Br. Justin Mary Bolger, O.P., on Response to Vocations

"While walking with a few brothers through the neighborhood of Brookland the other day (where the Dominican House of Studies is located), we ran into members of four other religious communities in the space of twenty minutes: a Dominican sister, an Alma Mercy sister, a Franciscan T.O.R. brother, and six Missionaries of Charity.

:We often hear about the Church’s vocation crisis, but there are also signs of hope. Those signs are especially visible here in Washington, D.C. One of the main reasons one would run into such a heavy concentration of religious in this area is that it has been home to religious orders and seminaries since the founding of the Catholic University of America in 1887. . . .

"Yet, numbers don’t lie. Many other orders have dwindled. There are empty religious houses even here in D.C. Some dioceses do not have enough new priestly vocations to staff the number of parishes they have. There are plenty of articles and studies documenting the decreased number of seminarians and religious compared to previous generations. And we should take these seriously.

"Even though this general decline in numbers is a serious challenge, we must resist reducing the matter to numbers. . . ."

In a recent commentary, Brother Hyacinth Grubb, O.P., reflected on various aspects of the "vocation crisis.".

To access Br. Hyacinth's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: Quantitative Judgements (1 NOV 15)