On Tuesday, November 8th, bishop Doran of the Diocese of Rockford gave a speech on the Criteria for Admission to a Catholic Seminary. This talk was hosted by the Catholic Central Union and Credo of the Catholic Laity at the Annual Christ the King Dinner.
The norms for admission to seminary as promulgated at the Second Vatican Council were quite high, and many dioceses aren't even living up to these standards. He discussed the absolute requirement for priestly celibacy, and how modern practice subverts the formation of young men. Bishop Doran stated that the seminary system was set up after the Council of Trent for reasons similar to what we are experiencing now: in the Renaissance, young men were sent to secular universities for their priestly education, and got caught up in the worldly excitement of the big city, with alcohol, parties, girls, and fraternities. Seminaries were set up to avoid these distractions, to better form holy priests.
At one point during his talk, Bishop Doran said that his biggest problem was money, and pointing to Archbishop Burke, said "you know what I mean". Healthcare benefits for retirees is the major cost, followed by lawsuits.
The solution for these problems is increased vocations to the religious life, and tort reform. Our problems are both spiritual and worldly. We need to make healthcare a charity again instead of a business or government service. We need to eliminate punitive damages in lawsuits.
The loss of vocations is due to loss of faith, while the vast increase of lawsuit damages is due to greed.
We've got a lot of work ahead of us. Pray for assistance.
No comments:
Post a Comment