bringing in priests from outside the archdiocese.
CWR: And how did you achieve this success?
Bishop Daly: It’s not so much about programs, but prayer. I asked people in our parishes to pray for vocations, and stressed the need for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I like to stress Eucharistic adoration; God will not give us the priests we need if we don’t put the Eucharist in the center of our lives.
…
CWR: What’s the best way for the faithful to support our bishops?Bishop Daly: Please pray for us. Offer a decade of the Rosary for us. I’m reminded of the story in the Scriptures in which Jesus, after the Transfiguration, casts a demon out of a boy. The disciples then asked Him why they were not able to cast the demon out. Jesus responded that the demon could only be cast out by prayer and fasting. Keep us in your prayers, and we’ll pray for you.
Also, in your private conversations, we’d ask you to speak the truth in pastoral charity.
Also, if you haven’t yet signed lifesite’s “Open letter to Pope Francis: thank you for Archbishop Cordileone! (petition)” make sure you do so right now.
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About vocations, of all the young people who have entered some form of religious life (priests,nuns, brothers) since 1986, the first World Youth Day, 20% of them attended a World Youth Day.
According to our pastoral office, the Syracuse Diocese will sponsor a group of youth for the next WYD in 2016 along with the diocese of Buffalo. A call to the pastoral office of Rochester, today, elicited the information that the Diocese of Rochester will not be sponsoring any group for WYD.
Go figure!!??!!
Need a little more information, please. What is the context? Has DoR (always?) (usually?) (ever?) (never?) sponsored a group for WYD? Is this just a continuation of policy? One that is being reviewed and no decision has been made? Or did Bishop Matano consider having DoR sponsor such a group, but decided against it? Is there already a group which does sponsof a WYD group? I think the context makes a lot of difference here, whatever it may be, in order to avoid misunderstanding or judging inappropriately? Not saying any of what you said is wrong, but I’m just looking for the context.
That statistic says nothing about whether or not attending a WYD increases one’s likelihood to answer the call to a priestly or religious vocation, let alone whether or not they went sponsored by the diocese. It may or may not be beneficial, but that little statistic is utterly meaningless.
https://xkcd.com/552/
Personally, I’m more inclined to believe that vocations are nurtured by living in a solidly Catholic family that attends a solidly Catholic parish which lives the faith in a deep, non-showy way, day in and day out. Sure, the big whopper events can be nice, but if that’s what we’re relying on to inspire our young ones, then we’re missing the boat the other 99% of the time.
Militia,
Call the diocese and see if you can get more information from them.
Ben, Talk to Father van Lieshout who read the Epistle at a recent papal Christmas midnight Mass. Perhaps a call also to the Franciscans of the renewal might gie you some idea on this subject.
“Sure, the big whopper events can be nice, but if that’s what we’re relying on to inspire our young ones, then we’re missing the boat the other 99% of the time.”
I agree with you,—————————————-for once!!
Militia,
Call the diocese and see if you can get more information from them than I was able to.
Ben,
Talk to Father van Lieshout who read the Epistle at a recent papal Christmas midnight Mass. Perhaps a call also to the Franciscans of the renewal might give you some idea on this subject.
“Sure, the big whopper events can be nice, but if that’s what we’re relying on to inspire our young ones, then we’re missing the boat the other 99% of the time.”
I agree with you,—————————————-for once!!
addendum to Ben:
“Personally, I’m more inclined to believe that vocations are nurtured by living in a solidly Catholic family that attends a solidly Catholic parish which lives the faith in a deep, non-showy way, day in and day out.”
Many (maybe a few now) know knows this, but St John Paul the Great knew that this would have a very difficult time happening so he initiated the World Youth Day to counteract falling apart families, apathetic clergy and parishes, and a youth culture that has led our teen-age people to suicide and drugs as a well as a world class promiscuity. So if you disagree with me, take it up with St JP II.
No, Raymondfrice, I am not going to call the diocese for you. I think I’ve sufficiently pointed out that what you wrote doesn’t mean much without context. That’s up to you to provide, or not, as may be the case.
Further, your statement that “Father van Lieshout read the Epistle at a recent papal Christmas midnight Mass” needs some correction. It was (transitional) Deacon (not Father) van Lieshout who chanted (not read) the Gospel (not Epistle) at the Papal Midnight Mass in 2013.
Raymond,
I neither agreed nor disagreed w/ you. All I said was that your statistic is meaningless.
Militia, you are getting picky and hostile with me. I said for you to contact Father because he can now be reached under that title, not deacon. We don’t use the phrase Master Bergoglio when we are talking about the pope being in the first grade.I have also stated my position on WYD. I called the diocese and reported the sum and substance of the conversation. I believe, according to proper rules of argumentation that you have to rebut this position.
If you read my original statement , I am simply stating what I was told, pointing out that there were no plans for a diocesan sponsored trip to Krakow. I stated the importance of WYD as I understood it as a source for vocations. I also reported the statistics I had acquired from “America” magazine. I was not inviting a verbal assault!!
Should the people on this blog decide yo sponsor a student’s going to Krakow, I will dispatch a $500. check as soon as possible to Diane to help facilitate this. Defective as WYD might seem, if it inspires someone to be a nun or priest, it will be worth it.
