To the editor:
Bishop Matthew H. Clark, in a recent column in the Catholic Courier, announced that the “Laity has role in fostering vocations.”
As a member of the laity in this diocese I would like to make a few observations:
1. Serving Mass as altar boys is one of the first opportunities boys have to consider the priesthood as a career. Unfortunately political correctness has stepped in and implied discrimination unless girls are given the same opportunity to be altar servers.
2. This same political correctness has carried over to the liturgy of the Mass. Male pronouns are unwelcome in some parishes. This, of course, doesn’t enhance the incentive for men seeking the priesthood.
It has been reported that seminaries have experienced substantially more applicants in dioceses where church teaching is faithfully observed. This indicates that applicants to the priesthood will increase to the degree that political correctness decreases.
The Catholic Church should lead and not follow trends in secular society if it hopes to attract more men to the priesthood.
Robert Bart
Elm Street
Ithaca
