As the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., welcomes its largest class of new priests in more than six decades, vocation formators cite prayers for vocations, the witness of men who love their priesthood, and a willingness to respond to God’s call as factors which inspire men into vocational discernment.

Sixteen men are set to be ordained on June 15 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the highest number of ordinations to the priesthood for the archdiocese since 1960. 

“The greatest vocation poster is a happy priest, because you wonder what they have,” said Msgr. Robert Panke, pastor of St. John Neumann Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and former rector of Washington’s St. John Paul II Seminary.

A “joyful priest,” Msgr. Panke told the Register, is “kind of contagious.”

“This year’s large ordination class is a wonderful blessing from God,” said Father Anthony Lickteig, the Archdiocese of Washington’s episcopal vicar for clergy and secretary for ministerial leadership, in an email statement to the Register. “He is the one who puts the call and vocation in the hearts of these men.” 

News of the number of this year’s soon-to-be-ordained priests for the archdiocese comes amid ongoing concerns over a national decline of new vocations.

For instance, one 2023 report found that, from 2014 to 2021, there was a 9% decrease in active diocesan priests, a 14% decrease in active religious priests, a 22% decline in the number of seminarians, and a 24% decline in total priestly ordinations per year.

“It should be known that promoting the priesthood is not getting any easier, and many factors in the culture discourage priestly and other ecclesial vocations,” said Father Carter Griffin, rector of St. John Paul II seminary. “The fact that so many in this year responded so generously is a minor miracle in itself.”

“The size of our class makes for great fraternity and relationships with each other,” said transitional Deacon John Winslow, one of the men preparing for ordination to the priesthood later this month, in an email to the Register. “I think our class serves as a sign of God’s continuing providence and work in the world, particularly here in our local Church.”

While the number of ordinations this year is noteworthy, Father Griffin told the Register the archdiocese has averaged 6-7 yearly ordinations over the past 50 years, adding that “the trend has edged up a bit” over the last two decades.

“We have a really healthy diocese,” said Msgr. Panke. He added that some people find this fact surprising, due to “all the McCarrick stuff, and this and that.”

Msgr. Panke’s remarks refer to former archbishop of Washington, D.C., the since laicized Theodore McCarrick, whose legacy as cardinal has been marked by sexual misconduct, with his name becoming synonymous with corruption within the higher levels of the Church hierarchy. 

McCarrick’s successor as archbishop of Washington, from 2006-2018, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, would in turn become implicated in his predecessor’s scandal.

 

Healthy and Happy Priests

“All 16 of us are united in our love of the Lord and the desire to serve his people,” said Deacon Winslow, speaking of the other men in his class. “They are truly some of the best men I know, and I’m incredibly blessed to call them my brothers.” 

Transitional Deacon Joseph Gonzalez, a later vocation, admitted in an interview with the Register that he had not given any thought about his class in comparison to previous years. “What was big for me is the way we all helped each other out,” he said. 

“Many times they’ll tell us: Don’t isolate yourself. Don’t be a lone ranger,” said Deacon Gonzalez. “But we also need people that understand each other. And who you’re going to rely on is your brother priest, or at the time, your brother seminarians.”

In addition to a consistent record of ordinations, archdiocesan formators expressed gratitude for the high retention rate of priests. 

“We’ve had great success in retention,” said Msgr. Panke. “That’s one of the things I think I’m most proud of is that we’ve had very, very few priests leave in the last 20, 25 years.”

Msgr. Panke had previously served as director of the archdiocese’s ongoing formation for priests, and explained how “the first five years” after ordination “are very critical in setting up the patterns of life, of how one lives.”

“It’s making sure a man has a spiritual director, making sure that he gathers with his brother priests, and he doesn't isolate himself, making sure that he has mentors, making sure there’s a program where the guys come in to learn how to not only be a priest, but how to live as a priest in a healthy way.”

