Contact the cardinals campaign

"Contact the cardinals and cc: your bishops over worldwide priest shortage," says FutureChurch campaign

Now is the time to contact your cardinals.

Reports from Church leaders in Europe, Asia, Australia, Central America, Canada and the United States tell of an impending crisis due to the priest shortage (see below). Prominent church leader Cardinal Godfried Daneels of Belgium has said that unless an influx of new priests occurs in Europe, Catholics will be starved of the sacraments. Interviewed by the British weekly The Catholic Times (reported in Catholic Trends May 2000) he noted that in Belgium "we've reached a very low level. It's the same low level as in Holland, Switzerland, France and even Germany."

Recent statistics released by the Vatican give no cause for hope. The Annuario Pontificio 2001 revealed that from 1998 to 1999, Catholics worldwide increased by 16 million (1.6%), while the number of priests grew by only 383 (.09%). The number of seminarians increased very slightly (0.7%).

There now are 1.038 billion Catholics in the world but only 405,009 priests, many of whom are aged. In the United States, there are more priests over 90 than under 30, according to a recent study by the U.S. Bishops Conference. Vatican statistics also report that of the 3.86 million people working in ministry, 2.44 million are lay catechists. Presumably many of these would accept ordination were it open to them.

The power to open ordination to all the baptized does not rest with local bishops who have been weakened by a centralizing papacy and curial bureaucrats. Presently in the church, cardinals have the most influence, especially as the new conclave nears.

Therefore, the U.S.-based FutureChurch has launched a "Contact the Cardinals and cc: Your Bishops" campaign to request that availability of the Eucharist and other sacraments became a top priority in the next conclave.

We ask that church leaders look again at the options of opening ordination to all those called to it by God and the People of God, including the married and women so that the Eucharist (the Mass) remains at the center of Catholic worship.

FutureChurch is reaching out to other Catholic organizations and groups all over the world asking them too encourage their memberships to make their voices heard on this important issue. Already, in the United States, Call To Action, CORPUS, the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church and the Women's Ordination Conference have pledged their support. In addition to FutureChurch's 4,000 members and supporters, these groups have a combined membership of nearly 30,000 U.S. Catholics.

Vatican II's Lumen Gentium 37 tells us that we "have the right, as do all Christians, to receive in abundance the spiritual goods of the Church, especially the assistance of the Word of God and the sacraments." Canon 212 (par 3) goes even further in informing us of our right indeed our duty "to make our views known on matters which concern the good of the church."

Letters to cardinals, who will participate in the next conclave, are important. Most bishops already are only too aware of the problems as they struggle to staff parishes which risk going without the Eucharist because of the priest shortage. Letters, faxes and emails to higher-ups in the church hierarchy provide outside support for what the bishops know from the inside. Something needs to be done, and quickly.

Please take action and do it today. Our Eucharist and other sacraments are more important than the marital state or gender of the presider.

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