Failed Vatican II: Spain Loses 40% of Seminarians

en.news3 years agoedited

Since Vatican II, vocations have dried up in Spain (47M inhabitants), writes LaVanguardia.es (December 24)

• In 1965 there were 8’000 seminarians in Spain, in 2000 the number dropped to 1’737 an in 2020 to 1’028 (-40%).

• The minor seminaries had up to 8,000 pupils until Vatican II; now there are 811.

• In 2021, there were 179 male novices and 65 female novices to replace the 44,000 religious of both sexes who will retire.

• There are 85 diocesan seminaries in Spain, including the 15 Redemptoris Mater seminaries (Neocatechumenal Way) which account for a fifth of the ordinations.

• Barcelona Archdiocese (2M Catholics) has 26 seminarians.

• Girona Diocese, Northern Spain, has just over a hundred priests (average age: 73) to cover 394 parishes.

• In Vic Diocese, 144 priests died since 2003 and 15 have been ordained.

• Catholic Seminaries – like in Toledo – have better numbers, but Francis will destroy them.

• From 2000-2019, Spain went from 227 ordinations to 125; Germany from 140 ordinations to 55; France from 150 to 94; Italy from 520 to 310.

Picture: © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk, CC BY-NC-ND, #newsYifstkjjix

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aderito3 years ago

The evil deceived ones think they have won ,but actually our Lord Jesus is the one victorious over 2000 years and we will be victorious as well if we believe and have faith in Him

Geminiano Secundo3 years ago

Empty seminaries, aging and dying clergy, disappearing parishes are all signs of the end of the era of the Church we have known so far, and at the same time they are signs of the coming of a new era: the Kingdom of God on earth with a completely different image of the Church. Jesus Christ to Luisa Piccarreta (Nov. 27, 1917):
And then, churches are few and many will be destroyed. Many times I do not find Priests to consecrate Me; other times they allow unworthy souls to receive Me, and worthy souls not to receive Me; other souls are unable to receive Me, therefore my Love finds Itself hindered. This is why I want to make the Sanctity of living in my Will. In It, I will no longer need Priests to be consecrated, nor churches, tabernacles or hosts. These souls will be everything altogether: Priests, churches, tabernacles and hosts. My Love will be more free. Anytime I want to consecrate Myself, I will be able to do it – in every moment, during the day, at night, in any place where they might be. Oh, how my Love will have Its complete outpouring!
Ah! my daughter, the present generation deserved to be destroyed completely; and if I will allow a little something to be left of it, it is to form these Suns of the Sanctity of living in my Will, who, through my example, will repay Me for all that other creatures, past, present and future, owed Me. Then will the earth give Me true glory, and my “FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA, on earth as it is in Heaven” will have its completion and fulfillment.

Sancte Teotónio3 years ago

Is this approved by the Church? @Geminiano Secundo

Geminiano Secundo3 years ago

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta was born in Corato in the Province of Bari, on April 23,1865 and died there in the odor of sanctity on March 4, 1947.
bookofheaven.org

Jan Joseph3 years ago

De Tweede Vaticaanse Concilie kerk van Paus Franciscus is op sterven na dood.

Kenjiro M. Yoshimori3 years ago

Our Archdiocesean seminary, which could accomodate 500 seminarians had 1940-62 close to 500 every year, with another 40-50 studying in Rome, or at Louvain, Belgium. It was a source of great pride in the Archdiocese, 1 huge building, cedicated in 1929 and in the Italian Renaissance style, and one, (the Theology building), dedicated in 1871 and in the "Victorian" style. Entrance classes were usually 80-100 per year, up until 1965, and ordinations anywhere between 28-55 per year from 1937-1962.
Today, te seminary is sold to main Line Health, a health care monopoly and will be turned into senior living apartments. The seminary has until 2024 to vacate. There was never any thought of selling/closing, until about 2015. Since the election of Francis, enrollment has dropped from about 190 (which is still very poor, but had been rising slowly under Benedict XVI), to about 119, of which only 46 are studying specifically for Philadelphia.
The four largest Orders of teaching sisters in the Archdiocese started to collapse around 1967, and today, there is not one parish school (out of maybe 200), with sisters of staff.
The residence of the CArdinal-Archbishop was sold, the Archdiosecean newspaper went out of business in 2014, and Mass attendance has declined from about 85%+ from the 1900's thru to 1970, to the present 12%. In the USA, Mass attendance is 17%, down from roungly 85% also in 1960-63.
I hope Francis' pontificate does not see another year. And his "Synod" I hope is a gigantic failure.
And I hope very many bishops again ignore these directives about the Latin Mass, and give Francis "the middle finger"...a gesture that in the Congo Francis maintains is so expressive and useful.

Gia B Yan3 years ago

Are you referring to St.Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia? It saddens me if indeed it is. Such a beautiful campus and I was there in 2017 to attend the ordination of two deacons from Sri Lanka to the priesthood. Thank you for your courageous defense of our beautiful Catholic Faith. Arigatogosaimaste.

Kenjiro M. Yoshimori3 years ago

@Gia B Yan -Yes, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary! Very sad indeed. I frequently go over to their library. Very peaceful, and quiet to do my research. I helped a priest (an Augustinian, now deceased) write a book on the disaster in the Church since Vatican II, particularly in religious life. Really depressive statistics I discovered...and much worse since Pope Francis appeared on the scene. Thank you for your compliment to me...Doitashimashite!! Thank you too, for your interesting posts and contributions also

John A Cassani3 years ago

The headline gives the impression that things are better than they are. The 40% decline is in this century alone. Since the Council, the decline has been more like 85%. I wonder what the decline has been since, oh, I don’t know, early 2013?

laurelmarycecilia3 years ago

May 12, 2004, only 20 days after the release of Redemptionis Sacramentum, the Vatican document that pretends to correct abuses in the liturgy, John Paul II poses with altar girls, legitimating them. With this, by the way of facts, he encourages the Bishops around the world to imitate him.
-America, May 24, 2004

Ivan Tomas3 years ago

Also, how will you kill the will of every young man to be a seminarian? Let the girls all the way near the altar. Let the girls even serve as acolytes! ALTAR GIRLS?!
Who should we thank for the altar girls? Not me, certainly! Read here:
Altar Girls? | EWTN

Tony M3 years ago

Being born in 1950 I was a school kid at the time of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. There was enormous expectation of a new awakening and blossoming of the Catholic Church as a result of that Council. Looking back now.....what a disaster......that has now culminated with Jorge Bergoglio, the rampant heretic, blasphemer & Pachamama worshipper, destroying the Catholic Church with calculated & methodical ease.....with almost no opposition!!!

Bonnie Louise3 years ago

Unified opposition is needed, from coast to coast, and across the globe.

Geminiano Secundo3 years ago

@Tomy M
According to the Prophecy given to Saint Malachy, Benedict XVI 'Gloria olivae' was the last Roman pope. George Bergoglio, being a professed Marxist, is neither pope nor antipope, but the Destroyer of the visible Church, and is described in the Prophecy of Malachi by the phrase: "In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit." This is happening right now before our eyes. Peter the Roman, i.e. someone from among Roman Catholics, will be, by God's will, a king and a priest in the longed-for Kingdom of God on earth. Just as God destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem with the creation of the Church of Christ, He allows the hierarchical Church to be destroyed in order to make room for the gathering of the saints in God's Kingdom on earth. The Lord Jesus watches over his Church at all times and over the passage of the elect to the Kingdom of God.