www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Not enough priests; not enough people

Christ is in our midst!!

There is a thread here about a church that has stopped having regular Liturgies because of lack of enough people. We are having a problem in my diocese of not having enough priests--men dying or having health problems and few new ordinands.

What does a Church of Apostolic origin do to keep regular liturgical life alive in either of these situations? The Liturgy is the heart of what we do and what we have as Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

The Cure of Ars is quoted as saying that taking a priest out of a community will make the community pagan in a generation. Was he on to something?

Bob

He is and shall be!

It seems to me that the first question to be asked is: "What is the source of the decline?"

People move. In some places the people have left to move to greener pastures. Here, the Church must follow them. And make decisions about whether the old location is still suitable for a parish, perhaps to reach out the unchurched who still live there. But I think for some parishes in PA and elsewhere this is not the reason.

Very often the issue is with either a poor quality of liturgical worship, lack of community in the parish, or both (the two are mutually dependent).

As to vocations, there is a direct relationship between the quality of liturgical worship, the community in the parish, and the number of vocations the parish grows.

I would just add that evangelization is key and that it needs to be lateral, people in the pews can't expect the clergy/hierarchy to save them. They also need to bring the Good News to people and let them know about their Churches and heritage/spiritual gems. I do agree that Churches for the most part need to follow the people.