The state of priestly vocations in the United States and in the Duluth Diocese

Every Sunday, our parishes pray the Diocese of Duluth Vocations Prayer. All of us are familiar with the need for more good and faithful priests. We know that we are not unique in our need for priests. 

On the other hand, we may not know the extent of the challenge within our diocese and without. “Vocation Ministry” is an organization dedicated to the promotion of vocations. Recently, they completed the most extensive report on the state of priestly vocations within the United States. I wish to share some of their more significant findings. I believe this will help us better grasp the current state of affairs and, more importantly, spur us on to mission. 

From 2014 to 2021, the number of active diocesan priests in the United States has decreased 9%. And contrary to what you may think, there doesn’t seem to be much help immediately on the way, as the number of priestly ordinations each year has decreased 24% and the total number of seminarians has decreased 22% since 2014. 

In this report, they separated the dioceses into four tiers according to their Catholic population. Tier 1 has a Catholic population of more than 750,000. Tier 2 Catholic has population between 300,000 and 750,000. Tier 3 has a Catholic population between 100,000 and 300,000. And Tier 4 has Catholic population up to 100,000. The Diocese of Duluth has a little less than 42,000 Catholics and therefore is in Tier 4. 

Separating the dioceses according to their Catholic population reveals some interesting information. One interesting ratio is the ratio of active priests to number of Catholics. In the Tier 1 dioceses, there is one active priest per 7,099 Catholics; in Tier 2, one active priest per 3,683 Catholics; in Tier 3, one per 2,232 Catholics; and in Tier 4, one priest per 1,139 Catholics. In Duluth, we are less than 1,000 Catholics per priest. 

As a diocese, we are doing relatively well compared with other dioceses. But just getting by and not being the worst isn’t our standard. For instance, it is still difficult for a priest to find coverage when he is away. I have a school, and the students go to Mass every day. However, when I am away visiting seminaries, we have to cancel Mass, because there isn’t a priest to cover. Bishop is working hard to find a few foreign priests to come for a few years to offer coverage, but this isn’t a long-term solution, as we all know. 

On the other hand, imagine having enough priests so priests could be principals of schools or at least be full-time chaplains teaching catechism and theology. For a long time, we have benefited from sending our seminarians to other diocese’s seminaries for formation. It would be nice to return the favor and be able to send a priest to serve on the formation staff of a seminary. Imagine having a priest who could dedicate his ministry to serving the American Indian population of our diocese or more priests to serve as chaplains at our hospitals. There are many more ministries we could offer if we had more priests. 

It’s important that we build a culture of holy vocations, but especially priestly vocations, as the priest is the only one who can literally forgive our sins and offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by which we are sanctified and made holy. 

At the conclusion of their report, “Vocation Ministry” offers a number of recommendations. Here are a few of them: 

Priests beget priests: 71% of priests report that they when they were younger, they were encouraged to consider the priesthood by another priest. On the other hand, only 30% of priests reported that they have encouraged other young men to consider the priesthood. Priests need to intentionally encourage young men individually to consider the priesthood. 

Holy parishes: Is the goal of a parish for each member to grow in sanctity or to just keep the lights on? If the goal is to grow in sanctity, a higher rate of vocations will be a natural outcome. 

Healthy priests: Parish priests continually report being overworked by being too consumed with managerial duties, administrative tasks, endless meetings, and facilities maintenance. This reduces their ability to foster vocations. 

Holy and focused priests: When a priest takes vocation cultivation seriously throughout parish life, young men receive a consistent and encouraging message to discern their future vocations. The priest understands the urgent need to replace himself. Creative solutions need to be found to free up priests to be priests, able to cultivate holy relationships with their parishioners. Parishioners need to see their priest praying in church or praying before the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic Adoration. 

Holy and healthy laity and families: Vocations come from families. One cannot expect a healthy crop of new vocations without the intentionality of planting seeds that can be nurtured over time. Being actively involved in a parish-based vocation ministry will not only teach a layperson how to foster vocations but also give them tools and opportunities to do so. 

I am the vocations director of the diocese, but every priest needs to take his role of vocations director of his parish seriously. Every father and mother need to be the vocations directors of their families. Consider the above recommendations and how you can promote vocations within your sphere of influence. 

Father Nick Nelson is pastor of Queen of Peace and Holy Family parishes in Cloquet and vocations director for the Diocese of Duluth. He studied at The Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Rome. Reach him at [email protected]