Good news for American Catholics, and for those who value having a strong, faithful Catholic Church thriving in American society....
Nationwide survey shows orthodox Catholic priests are rapidly replacing ‘progressive’ clergy
All of the right people are upset about this:Amidst a crackdown on the Traditional Latin Mass, confusion on established Church teachings on sexuality, and liturgical abuses, good news has emerged for faithful American Catholics and the future of the Catholic Church.
A new study from Catholic University of America found that most new priests, those ordained after 2020, consider themselves “conservative” or “orthodox,” while there are fewer and fewer “progressive” priests.
The survey of 10,000 priests conducted by The Catholic Project represents a statistically significant amount, as there are roughly 37,000 priests in the United States.
“Simply put, the portion of new priests who see themselves as politically ‘liberal’ or theologically ‘progressive’ has been steadily declining since the Second Vatican Council and has now all but vanished,” the report stated.
There a few reasons for the dramatic shift:Dissident National Catholic Reporter has also taken notice, with articles about the increasing conservatism of priests and seminarians.
1) After the sex abuse crisis broke in 2002, there was a purge of many homosexual priests. Seminaries were scrutinized and many were reformed entirely -- to restore holiness in formation and orthodoxy in faith.
2) After Pope Benedict allowed the Latin Mass to be made widely available, young families with lots of kids found themselves in communities who desired to raise their children together in devotion and faith. Vocations come from large families.
3) The appearance of homeschooling groups and new Catholic classical academies also created communities of young families devoted to truth and faith.
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Just for fun, here is National Catholic Reporter's reaction to a similar survey from a few years ago:
New survey raises concerns about increasingly conservative clergy