LOOKING FOR GOD'S MEN

The number of Catholic priests in the United States is slowly decreasing, and some area parishes are already feeling the effects with doubled workloads and added responsibilities.

In the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese the shortage isn't quite as acute, said the Rev. David Hulshof, director of vocations for the diocese.

"In the past year we've been able to cover all the locations," he said. "It's been a good year for men entering the seminary, but as we look to the future and the number of priests retiring, it will be a challenge to the ministry."

Nationwide, the number of priests dropped from 58,132 in 1965 to 48,097 in 1996, says the U.S. Catholic Conference. But the number of Catholics has grown from 46.6 million to 61.2 million in that same time.

There are 850,000 Catholics in Missouri and 57,439 in the local diocese, which covers all of southern Missouri. It consists of 64 parishes.

With increasing numbers of Catholic believers and decreasing priest populations, the church is feeling a crunch. In some regions of the area's diocese, there is only one priest available to tend the spiritual needs of parishes.

The Rev. Normand Varone shares the responsibilities for both the St. Lawrence Church in New Hamburg and St. Denis Church in Benton.

Sharing duties and parish responsibilities likely will become common as the number of retiring priests grows, Hulshof said. "It takes a number of years to be ordained, and then in the meantime we have retiring priests."

It could be three or four years before a newly ordained priest enters the ministry. Despite this impending clergy shortage, the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese hasn't begun advertising for priests.

Other regions around the country have done so, and it seems to be working.

In Boston, Archbishop Cardinal Law, who was a former bishop in the diocese and visited the area in November, has been holding retreats with potential priest candidates in hopes of persuading them to enter the ministry.

"He wants to have that kind of personal contact with the young men," said John Walsh, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston. "He's very enthusiastic about the priesthood, and that comes through. He's a great advertisement."

Advertisements might be necessary to fill some slots left by retiring priests. Few men are entering seminary with aspirations of becoming parish priests. A study by the U.S. Catholic Conference found that only 33 percent of priests said they had encouraged boys to enter the seminary.

But with or without encouragement from local priests, no one can pinpoint the exact cause of the clergy shortage.

"It's anybody's guess why," said Monsignor Richard Rolwing of St. Mary's Cathedral.

Rolwing said it is likely that decades of prosperity have lessened interest in the priesthood.

The Rev. Pat Wissman agrees. He is priest for the St. Joseph parish in Scott City.

Prior to the Second Vatican Council, "priests were looked upon as sitting on a pedestal. But after Vatican II, then the pedestal wasn't so high. People found that priests were just like anybody else: They're just human beings."

Rolwing said that whenever there is a genuine crisis in the church, people respond. So there will continue to be men entering the priesthood, it just might be awhile before they are ready to take over the responsibilities of a parish, he said.

"It's a work that demands sacrifice," Rolwing said.