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Experts hope papal visit inspires more vocations (1/4ページ)
聖職者不足を訴えるセント・ヨゼフ神学校（ニューヨーク州ヨンカース）のルーク・スウィーニー学務主任。４月のローマ法王ベネディクト１６世訪米で聖職志望者が増えるのを期待している（ＵＳＡ ＴＯＤＡＹ）PRIEST-SHORTAGE -- The Rev. Luke Sweeney, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of New York, speaks about the shortage of priests in the New York Archdiocese during an interview at St. Joseph''s Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., on Monday, March 3, 2008. Pope Benedict XVI will make his first visit to the United States in April and will make a stop at the seminary. (Gannett News Service, Mark Vergari/The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News)When Pope Benedict XVI addresses 20,000 youth at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., and 60,000 people at Yankee Stadium next month, many priests will be crossing their fingers that the pontiff urges - demands, even - that young Catholic men consider a collar.
The Archdiocese of New York is in serious need of new priests. Of the 176 Catholic dioceses in the U.S., the Archdiocese of New York ranks 170th in terms of the ratio of seminarians studying for the priesthood to the total Catholic population, according to a recent study by Catholic World Report.
The main or upper seminary at St. Joseph's is currently preparing only 23 seminarians for possible ordination as diocesan priests over the next four years.
And not a single man is scheduled to enter the seminary program next fall.
Bishop Gerald Walsh, rector of St. Joseph's, said that the absence of a freshman class could be a good thing if it forces New York's Catholic community to face the dire need for priests.
"It is a wake-up call," Walsh said. "We have to do something. I'm a believer that difficulties can be opportunities, not disasters. It depends on what you do with them."
The hope across the archdiocese is that the visit by Pope Benedict will inspire young men to listen for God's call to the priesthood and rouse Catholic families to mention the priesthood around the dinner table.
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