More people are answering God’s call to serve the Church
CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte ordained its first priest in 1974, only two years after it was established, and since then the number of clergy has continued to grow as the diocese has grown. The diocese’s four bishops – starting with the first bishop, Bishop Michael Begley, and continuing to current Bishop Peter Jugis – have encouraged the faithful to support people pursuing religious vocations and to pray for an increase in vocations.
Those prayers and that support – seeds planted in fertile ground – have produced a harvest of blessings. The diocese is experiencing a vocations boom, with more people discerning the priesthood, permanent diaconate and religious life especially over the past decade.
As the Catholic population living in western North Carolina has swelled from an estimated 35,000 when the diocese was established in 1972 to today’s estimated 450,000, the number of people serving the local Church has also increased.
In the diocese’s 92 parishes and missions, 81 priests and 135 deacons are at work serving the people of God in western North Carolina, up from 72 priests and 96 deacons just a decade ago. Nearly two dozen religious orders of men and women, approximately 36 religious priests, 128 sisters and 11 religious brothers also serve in the diocese.
This fall, it is anticipated that the diocese will have 38 men studying for the priesthood, including 16 seminarians at three major seminaries in the U.S. and Rome and 22 students at the new St. Joseph College Seminary in Charlotte.
Opened in 2016, the college seminary has been a magnet for vocations as young men have responded to the opportunity to study and discern a religious vocation close to their homes and parishes.
The intensified interest in the college seminary has prompted the diocese to expand housing for them on the St. Ann Church campus on Park Road. The students already fill two houses adjacent to the church, and a third house – recently vacated by the Sisters of St. Joseph, who had served the parish for more than 32 years – is being refurbished to accommodate more.
Meanwhile, the diocese has purchased 86 acres about two miles from Belmont Abbey College as a permanent site for the college seminary. Fundraising for the $20 million campaign to build St. Joseph College Seminary is expected to begin in the 2018-’19 fiscal year.
And the college seminary’s first two graduates are headed to Ohio this fall, where they will join three seminarians already studying at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary at the Athenaeum in Cincinnati.
Eight other seminarians are studying nearby at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus. In addition, three men are studying at the North American College in Rome.
Last June five men were ordained to the priesthood for the diocese by Bishop Jugis, himself a local vocation. The Charlotte native is celebrating his 35th anniversary of ordination: he was ordained on June 12, 1983, by St. John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This year also marks his 15th anniversary as the fourth bishop of Charlotte.
While there are no ordinations planned this year, the diocese hopes to ordain three men to the priesthood in 2019.
As far as parishes go, St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte has the distinction of having five parishioners currently studying for the priesthood.
Father Matthew Kauth, rector of St. Joseph College Seminary, is astonished by the number of men who are discerning a call to the priesthood.
“What we did know was that vocations often spring up in a heart at that time when a young man begins to ask the question, ‘What will I live for?’ What we didn’t know is that 24 men in three academic years would look at our new, fledgling seminary and say, ‘That is what I will live for. I will live for Christ as His priest.’”
“The numbers have simply been astounding and there is no end in sight,” Father Kauth said. “Now we must build so that we might be under one roof instead of many. They have answered the call to sacrifice, and now the faithful must answer the call to support.”
PERMANENT DIACONATE
From 1980, when the Diocese of Charlotte established a Permanent Diaconate ministry, to today, the permanent diaconate has similarly flourished as the diocese has grown.
Nineteen men were ordained by Bishop Begley as the first class of permanent deacons on May 29, 1983.
The past two ordinations, in 2014 and 2018, saw a total of 31 men ordained permanent deacons for the diocese. Across western North Carolina, there are now 135 permanent deacons serving in the ministry of the Word, of the Altar, and of Charity.
And the steady stream of men interested in the permanent diaconate continues, with 18 men currently in the aspirancy program. From these aspirants, a new class of candidates will be selected this summer to begin formation at the end of August in the Permanent Diaconate program.
CONSECRATED RELIGIOUS
When the Diocese of Charlotte was established in 1972, 15 religious communities of men and women were active in the diocese. Today, there are 23 communities spread across western North Carolina.
Currently there are 36 religious order priests serving the diocese, as well as 128 active women religious and 11 brothers.
Parishes around the diocese are witnessing parishioners, young men and women, entering religious orders around the country.
St. Ann Parish in Charlotte, for example, has two parishioners who have joined religious communities in recent years. There are also two men from the parish studying for the diocesan priesthood.
‘VOCATION IS TODAY!’
The seeds planted in the past are producing a bountiful harvest, but there is always a need for more people to answer God’s call to serve the Church.
In his message for the 2018 World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful who may be feeling that call to respond without delay.
“Our slowness and our sloth” should not delay a response, and Christians need not be “fearful of our limitations and sins, but instead open our hearts to the voice of the Lord,” the pope wrote.
“Every Christian ought to grow in the ability to ‘read within’ his or her life and to understand where and to what he or she is being called by the Lord, in order to carry on His mission.”
“If (God) lets us realize that He is calling us to consecrate ourselves totally to His kingdom, then we should have no fear!” he said. ”It is beautiful – and a great grace to be completely and forever consecrated to God and the service of our brothers and sisters.”
“It will not fill our hearts if we keep standing by the window with the excuse of waiting for the right time, without accepting this very day the risk of making a decision. Vocation is today! The Christian mission is now!” he said.
It appears that many men and women in the diocese are listening.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Read the entire vocations edition.
Considering a religious vocation?
If you or someone you know is contemplating a religious vocation, check out the following general resources online.
Talk with your pastor, read up on consecrated life and the various communities that exist, and contact religious communities that interest you. Many offer “come and see” days or retreats that are good opportunities to learn more and meet others who have already accepted God’s call to religious life.
For young men and women, there are also summer discernment retreats offered by the Diocese of Charlotte and hosted at Belmont Abbey College: Quo Vadis Days for young men, and Duc in Altum for young women. Check them out online at www.charlottediocese.org/vocations.
And don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Diocesan vocations office
Father Christopher Gober, Director of Vocations: 704-370-3327, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
General information
- www.foryourvocation.org: Set up by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, dedicated to the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life for both men and women. They are also on Facebook and YouTube. There are resources for parents and teachers, questions to ask yourself if you feel God is calling you, see videos of vocation stories from priests and religious all over the U.S., and much more.
- www.religiouslife.com: The Institute for Religious Life’s website, with plenty of resources for both men and women interested in a vocation or those who wish to support religious life.
- Not sure what religious communities are out there that might be a good fit for you? Check out: www.religiousministries.com. Search this database to find a men’s or women’s religious community, whether you wish to become a priest, nun, brother or lay missioner, or just want to find out more about living a religious life.
- www.cloisteredlife.com: Aims to bring to attention the gift of cloistered and monastic life in the Church, sponsored by the Institute for Religious Life.
Religious communities for men
- www.cmsm.org: The Conference of Major Superiors of Men serves the leadership of the Catholic orders and congregations of the more than 17,000 vowed religious priests and brothers in the U.S.
- www.religiousbrotherhood.com: Sponsored by the Institute for Religious Life specifically to increase awareness of the specific charism of religious brotherhood in the U.S.
Religious communities for women
- www.cmswr.org: The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) is a canonically approved organization founded in 1992, to promote religious life in the U.S.
- www.lcwr.org: The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is an association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the U.S.