As the world watched Notre Dame Cathedral burn to the ground because of an alleged accident in 2019, another set of images was capturing the imagination.
Almost as striking as the iconoclastic inferno were the images of young Traditional Catholics singing the Rosary outside the cathedral. It was a poignant reminder of France’s beautiful past, a past now obscured by secularism, Islam and regular arson attacks on churches.
In the context of all of this, the church has also had to face a rapid decline in vocations, from 1,000 per year only 50 years ago to just over 100 per year now. Balancing this out has been the loss of some 600 priests per year to retirement.
Of the 122 men ordained as new diocesan priests in France, a sizeable number once again belong to Traditionalist groups.
3 are from the FSSP, 3 from the ICKSP, 14 from the Community of Saint Martin.
The number would have been higher, only for Rome cruelly suspending the ordination of 6 men to the Diaconate and 4 to the priesthood only weeks ago as part of the self sabotaging generational war against young Traditionalists. Those seminarians in La Castile in Fréjus-Toulon have had their ordinations paused, with some in the Vatican concerned about their seminary any forewarning and with only weeks to go until they became deacons or priests.
The haphazard nature of recent persecutions of the young people who are flocking to the Latin Mass is spiteful and self defeating beyond words, it is the case of a grumpy outdated elite who wish to cut off the nose of the church to spite its face.
The numbers also do not include those who will be ordained to the Society of Saint Pius, who have a strong presence in France.
Returning to the Latin Mass does not solve all of the church’s problems, but in the short run, at least refraining from bullying those attached to it will help with the church’s main problem, that is the crisis of the priesthood.
With only 14,000 priests now remaining in France and with numbers set to to decline rapidly over the next decade, the war on Traditionalist young people seems as damaging to the church as the flames were to Notre Dame in 2019.
It should also be said that a noticeable number of the ordinations came from groups associated with the Charismatic Renewal, many of whom have had apostolic visitations recently also.
Of the 99 Diocese in France, 49 failed to ordain even a single priest.
Traditionalists are calling young men to be priests, as are Charismatics, so what are the French Dioceses doing wrong?
The French bishops, for their part, write:
Many dioceses will not have the joy of celebrating ordinations, it is important not to take sides with the decrease in the number of priests or the decline in vocations. Christ is always the beautiful face of God's love for the world. He always calls men and women to the consecrated life. He always invites men to give their lives in the Priesthood. It is up to each community to take care of it and welcome it.
Ken Moore