Lenten Campaign 2025
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Vocations to the priesthood aren’t just about the numbers, they’re about answered calls to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Still, the numbers can tell us something. When Bishop Earl Fernandes came to the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, in May of 2022, they had 17 seminarians. Today, they have 40. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has the highest number of seminarians in the country - currently 72.
Something is happening in both of these dioceses (among others) that has resulted in a flourishing of vocations. Both Vicar for Clergy Fr. William Hahn (Columbus) and Bishop Keith J. Chylinski, Rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (Philadelphia), take the time to share their insights into encouraging men to discern and embrace a call to the priesthood.
Overarching focus on vocations
When Bishop Fernandes arrived in Columbus, he instituted a number of changes. Fr. Hahn said that “Young men see his sacrifice and bold leadership in making difficult decisions for the good of the Church, and respond.”
He re-organized the Newman Center at Ohio State to make a “student-focused missionary outpost on campus” resulting in “much higher attendance by university students, vocations coming out of it, and a strong sense of missionary identity among the students.”
As part of an ongoing pastoral restructuring preceding Bishop Fernandes, he closed some parishes “to reorient our priestly and other resources towards areas of greater effectiveness.”
There has also been a focus on vocations in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary opened up a new campus just last year.
Bishop Chylinski summarizes the landscape of vocations in Philadelphia, explaining, “it’s the intersection of constant prayer for vocations, a strong historical and cultural Catholic presence, dedicated programs for formation, active vocation promotion, and a sense of community that likely helps the Archdiocese of Philadelphia continue to attract a proportionally high number of seminarians.”
They also mentioned Pope Francis’ visit to the city in 2015 as a potential spark for more people to discern.
Diocesan and parish initiatives
Along with a general emphasis on the importance of vocations, both dioceses have initiatives that invite men to consider their future vocation more seriously.
In Philadelphia, that takes the form of vocation retreats and discernment events, which is part of what the diocese calls a “proactive approach” to foster vocations.
The Diocese of Columbus has instituted regional vocation directors, an initiative that has seemingly born a lot of fruit. These 10 priests, in different parts of the diocese:
… are often the first priest that a discerner meets with who is discerning. They also commit to promoting vocations and encouraging promotion within their deaneries (one of the most popular ways is by hosting a Melchizedek Project in their deanery). This makes higher level discernment more accessible since they don't have to wait on our office and can talk with a priest in their geographic area.
On the parish-level, the diocese encourages parishes to have boy altar-server groups -- a “band of brothers” that understands the call to the priesthood as a good thing and something to be supported.
We think their success comes from the proximity to the Sacred Liturgy, to the priest, and by the establishment of a group of same-age male friends who are interested in the Sacred Liturgy and thus when a young man begins to discern priesthood he is already within a band of brothers that are genuinely happy for him and supportive of his vocation discernment.
Individual vocations
Clergy in Philadelphia say that strong Catholic families are often at the root of their vocations. “It certainly helps when the example of those in the seminary is joyful, hopeful, and prayerful” as well.
Fr. Hahn with the Diocese of Columbus adds that it is a big step when discerners realize that priests are “just regular guys following an extraordinary calling.” Therefore, just being around priests and also seminarians helps them to see that “maybe someone like themself could actually be called to be a priest.”
Advice for discernment
Fr. Hahn says that if you’re praying for a young person discerning, don’t pray that he become a priest, but pray that he has the “grace to seek the Lord and the courage to follow Him.” When you encounter young men in your family or parish,
Encourage your boys to serve at the altar so they can begin to know the priest and to visualize themself at the altar as a priest. Encourage young (or middle-age) men in the parish who you think would make a good priest. Ask them if they ever thought about it and then tell them what quality you saw in them that made you ask.
Bishop Chylinski has some words of encouragement for people praying about their vocations:
I would ask them to be generous. I would want them to know that we, at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, are here to help their children hear God’s voice within. We prayerfully attend to the human, intellectual, pastoral, and spiritual development of each of our men. Finally, I would want them to know how truly happy our men are. There is no greater joy than finding one’s heart, mind, and soul dedicated to the Lord and in service of His people.
