Letters

Priestly vocations (letter)

Monsignor Robert Egar

Contents - Jun 2004 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Pentecost: As it was in the beginning ... - Michael Gilchrist Abortion: 'Pro-choice' issue emerges in US presidential campaign - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World Marriage: Statistics highlight the precarious state of marriage and family - AD2000 REPORT Theology of the Body: Why the silence on the Church's moral teachings? - Audrey Dillon Society: Why Chesterton is needed now more than ever - Dale Ahlquist Education: Chavagnes en Paillers: a Catholic college with a Catholic culture - Paul Russell The importance of beauty in the Liturgy - Christopher Pearson Poetry: The power and beauty of religious poetry - Star-Life, Identikit, Ministers - Bruce Dawe Poetry: The power and beauty of religious poetry - Cast fear behind thee, I am come! - Marion and Delia Craig Letters: New Liturgy document (letter) - John Schmid Letters: Disrespect (letter) - John Casamento Letters: Behaviour at Mass (letter) - Michael Ryan Letters: Options (letter) - Maryse Usher Letter: Signs of hope (letter) - Daniel Attard Letters: Priestly vocations (letter) - Monsignor Robert Egar Letters: The Passion - Suffering (letter) - Dr Arnold Jago Letters: The Passion - Not overdone (letter) - Monique Onezime Letters: The Passion - No ordinary man (letter) - Jony Joordens Letters: Faith and reason (letter) - John Kelly Letters: Gospel Dating - The Jesus Papyrus (letter) - Paul R. Smith Letters: Media Standards Australia (letter) - Denise Den-Bakker Letters: Name changes? (letter) - Frank Mobbs Letters: US Survey (letter) - Errol P. Duke Letters: Catholic books (letter) - Frank Carleton Events: Window Shopping for Non-Catholics - Fr Paul Newton Books: The Free Press, by Hilaire Belloc - John Ballantyne (reviewer) Books: The Outline Of Sanity, by G.K. Chesterton - Peter Westmore (reviewer) Books: Catharine With An 'A', by Edna Keir - Joan Graham (reviewer) Books: Looking Again at the Question of the Liturgy, Reform of the Reform? - Paul Russell (reviewer) Books: More new titles for 2004 from AD Books Reflection: The Holy Spirit: like a bed for the weary traveller - Fr Leo Duck

The March edition of AD2000 reported Pope John Paul's admonition to the French Bishops on the question of priestly vocations. The decline in vocations to the priesthood in France accelerated after World War II.

In 1957, when I was only two months ordained, I was sent from the seminary at Manly to St Canice's Church, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, to celebrate Sunday Mass.

The then Director of the Propagation of the Faith in Australia, Monsignor Algie Thomas, later the Bishop of Bathurst, preached an appeal for St Columba's Seminary, Springwood, at every Mass.

He told the story of an Australian Bishop who had in 1956 met the Papal Nuncio to France and found him in a sombre mood. The Nuncio pointed to the ordination figures for France for that year to show the reason for his depression.

Monsignor Thomas assured us that this would not happen in Australia. I imagine that the congregation believed, as I did, that we were immune from France's secularism.

St Columba's College and St Patrick's, Manly, like many other seminaries, have ceased to exist. Even the most generous interpretation of the number of seminarians in Australia indicates continuing wintry conditions for the Church rather than a second spring.

There are of course glimmers of light. Last year a young man from Melbourne addressed an assembly of Adelaide priests and spoke inspiringly of what he believes is his call to the priesthood. Michael is not in a seminary yet. He will return soon to Adelaide to tell his story to a gathering of young people.

Perhaps there could be a concerted effort by the Australian Bishops to sponsor apostles like the man I refer to. (They do exist among us.) These could be sent to visit parishes and schools as invited. A positive combatting of the negativity that surrounds the image of a vocation to the priesthood must be the first step in attempting to change our present bleak climate.

MONSIGNOR ROBERT EGAR
Seacombe Gardens, SA

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 17 No 5 (June 2004), p. 13