Thursday, November 26, 2015

The Traditional Mass is Changing the Face of the French Clergy

Old Mass a Breeding Ground for Vocations
(Paris) The face of the French clergy is changing at a fast pace, and that in two respects. The number of priestly vocations is at the lowest level. Simultaneously, a change from the new to the old rite is taking place.

Decline in Diocesan Priestly Vocations by 84 Percent

In 1966, the year after the end of the Second Vatican Council, there were 4,536 diocesan seminarians in France.  Within ten years the number fell, under the influence of Pope Paul VI.and in the Post-Conciliar period to 1297 in 1975. A  decline of almost three-quarters could be described as a fast collapse.  Under Pope John Paul II,  the slump was halted 20 years later, in 1996, the number was still 1,103 seminarians at approximately the same level.
The last part of his pontificate was followed by a new nosedive: In 2005, the number of seminarians was 784. That was only 17 percent when compared to 1966, or in other words, a decrease of 83 percent.
2011 has reached the lowest point since the French Revolution. Only 710 seminarians were preparing for the secular priesthood. Parallel to this decline, the proportion of seminarians of the tradition is growing.

Proportion of Priests of Tradition Climbs

An assessment of the priestly ordinations in the last five years illustrates this development. It consists of the numbers of those  ordained  in the Ordinary form compared to those  consecrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The list refers only to secular priests. Keeping in mind the priests of the Ecclesia Dei  communities and the Society of St. Pius X.
2010: 86 percent of the ordinations in the Ordinary, 14 percent in the Extraordinary
Form, 2011: 86 percent of the ordinations in the Ordinary, 14 percent in the Extraordinary Form
2012: 83 percent of the ordinations in the Ordinary, 17 percent in the Extraordinary Form
2013: 88 percent of ordinations in the Ordinary, 12 percent in the Extraordinary Form
2014: 82 percent of the ordinations in the Ordinary, 18 percent in the Extraordinary Form
2015: 77 percent of the ordinations in the Ordinary, 23 percent in the extraordinary form

The Drama of the Decline and the Hope for a New future

The juxtaposition of consecration years in absolute terms shows the development and the drama:
2010: 96 ordinations in the Ordinary form, 16 in the Extraordinary
Form, 2011: 109 ordinations in the ordinary form, 18 in the Extraordinary Form
2012: 97 ordinations in the ordinary form, 20 in the Extraordinary Form
2013: 92 ordinations in the ordinary form , 12 in the Extraordinary Form
2014: 88 ordinations in the ordinary form, 18 in the Extraordinary Form
2015: 68 ordinations in the ordinary form, 20 in the extraordinary form
Over the past six years, 545 diocesan priests were ordained for the new rite in France and 107 for the Traditional Rite.  Not included in the list are religious priests. It also doesn't include those ordained in the traditional rite, like the Benedictines of Le Barroux or the Frenchmen who were ordained for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. Also not considered is the phenomenon spreading in France of biritually trained priests, or the phenomenon of young diocesan priests of the new rite, who are also interested in the traditional rite and tradition.

Communities and Parishes of the Traditional Rite are a Breeding Ground for Vocations

The personal parishes and communities of tradition have proven to be the most fertile ground for priestly vocations.Compared to their small number and size,  their share of vocations is enormous. The traditional  blogger Cordialiter published a conversation with a young Italian who encountered the traditional form of the Roman Rite in Austria and now lives with his family in France. The traditional community to which he belongs in France is 25 years old.  During this time 17 priestly vocations have emerged from it. "The majority have joined French orders of the tradition, the Benedictines of Le Barroux, Fontgombault, the Canons Regular of Lagrasse, the Servi Jesu et Mariae etc."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Mil
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

11 comments:

LeonG said...

Try telling that to modernist neo-catholics in France and they're in denial about it. This conciliar counterfeit church is just that - designed to sink the church into a morass of pantheistic convergence led by their pro-zionist talmudic liberal modernist papacies.
How I rejoice at these statistics - they plummet and sink the postmodernist barge because it is not the true faith it represents. Anyone with the courage to read Pope St Pius X's encyclicals can understand this.

LeonG said...

We have to ensure at the same time that the new latin Rite clergy respect the form and do not try to change it illicitly with any novel praxis. This is totally unacceptable.

Anonymous said...

There seems to be a strong traditional movement forming in France.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuoqreGkl7o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th4vipUPX2E

S. Armaticus said...

Dear Tancred:

You write: The list refers only to secular priests. Keeping in mind the priests of the Ecclesia Dei communities and the Society of St. Pius X.

If I understand the last sentence correctly, the EC and SSPX are not included in these figures.

Pax Christi,

S.Armaticus

Anonymous said...

Agreed, and this is a particular problem with French clergy. While they have the most trads, and this is a good thing, they also always seem to be the most 'liberal' of the trads. Whether it's the priest saying parts of the TLM illicitly in the vernacular, every Mass having to be a Dialogue Mass, the total non-use of the chapel veil, it's like they're always trying to push the envelope of what's allowed at the TLM. This is nothing new in France, but it is disturbing nonetheless and something needs to be done about it.

maría said...

"On communion for the divorced and remarried, it is already known how the pope thinks. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he authorized the “curas villeros,” the priests sent to the peripheries, to give communion to all, although four fifths of the couples were not even married. And as pope, by telephone or letter he is not afraid of encouraging some of the faithful who have remarried to receive communion without worrying about it, right away, even without those “penitential paths under the guidance of the diocesan bishop” projected by some at the synod, and without issuing any denials when the news of his actions comes out."

(Sandro Magister)

Athelstane said...

Wait - if this includes all ordinations for Ecclesia Dei societies, why is the Institute of Christ the King not included?

Anonymous said...

Only God can save France from herself, the eldest daughter of Catholic Church, is sinking down in the dark side of laicity

Tancred said...

Their seminary is in Italy.

Athelstane said...

That's true, but the FSSP and SSPX seminaries are not in France, either.

So if they are only counting the French ordinands of the FSSP and SSPX, why not those of the ICRSS, too?

Anonymous said...

The ordinations in the traditional rite are pointless exercizes if the priests aren't ordained by a valid bishop.(Meaning a bishop who is ordained/consecrated in the traditional rites)Novus Ordo "bishops" ordaining them using the traditional rite is pointless.(No offense-I have studied these issues learning from educated experienced guides with no grudge or mission other than handing down the Catholic Faith.Sorry if my views offend anyone.)