Ginny Prior Media Services

PREVIOUS PROFILES

Catching Zs

The Birdman of Glenview

Dialogues - State Supreme Court Justice Carol Corr...

Dialogues - Dr. Joel Parrott

Pop Secrets At The Paramount

Raider's Amy Trask Makes NFL History

About Livermore Wineries

The World is Frederica Von Stade's Stage, But Alam...

Hall of Fame Raider, Dave Casper

Good Guy's CEO Ken Weller

The Chosen Few

Oakland Magazine - May 07

The Priesthood looks for New Recruits

By Ginny Prior

Larry D'Anjou is looking for a few good men. Not for the marines, but for the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Diocese Oakland. As director of vocations, he’s looking for men to sign on for a life of sacrifice, service and celibacy. A hard sell? It depends on who’s doing the cold-calling. “The way the church teaches us,” says D’Anjou, a priest, “it’s a call that comes through the sacrament of baptism.” In other words, it’s God, himself, on the line.
But in too many parishes, the call goes unanswered. Whether it’s the high-profile abuse cases that have plagued the Catholic church or just society’s shifting values, a shortage of priests is forcing the church to make uncomfortable changes. “In a number of places,” he says, “It’s not that unusual for a priest to cover two or three parishes.”
Oakland, perhaps surprisingly, is bucking the odds. Designating D’Anjou as a full-time recruiter has paid off, and the 87 Catholic churches in the diocese are holding their own with adequate staffing. “We lose, on average, four or five priests who retire or die each year,” he says, looking at the attrition numbers. But enough new candidates are going through seminary to keep three priests at each parish.
It’s a far cry from the days when there seemed to be an endless supply of priests coming from Italy and Ireland. But while the Catholic church has been struggling across Europe, it’s growing stronger in places like the Philippines, Latin America and Vietnam—where D’Anjou now turns his attention.

To read the rest of this article, contact Ginny Prior