“Twenty percent of U.S. dioceses did not have a priestly ordination last year.“

 

Without Vocations, There Will Be No Eucharistic Revival

COMMENTARY: Without the priest, there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist, there is no Church.

Priests lie prostrate during their ordination by Pope Francis during Mass in St. Peter Basilica on the 56th World Day of Prayer for Vocations on May 12, 2019. (photo: Franco Origlia / Getty Images)

Father Roger Landry BlogsAugust 10, 2022

The center of the Eucharistic revival, the three-year initiative of the Church in the United States, is obviously and appropriately the Eucharistic Jesus — the root, center, source and summit of the Christian life. 

But as the Church celebrates on Aug. 4 the patron saint of parish priests, St. John Mary Vianney, it is a fitting time to focus on the indispensable importance of the priest in the Eucharistic life of the Church. Without the priest, there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist, there is no Church. 

For the Eucharistic revival to spur the renewal of the Church, there is a need to strengthen the Eucharistic dimension of the priests we have and to pray to the Harvest Master for many more priestly laborers in his vineyard. 

Most Catholics are aware that there is a crisis in priestly vocations, with painful consequences in the life of believers. Twenty percent of U.S. dioceses did not have a priestly ordination last year. Many dioceses are bracing for the retirement and death of priests ordained in the 1970s, who presently represent 50% of their clergy. In the United States, there are 3,500 parishes without a resident priest, and lack of sufficient clergy is causing many Churches to have to close. 

Read further: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/vocational-key-to-ongoing-eucharistic-revival