The wrong way to seek priestly vocations
SIR – The article by Michael Warren Davis (US news analysis, June 28) concerning ordinations to the priesthood makes interesting reading. The main lesson seems to be that the best way of encouraging priestly vocations is to nurture potential vocations from a young age. No doubt the principle would apply equally well this side of the Atlantic.
It has been a widespread practice in this country in recent decades for bishops and vocations directors to do precisely the opposite. I know of many cases where young men have been advised “to come back after they have had a year or two to think about it”, or “to get some experience of the world of work first”. We would, no doubt, have many more priests now if these men had been given more encouragement.
