It appears that the Spanish prieshood is not attracting young men in the way that it used to.It is a dying profession in Catholic Spain.This is what the Episcopal Council was told in Madrid last week by Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco.He sees it as a crisis of vocation.It appears that there are fewer and older priests now than there were a few years ago.

Almost half of the parishes have no priest.In Spain there are 23,286 parishes and 10,615 have no priest.The average age of priests is now over 63 and in some areas it is over 72.These are figures from 2007 and consequently the figures could now be much worse.

The question is just why this is happening.It should be as plain as the nose on your face.Young men these days are not as indoctrinated as they used to be in the “old” days.They might be interested in the “church” but they also want a life and celibacy has to be a major drawback in their choice of career.The publicising of the indiscretions of certain priests within the Catholic church has also been a strong influence for many young men not choosing it as a career or vocation,one one think.Then there is the ugly head of materialism in the modern world and most young men will have bought into that culture,which would exclude them from becoming priests too.