Vacancies in the Priesthood
When a reputable newspaper like the Daily Telegraph (whose editor is a Roman Catholic) gives prominent space to an article which highlights “the troubled state of the Roman Catholic Church nationally” and states that “its plight is most keenly felt in Liverpool, a traditional stronghold of the faith,” it is time for all who are looking for the coming of Christ’s kingdom and the fall of Babylon to be encouraged. It is said that the Roman Catholic Church’s heyday in Liverpool is over and that “the Church is doomed to fall still further”. The crisis is largely due to the fact that there are not sufficient priests to man their churches. For the first time since the restoration of the Popish hierarchy in 1850 not one priest will be ordained this year in the Liverpool diocese. In the past, up to 30 new priests were ordained annually, but now even its seminary is closed. More than that, we are told that “throughout England and Wales there are seminaries which are almost empty”.
When we read that the number of mass-goers in a stronghold like Liverpool has become so low that it has been decided to close seven Roman Catholic places of worship, and demolish some of them, are we not to take this as a hopeful sign that the whole edifice which is papal Rome is about to crumble and fall? There is still a fa