Volume 26, Number 1    April 2004

Discuss optional celibacy, say priests we surveyed in 62 dioceses

A large majority of priests responding to anonymous surveys conducted by CTA and FutureChurch in 62 U.S. dioceses support discussion of mandatory celibacy for diocesan priests. In 25 of 28 dioceses reporting at press time, 55 to 87 percent of responding priests favored open discussion of the mandatory celibacy rule.  Response rates ranged from 14 percent (Philadelphia) to 76 percent (Pueblo). See the table below for results by individual diocese to date.

More and more lay leaders are getting active in the project as news of parish closings and clusterings hits home.  Boston’s Archbishop Sean O’Malley announced that one of every six parishes will close in the coming year. In Indianapolis lay leaders were asked to decide if they wanted a deacon or lay administrator to lead their parish because there are not enough priests.  Since our last report, lay leaders in seven more dioceses have decided to conduct the survey. If you would like to survey priests in your diocese contact crystalchan@cta-usa.org for a complete survey kit. For updated survey results watch the FutureChurch and Call To Action websites.

The surveys are an important part of the Corpus Christi Campaign for Optional Celibacy, a two-year drive to educate ordinary Catholics about the deepening priest shortage, celebrate the centrality of the Eucharist on the feast of Corpus Christi (June 13)  and gather tens of thousands of names on petitions to the International Synod on the Eucharist to be held in October 2005. Already CTA Wisconsin plans a wide initiative to garner signatures, and several other CTA chapters are planning similar actions.

Welcoming Vocations, a lay Catholic initiative in Minneapolis-St. Paul, hopes to collect thousands of signatures in time for the June U.S. Bishops’ meeting, supporting 120 priests of the diocese who publicly called for discussion of mandatory celibacy.  A diocesan-wide forum with Sr. Chris Schenk is planned for May 8.

Many priests surveyed also volunteer their own comments. Here are a few:

• 
  “The saddest part of this survey is the need to offer us anonymity! The secrecy will kill us!”
• 
  “It is very unfair that older priests are being asked to stay on past retirement because there is no one to replace them. Our people are service oriented. We now have very few priests to provide service.”
• 
  “How about an open discussion on the possibilities of alternate living options outside of the rectory? This sick system wears down already tired priests and gives no regular break from a very public building.”
• 
  “I support women’s ordination too, because in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, no Roman or Greek, no women or men, all are one in Christ” (an Oakland priest, 25-40 age range).
• 
  “In view of the present quagmire caused by the lack of leadership in the Catholic Church, it may be time to consider time limits for bishops. Perhaps a bishop could serve for 10 years as ordinary and then move on to be a pastor or an emeritus. Try a survey” (a 50-something priest from Sacramento).
  

Diocese	Priests Responding					Yes	No	Unsure
Albany	69	of	243	[28%]		62%	35%	3%
Buffalo	162	of	550	[29%]		66%	23%	11%
Cleveland	114	of	500	[23%]		64%	32%	4%
Dubuque	101	of	222	[45%]		56%	40%	4%
Fort Wayne-South Bend	28	of	109	[26%]		36%	64%	0%
Fresno	34	of	114	[30%]		56%	41%	3%
Green Bay	106	of	329	[32%]		77%	21%	2%
Indianapolis	51	of	166	[31%]		84%	16%	0%
LaCrosse	92	of	223	[41%]		55%	42%	3%
Las Vegas	23	of	77	[30%]		87%	13%	0%
Madison	81	of	162	[50%]		62%	30%	7%
Monterey	42	of	134	[31%]		57%	41%	2%
Oakland	126	of	301	[42%]		84%	14%	2%
Paterson, NJ	77	of	299	[26%]		74%	23%	3%
Philadelphia	128	of	900	[14%]		27%	59%	13%
Pueblo	26	of	34	[76%]		69%	23%	8%
Rochester	102	of	294	[35%]		69%	22%	10%
Sacramento	66	of	215	[31%]		73%	24%	3%
San Diego	71	of	329	[22%]		73%	24%	3%
San Francisco	104	of	319	[33%]		68%	26%	6%
San Jose	66	of	184	[36%]		70%	23%	8%
Seattle	68	of	290	[23%]		79%	16%	4%
Stockton	23	of	72	[32%]		48%	48%	4%
Superior	49	of	89	[55%]		67%	33%	2%
Syracuse	132	of	312	[42%]		74%	21%	6%
Toledo	78	of	210	[37%]		77%	22%	1%
Tucson	64	of	193	[33%]		70%	27%	3%
Venice	51	of	164	[31%]		73%	18%	10%