More Foreign-born Priests Ordained In The Us

[kujo]

[quote]May. 1, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Newly ordained priests in the US are more likely to have advanced academic degrees than their counterparts of previous years, according to a new study. They are also more likely to have been born in another country.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, which conducts an annual survey of ordination classes, reports that the average age of new American priests is 35: a figure that matches the result from 1998, when the CARA survey was first undertaken. The largest group of ordinands (36%) was between the ages of 25 and 29; a small group (3%) was over 60. One of three ordinands was born outside the US, with the largest numbers coming from Vietnam, Mexico, Poland, and the Philippines.

Most of the new priests had completed a college education before entering the seminary, and one in five had obtained an advanced degree. About two-thirds reported having worked at a full-time job.

The ethnic composition of the group of newly ordained priests roughly matched the overall US population, although the proportion of Asia-Americans was somewhat higher among the ordinands, and the proportion of Hispanic-Americans was lower.

The CARA study included 282 graduating seminarians, out of a total of 475 men expected to be ordained to the priesthood in the US this year.[/quote]

What do ya'll think?

I know at my parish in South Florida, all of the priests that we've had for the past 5 years have been foreign-born. Currently, there are 2 Indians (not Native Americans), 2 Hispanics (a Puerto Rican and a Dominican) and a Phillipino.

[Era Might]

Do they come here because of the shortage of Priests?

[Mateo el Feo]

I've got mixed feelings on this.

On the positive side, our American culture is drowning in secularism to the point that faith is counter-cultural. We can learn so much from people who grew up in a more "faith-friendly" culture such as the Phillipines, India, or Africa.

On the negative side, it is difficult to understand the homilies of priests who are not proficient in English. Ironically, this is an even greater problem for non-native Catholics in the pews. For a real world example, imagine a Latin American Catholic trying to understand the English of an African or an Indian priest. For those with a strong faith, this language barrier isn't a big issue. For those who don't have a solid foundation of faith, this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='Mateo el Feo' post='1261682' date='May 1 2007, 05:19 PM']I've got mixed feelings on this.

On the positive side, our American culture is drowning in secularism to the point that faith is counter-cultural. We can learn so much from people who grew up in a more "faith-friendly" culture such as the Phillipines, India, or Africa.

On the negative side, it is difficult to understand the homilies of priests who are not proficient in English. Ironically, this is an even greater problem for non-native Catholics in the pews. For a real world example, imagine a Latin American Catholic trying to understand the English of an African or an Indian priest. For those with a strong faith, this language barrier isn't a big issue. For those who don't have a solid foundation of faith, this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.[/quote]

That's a good point. It's never really bothered me, but I do know some were bothered when we got a new Indian priest, and his English wasn't as good as the previous one. This was my parish in NE FL, where there are two Irish priests (brothers), an Indian, and one American.

[Paladin D]

Not to mention, foreign-born priests tend to grow up in cultures that are either slightly or vastly different from ours (United States). This can create some problems when facing with individuals who use this to their advantage to control the parish.