I heard something chilling today. In the Archdiocese of Boston, there are roughly 250 parishes, with something closer to 300 priests serving them. But taking into account expected retirements and the number of men currently enrolled in seminary, ten years from now there will be no more than 175 priests to serve those parishes. Although some, including one reader who has drawn plenty of comments, may have had no meaningful personal contact with priests or religious in their Catholic lives, without priests our Church is unthinkable. In this Year for Priests, we need to storm the gates of heaven for increased vocations—from our parishes and from our families.