Let’s all take a moment and pray a “Hail, Mary!” 🙂
I certainly do not intend to be picky, hostile or verbally assaulting. However, there seems to me to be a pretty strong tradition on this blog to offer fraternal correction to each other if we are in error. It would be regrettable if someone read something here that was in error and quoted Cleansing Fire as the source of the misinfo. That’s all I plan to say about it.
Just doing what I can to defend the Diocese here 🙂
Wonderful Ben!! But what do you do when they might be wrong as in an 11 million dollar cathedral renovation when Sister Grace is fighting the mayor to get shelter for the homeless and she is the only voice from a religious person or group!!
What are you defending them from on this issue??
http://www.fallaciesandfashions.com/2009/10/11m-vs-700k.html
This
Shipping kids to Poland may or may not help, but I’m not going to criticize the Diocese on this one (and as militia said – we don’t even know the full story here). I’ve got enough kid/parent combos coming to my door asking me for money for their kids’ activities (more elaborate activities than I’d ever spend on my own children).
Regarding what raymondfrice said – “Personally, I’m more inclined to believe that vocations are nurtured by living in a solidly Catholic family that attends a solidly Catholic parish which lives the faith in a deep, non-showy way, day in and day out. Sure, the big whopper events can be nice, but if that’s what we’re relying on to inspire our young ones, then we’re missing the boat the other 99% of the time.”
I think the type of nurturing he has stated should be instituted in all families to ensure that children grow up in the Christian faith with Christian values and a Christian outlook and approach to life. Children will learn to be a Christian contributing member to society.
There are instances of parents who just drop their children off at church, but do not attend church themselves. I have been informed that this happens in Protestant denominations churches as well as in the Catholic church.
There are even instances where the parents drop off their children in the nursery/childcare during the mass or service for free babysitting and are not in church at the time. (There have been instances of staff having a difficult time contacting the parent(s) when a situation has arisen where the child has received first aid or has become ill. The emergency/nursing staff and nursery/daycare staff have to just wait until the parent(s) return to pick up the child to inform them of the situation and the steps that were taken).
Often these type of parents expect certain criteria of their children,yet they don’t want to set the example. Church life and the Christian faith should be lived out at home and not just at Church. My family prayed together at mealtimes thanking God for His Gifts and Blessings for providing us for food. We prayed for sick relatives and friends, people who died, people suffering around the world, and special intentions. We also had our night prayers before we slept, and then we had our morning prayers before we started the day.
I remember when we, as well as other Americans, were faced with the Cuban Missile Crisis. My parents were serious and very concerned. We prayed as a family for God’s protection and for the situation to be resolved.
My parents were very charitable to others and very helpful to others in need.
Children tend to pick up the example set before them.
Also with regard to vocations, often a young person will choose a vocation when someone who they encounters inspires them.
Christian:
I think the comment you alluded to came from Ben. My position was that he is correct but the ideal he speaks of is not very realistic at the present time , given the decay in many family structures,but worth working towards. Nurturing of vocations in the family is paramount and St John Paul thought it should come from the family but be expanded upon this by presenting the concept of the Universal Church as family. This is why he started World Youth Days and why it has been perpetuated by subsequent popes.
Ben:
I got this from the very astute and reliable National Catholic Register-2013!!
One in Five Vocations
According to the most recent studies done for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), 25% of new religious making their professions reported they had participated in a World Youth Day. Also 20% of newly ordained priests in the Class of 2013 said they went to a WYD before entering the seminary.
“It’s quite incredible,” said Father Shawn McKnight, executive director the USCCB Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “A small percentage of our Catholic youth go to a World Youth Day, but 20% of those getting ordained have been to one. So it obviously has an impact.”
The organizers of this year’s World Youth Day hope that the Rio event will prove as fruitful as previous ones, in terms of fostering vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Ben:
Have you ever had ” Corneille au Vin”? It is a French dish.
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/world-youth-day-a-seedbed-for-consecrated-vocations/#ixzz3Z2e6tYUk
Let me try to state this more clearly – correlation does not imply causation.
Ben:
Unless you ask the respondents what was an important causation for their vocations. A significant group responded that it was the WYD. I think, if we are to trust them, there might be a cause effect relationship here.
I suppose that would help your argument, Raymond, but that’s the first you’ve mentioned it, is it not? You can bring new data to the table, but that still makes your initial argument invalid.
Here’s another data point (for which I have only anecdotal evidence, so feel free to take it for what it’s worth). A significantly higher % of religious vocations come from families who attend Mass somewhere other than their geographical parish. Perhaps we should look at the parishes that have a high % of non-local parishioners and figure out what they offer that the typical parish doesn’t.
So you are right and I am wrong!! My later commentary on the cause effect issue was contained in the Bishops’s study which I did not articulate.
People who leave their geographic territory are leaving it maybe because of rampant liberalism in their local parish or for a church that fosters the Latin Mass. These seem to be the source of many vocations at this time.
Again, just doing what I can to defend the diocese ;-).
All right, Raymond, perhaps I was a bit too snarky – my apologies.
Ordination Class of 2015
Perhaps the numbers could swing year-to-year depending on the location of WYD.
If we’re still playing this game, I find this statistic more interesting: