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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper that begins by reporting the shortage of priests in the U.S. and the percentage of decline over the decades. The numbers of priests and deacons in he world are also reported. The criteria to be ordained as a deacon is presented. The writer discusses the reasons for the shortage and comments on what needs to be done to resolve the problem. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MM12_PGprsd.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
about 13 percent each decade (Siegel, 2003). More and more priests are being assigned to provide services to two churches, sometimes they are a significant distance from each other (Siegel,
2003). The shortage means that Catholics are dealing with "no priest at the funeral, no priest to visit the sick, sometimes no priest to celebrate the Eucharist, which goes to
the core of the Catholic faith" (Siegel, 2003). Schoenherr reported that about 38 percent of all the young priests left their vocation in the 1980s number of young priests
who leave their vocation after being ordained (1995). Thus, the shortage is not a new problem but it has yet to be addressed and resolved. Magno reported that "between 1978
and 2001, the number of priests worldwide dropped from 420,000 to 405,000" (Catholic News Web, 2003). He also reported that there was a significant increase in the number of men
entering the seminary during those same years, in fact, Magno says the number reached 112,244 and at the same time, the number of deacons soared from 6,000 to 29,000 worldwide
(Catholic News Web, 2003). The increases are being seen in Africa, parts of Latin America and Asia and most particularly in Africa and Asia (Catholic News Web, 2003). The number
in Europe has increased slightly (Catholic News Web, 2003). This does not eliminate the problem of a severe shortage in the U.S., however. In response, many priests have joined together
"to urge the church hierarchy to allow priests to marry" (Siegel, 2003). It is a very steep uphill battle. Celibate priests have been a tradition in the Roman Church for
more than 800 years (Siegel, 2003). By the way, there is absolutely nothing in Scripture that demands celibate clergy. The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, however, believes that "the
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