The Catholic Church in Australia is celebrating the largest incoming class of seminarians in years, with 14 young men beginning their vocational discernment at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Homebush. It is the largest group of first-years the seminary has seen since 2017 and brings its total number of men studying for the priesthood up to 46.
While 14 may seem like a small number, it is a hopeful sign that the priest shortage may soon begin to reverse. Australia, a nation where Catholics amount for about 23% of the population, is in a similar position to many countries in the West, where vocations are low and priests are overworked to meet demands.
While the nation had around 4,500 Catholic priests in 1991, data from Catholic Australia taken in 2021 put their number at 2,900; of which 1,834 were diocesan and 1,066 belonged to religious orders. With about 5.3 million Catholics, this leaves around one diocesan priest per 2,900 Catholics currently in ministry in Australia.
The incoming class was welcomed to the Homebush seminary alongside their families in a January 29 Mass celebrated by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP. According to Catholic Weekly, his homily touched on the parable of the sower, in which he compared the seminarians to farmers sowing seeds. He noted that God’s Words and gifts are extended to all, even those who may not accept them, as a display of “divine generosity.”
“Like the sower, you won’t know in advance if, and how, and in whom your labours will bear fruit,” Archbishop Fisher said. “You can’t fixate on the perfect conditions for evangelisation or achieving the perfect results, rather, you must trust in God, the Gospel, the church, your formators.”
He added that the seminarians should dedicate themselves to following these authorities in order to, “Be ready for him to do great things in you,” and that by doing so they will see responses “30, 60, and 100-fold.”
Seminary Rector Fr. Michael de Stoop was also on hand to welcome the incoming class, but he also took some time to thank their parents as well. Just as the seminary will prepare them to enter ministry and cater to the needs of the faithful, the parents were the ones who prepared them to discern their vocation. He acknowledged the sacrifice that sending a son to the priesthood means to a family:
“I’m mindful of just how meaningful this is, especially for students in the first year as they start these new beginnings,” he said. “I’m mindful also of the tremendous sacrifices that have gone into the development of your son in his own growth in life and just how foundational that is to what we see as our purpose here as faculty.”
