A lack of vocations must lead to the examination
of the priorities of the Catholic community itself, said the Archbishop
of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, reports the Catholic Weekly.
"Some Catholic communities
unfortunately are not life giving," said the Cardinal in his homily as
five young men were ordained to the priesthood in an "historic
celebration for the Church" at St Mary's Cathedral last Saturday.
"Some Catholic communities can be contraceptive, even while Catholic life seems on the surface to continue vigorously.
"This phenomenon of different growth rates deserves examination and
discussion, although focusing energies on the promotion of faith, on
encouraging the recognition and love of Jesus as the son of God as well
as the son of Mary on regular prayer, Catholic orthodoxy, and an
explicit and regular explanation to young people of the need of priests
and Catholic leadership and service in many areas is essential; and
sometimes missing or obscured."
The new priests are Simon Apablaza, 29 (Chile), and Luca Infantino,
31 (Italy) – the first two candidates to be ordained from the
Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Sydney (Neo-Catechumenal Way) – and
Emmanuel Seo, 34, Peter Kwak, 30, and Gregory Morgan, 24, from the Good
Shepherd Seminary, Homebush.
Cardinal Pell said the ordinations are "significant for the history of the Archdiocese
of Sydney, because for the first time we have vocations from three life-giving Catholic communities, very different one from the other, but united in serious faith and Catholic loyalty".
of Sydney, because for the first time we have vocations from three life-giving Catholic communities, very different one from the other, but united in serious faith and Catholic loyalty".
"I refer, of course, to the Sydney Catholic Korean community, the
Neo-Catechumenal Way and the Pared (Parents for Education) Schools,
inspired by the Opus Dei movement."