Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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What sort of man is being ordained to the priesthood this year?

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On July 16 it will be my privilege to ordain three men to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas, they are: Deacons Alan Paul McDonald, Arthur Okwuchukwu Unachukwu and James Hideo Yamauchi. Please keep them in your prayers.

Our three ordinands are among 480 men being ordained to the priesthood in the United States in 2011. A survey of 329 of them by CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) at Georgetown University was prepared for the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the USCCB. The survey gives us an idea of what sort men are being ordained to the priesthood this year.

Here are some of the high points of the survey:

• The average age is 34, slightly higher than in 2010.
• Most had lived in their diocese for about 15 years before entering the seminary.
• The majority are Caucasian/White (69), ten percent are Asian/Pacific Islander and 15 percent are Hispanic/Latino
• One third of the respondents are foreign-born with the largest number coming from Columbia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland and Vietnam.
• Most are cradle Catholics but eight percent entered the Church later in life.
• The majority come from large families. Over half have two or more siblings and one fourth have five or more.
• Sixty percent completed college before entering the seminary and 17 percent had graduate degrees.
• About half (47%) attended Catholic elementary school. Thirty-nine percent attended Catholic High School or College, a number considerably higher than the national average of all adult Catholics which is 7 percent.
• Ninety-four percent held full- time jobs prior to entering the seminary. Less than 10 percent served in the military.
• Most (70%) prayed the Rosary and 65% participated in Eucharistic Adoration before entering the seminary.
• Most reported that they first considered a priestly vocation at 16. Two thirds (66%) were encouraged to enter the seminary by a priest and 71 percent were encouraged by a friend, a parent, grandparent, other relative or parishioner.
• Almost half were discouraged from entering the seminary by a friend, classmate, parent or family member.
• Only a few indicate that TV, radio, billboards or other vocational advertising was instrumental in their decision. One fourth says they were influenced by a website.
• Forty-two percent participated in a “Come and See” type weekend before entering the seminary.
• “Fishers of Men”, a DVD published by the USCCB had been viewed by 83 percent.

It is obvious that more mature men are entering the seminary having attended college and/or worked before making their decision even though their first call came as a teenager. Catholic education is an important factor.

Suport and encouragement by their family was particularly significant in their decisions.

Have you encouraged a potential priestly vocation in your family?

Priests are made not born

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To ordain a new priest is one of the great joys of a Bishop. On June 5 I will have the privilege of ordaining two new priests for the Church of Dallas, Marco Polo Rangel and John Michael Szatkowski. Marco and John have spent years in preparation for and in anticipation of this occasion. I would like to reflect on what brought them to this moment.

Priests are made not born. That is not to say they are not called by God to priestly ministry. It is a question of how the call is nurtured. Grace builds upon nature. In the call to priesthood one might say that the grace of the call is built upon the nature of one’s family.

Historically our Catholic culture has been a culture that nourished vocations. Sadly, in some cases, that is no longer the case. Instead of discerning the movement of the Holy Spirit in their child and nurturing it lovingly and carefully, the Spirit is often quenched through disinterest and even discouragement.

The ordination of Marco and John will not only be an occasion of great joy to their parents, but a witness of how the Catholic culture of the Rangels and the Szatkowskis not only discerned God’s call in their sons, but nurtured the spark of priestly vocation and fanned into flame. May God bless them for their gift, not only of their sons, but for providing the foundation upon which God’s grace flourished.

As for Marco and John, they are to be commended for discerning their call in the midst of the din of our society and persevering in their pursuit of the priesthood. They have reached the end of one journey and the beginning of a new and far more challenging one. May God’s grace sustain them in their priesthood!

I ask God’s continued blessings on the ordinands and their families.