Growth in Vocation

I would like to highlight Christopher White’s recent blog post in First Things. He wrote an insightful post about the growth of vocations.

Here is an excerpt from his blog:

In our forthcoming book, Beyond the Catholic Culture Wars (Encounter Books), my coauthor and I survey a number of dioceses across the United States that are experiencing an upward trend in their vocation rates. The two common characteristics of these dioceses is that they are led by bishops that are committed to a bold and courageous defense of orthodox Catholicism, and they are making vocations a number one priority within their dioceses through building strong vocation teams that are actively recruiting new priests. This is certainly the case in New York, where Cardinal Dolan’s enthusiastic defense of Church teachings has been showcased to the entire nation as a result of his battle with the Obama administration over the recent HHS mandate. But, it is also evident in the great work that Fr. Luke Sweeney is doing as vocations director of New York that I can personally attest to, as I have witnessed his efforts over the past few years. While seminary structural changes limited the ordinations this year, here’s what critics of the New York archdiocese have failed to mention: New York will likely ordain eight men to the priesthood next year, five men in 2014, and ten or more new priests in 2015.

You can read his whole blog post here.