“Everything in the seminary is in theory, and it’s a lot easier,” Msgr. Panke explained, while after ordination, “at some point, the reality hits that this is a hard life as well.” 

“There are more Catholics and less priests, so there’s more work. There’s more asked of them than there ever has been.”

 

A Priest Goes to Washington

This year’s ordinations marks the beginning of the new priests’ ministry to the 667,000 Catholics across 140 parishes within the Archdiocese of Washington. Serving the capital of the United States, it is one of the most economically diverse and politically charged regions of the country. 

“Washington is a little bit under a microscope,” said Father Mark Ivany who serves as vocation director and director of seminarians for the archdiocese. “We have a lot of political people who live and/or work within the archdiocese.

Feeling “the brunt of the divisions within the country,” Father Ivany said, “I hope that our priests are unifying instruments,” while “softening that polarization, and in the division and working towards a more unified existence.”

“The diversity of the archdiocese is one of the things I’m most excited about in being ordained a priest here,” said Deacon Winslow. 

“There’s such a wide-variety of life experiences and unique cultural realities here,” he said. 

“My time in formation has helped expose to me a myriad of parishes, cultures, and people, and I look forward to serving whomever the Lord entrusts to my care. Everyone, no matter their background, needs Jesus Christ.”

 

Inspiring Vocations

“The size of this class is a sign of great hope” – said Father Lickteig – “that God has not stopped calling men to lay down their lives in such unique service to our local Church.” 

St. John Neumann Church, Msgr. Panke’s parish of, is an example of the various initiatives to encourage vocations within the archdiocese. The Maryland parish hosts the Saint John Paul II the Great Vocations Society, which, founded in 2004, is a mission dedicated to promoting vocations. 

“We want it to be a normal thing for every young Catholic to consider whether the Lord is calling them to a life of radical service through the priesthood or consecrated life,” said Mary Beth de Ribeaux, who heads the initiative.

“I have long admired the way priests give of themselves, and I was blown away when I attended my first ordination. It is glorious,” she said of her motivation to become engaged in vocations ministry.

“We need priests to give us the sacraments,” she added. “We can’t live without the Eucharist, and there’s no Eucharist without priests, so I want to do my part to make sure there are priests in the future not only for me, but for my children and grandchildren.”

Included among the activities of parish ministries, like the Saint John Paul II the Great Vocations Society, is to provide opportunities for parishioners to pray for vocations. 

“I think the fact that we have 16 men being ordained priests this year is a fruit of this project,” de Ribeaux said. “Literally hundreds of people have been praying for them as they’ve been going through formation."

“We try to provide opportunities for our fellow parishioners to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and we look for ways to encourage our youth and young adults to be open to God’s call, whatever it is for their lives,”  she added.

While some dioceses operate on the idea that it is the vocations director who encourages and inspires vocational discernment, said Father Ivany, this task instead rests with the priests themselves.

“All the priests are our vocation representatives,” said Father Ivany.

“The witness and joy of one or more priests is a part of most vocation stories,” added Father Griffin. “It often comes down to a priest whom a young man can admire and wish to emulate together with a community of like-minded peers where he can discern without the common discouragements of the wider culture.”

Ultimately, what motivates men to discern the priesthood is a call from God, according to formators.

“We do not have a vocation crisis,” said Msgr. Panke. “We have a response crisis. God is calling men to the priesthood in every diocese, in every place of the world. The challenge is that men are not responding to that call.” 

“Come and see,” Gonzales told the Register, addressing men who are considering discernment, and echoing Jesus’ words to Andrew the Apostle in the Gospel of John. “Every Catholic man has the responsibility to discern the call. And the only way you’ll find out is to ‘come and see.’”

Deacon Winslow, for his part, invites men to not "be afraid to fall in love with the Lord,” in the face of discernment to the priesthood. 

“He created you — specifically you — to fill a particular role in his plan, and you can only do so by trusting him and allowing him to make you fully and authentically yourself. He truly is the fulfillment of all of your desires."