As priests' numbers fall, SR Diocese seeks solutions
Father Denis O'Sullivan conducts daily mass at St. Rose Catholic Church in Santa Rosa in this 2008 photo.
Mark Aronoff/PDPublished: Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 10:42 p.m.
Faced with a declining number of priests, the Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese is actively recruiting seminarians and ready to appoint lay people to handle the management of some parishes.
“I don't know any diocese that can keep up today,” said Rev. Thomas Diaz, referring to the ebbing numbers of an aging priesthood in the North Coast diocese. Diaz is a taking an active role for the diocese in finding men to train for the priesthood.
While the church's hierarchy remains firmly committed to a celibate priesthood, some Catholics say a more dramatic step — the ordination of women priests — is needed to stem the decline in clergy.
A nationally recognized member of the Maryknoll order, who was excommunicated for his public support of ordination for women, received a standing ovation from a crowd of about 150 people Friday night at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Kenwood.
“At the very core of our teaching is this sin of sexism,” said Roy Bourgeois. “It's about putting ourselves as men superior to women.”
But with Pope Benedict XVI firmly opposed to such changes, the idea has not been pursued by Santa Rosa diocese lay leaders.
“There is no point embarking on a project that is not acceptable to Rome at this point,” said Yvette Fallandy of Santa Rosa, executive secretary of the Diocesan Pastoral Council's board.
Fallandy said she regrets Rome's hardline view, asserting that ordination of women — which she does not personally favor — “should be left open to informed debate.”
However, there is no such debate in official circles, and none is likely, said Paul Crowley, a Jesuit priest who is chairman of religious studies at Santa Clara University.
But the problem of finding the next generation of priests persists.
The diocese, which serves 167,000 Catholics from Sonoma County to the Oregon border, is facing a net loss of two priests a year over the next five years, according to a pastoral council task force report.
There are now 60 priests assigned to 41 parishes. In the 1970s, the diocese had 85 to 90 priests. Nationwide, the priesthood has shrunk 31 percent since 1975, while the Catholic population has increased 34 percent to more than 65 million Americans.
Bishop Daniel Walsh, in a letter to parishioners last year, cited a shortage of priests “to serve our growing population.” Larger parishes, he said, “are left with fewer priests to attend the needs of the parish.”
Walsh has approved a plan — as have other dioceses around the country — to appoint lay men or women to handle management and leadership duties, known as pastoral care, in parishes that lose a resident priest.
“It's a practical approach,” said Len Marabella of St. Rose Parish, who headed a task force that proposed the hiring of lay pastoral directors. “You don't implement this unless there's a need,” he said.
No lay pastoral directors have yet been appointed in the diocese, but there were 517 serving nationwide last year, up from 93 in 1985.
Diaz said the diocese has made progress since he became director of vocations, in charge of recruiting seminarians. “You find your own,” said Diaz, who doubles as pastor at St. Joan of Arc Church in Yountville.
Sean Rogers of Santa Rosa, a former Piner High School football player, was ordained in 2007, the first priest ordained by the diocese in five years
The diocese now has seven seminarians in training for the priesthood, with three of them — all foreign-born — set to be ordained in May. Seven priests already are eligible for retirement, with more soon to qualify as well, Diaz said.
Years ago, the church turned away prospective seminarians “because we had too many,” he said.
But today's consumer-oriented culture has curbed interest in taking clerical vows of chastity and accepting a priest's meager income, Diaz said.
“We want it here and now,” he said, characterizing the culture.
And in the wake of sex abuse scandals, priests no longer have the same relationship with Catholic boys. If a boy asked to go with him on a ride-along to see what a priest does, Diaz said he would require an adult chaperone for his own protection.
The seven current seminarians are ages 24 to 45, reflecting a trend toward older men embarking on the studies, which take four to eight years.
Bourgeois has recently emerged as a leader in the campaign to allow women priests. The prohibition, he said, is a “grave injustice against women, against our church and against our loving God.”
When he asks fellow priests what they would say to women who feel “called by God” to the ministry, Bourgeois said he is met with “dead silence” because they have no answer.
The celibate male clergy is “going the way of the dinosaurs,” he said.
Accepting women as priests or allowing male priests to marry would boost the ranks of Catholic clergy, said Crowley, the Santa Clara professor.
But it is unlikely to come about.
“We are living in a particularly conservative era in the church,” he said. “Some would say that we are looking backward in some ways.”
The irony, he said, is that it would likely take a conservative pontiff like Benedict to enact such changes.
“Opening the priesthood to women would be an even bigger move,” he said, “one that many people, especially here in the United States, would like to see happen.”
You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.
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