What led to the Church’s adoption of celibacy and do those reasons remain valid in days when the number of priests in the U.S. continues to decline and access to the sacraments may be restricted as a result?

VOTF's Priest Support Working Group is asking those questions as part of a two-year look at the overall state of the priesthood. What are the problems and promises affecting the priesthood today and how do those realities affect our parishes and sacramental lives?

In support of this project, Voice of the Faithful recently sent a letter to Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Chair of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, requesting an ecclesial review of mandatory celibacy for diocesan priests. Although other groups, lay and clerical, have made such requests in the past, the Priest Support Working Group believes that our request is the first to spell out a more-comprehensive rationale for such a review.

Cardinal O’Malley responded with a short reply from his office, saying that enrollment in his local seminary had increased and hoping that prayer would help increase enrollments elsewhere also. In response, the Priest Support Working Group sent a follow-up letter with additional details about declining numbers in the priesthood and the lack of sacramental access this creates. You can read that reply by clicking here.

You can read the original letter in its entirety here.

The press release reporting on the letter is available here.

We ask you to join the conversation. VOTF has a DVD and study guides available to help initiate that conversation. We urge you to review them, organize affiliate meetings on the issue, and use the guides and DVDs as a way to start conversations in your parish too. Order the DVD.

Study Guide 1

Study Guide 2

Handout 1- History

Handout 2- Parish Models

Reading List

Data and Studies on Celibacy