Maybe it’s time to go traditional and have altar boys only

Sad news from Scotland this week. The Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh will begin closing churches this Easter.  In 25 years only 30 of 113 parishes will remain. The reasons the archbishop offers for the loss of so many churches are threefold: fewer funds, fewer Mass-attending Catholics, and above all, fewer priests. He believes that we can count on having 30 diocesan priests until 2035.

On hearing this news, my own priest looked at the latest Catholic Directory for Scotland. In 2014, there were three priests ordained for Scotland. That year in Scotland, 22 priests died. It is obvious that Scottish priests are not being replaced, and this is an era of freedom and opportunities for Catholics unparalleled since the Scottish Reformation.  

As we all know, the catastrophic drop in numbers of priests is not confined to Scotland where, after all, Catholics are only 16 per cent of the national population. Although some American states — most notably Nebraska — are  unusually rich in priestly vocations per Catholic capita, California is not among them. And, as we read last week, one priest in San Francisco decided to encourage vocations to the California priesthood by creating a boys-only altar service program. Result? Media hysteria.