July 23, 2026 – Pastor’s Note

Guarding my Priesthood

Year	Total Priests (CARA)	Net Change from Previous Confirmed Year	% Change
1975	58,909	—	—
1985	57,317	−1,592	−2.70%
1995	49,054	−8,263	−14.41%
2005	42,839	−6,215	−12.67%
2015	37,192	−5,647	−13.19%

I joined seminary in 2011, so I was formed for priesthood in the shadow of these numbers. It is nearly impossible to know how much of this loss was due to death versus men walking away from the priesthood. However, given that a man ordained in 1965 (when we had HUGE ordination classes) would have only been 65- or 70-years-old in 2005, it is likely that most of the losses from 1985 – 2005 were from men leaving the priesthood, while the losses from 2005 – 2015 involved more deaths.

We talked a lot about healthy priesthood in seminary – how to live a fulfilling priestly life, how to remain close to the Lord in hard times, and how to be joyful and emotionally balanced as a life-long celibate. Our formators did not want the above trends to continue. As a result of hearing about so many men walking away from the priesthood, one of my deepest personal fears is that I should be tempted to do the same. Blessedly, it does not just come out of the blue, so we know what to look for and how to fight against it.

1. Cause #1 – Work without Prayer – When priests lose their connection to the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and contemplative prayer, their life begins to look more like a business manager, a social worker, or a therapist. And at that point, why bother with the low pay and lack of romance?
   
   Solution? I am militant about saying Mass every day, even when I am not scheduled, and making sure I pray for at least 60-minutes each day. I also meet with a spiritual director once-a-month to make sure I am accountable for my prayer life.
2. Cause #2 – Burnout – Men become priests because they want to serve the People of God. However, as the number of priests declines, it is easy for a priest (and especially a pastor) to believe that “thy Kingdom Come” is his sole responsibility – that if souls are not being saved and parishes are not running smoothly, he must personally do the job of every staff member, volunteer, and baptized Christian. And that level of pressure will quickly cause a man to lose heart, give up, and look elsewhere for comfort.
   
   Solution? I take all of my days off, vacations and retreat days each year. And when I am off, I try to be off. I also make peace with projects, correspondences, and other tasks taking as long as they are going to take.
3. Cause #3 – Lack of Intimacy – Lack of a spouse does not mean a lack of intimacy, as long as one takes the necessary steps. But when a priest treats his responsibilities as a job and eschews all relationships with parishioners as “work”, he will quickly become isolated and lonely. This is especially true if he has also not maintained relationships with family and pre-priesthood friends.
   
   Solution? I regularly look for excuses to visit family and friends in Seattle. Plus, I genuinely enjoy hanging out with our parishioners and try to keep space in my calendar for visiting houses for dinner. Finally, I have a priest support group that I meet with each month, which provides more accountability and also listening ears who can relate to my experiences as a priest.

Now, this does not have to be a priest-centric note. Many of you have also made (marriage) vows, and with the U.S. divorce rate as high as it is, you might share the same anxiety that I do about maintaining those vows. So what are the biggest stressors on marriage? And what are your solutions, to make sure those stressors stay permanently at bay?

Two Maintenance Asks

Extra Hands for Ryan

In January, we hired Ryan Wittig as a full-time general contractor to cover maintenance at our churches. Ryan is very good at what he does, but he let us know early on that he can be far more efficient and effective if he always has a team on-site whenever he is doing a project. Functionally, he would like to develop a “call sheet” for each campus, so that when he knows he needs some extra help he can queue folks up a day or two before.

If you would like to be on call to help Ryan, please e-mail him (ryan@whatcomcatholic.org) with your:

• Name/Contact Info
• Availability
• Preferred campuses
• Any special maintenance experience or skills you might have (not required, helpful to know)

Maintenance Advisory Committee

At the Pastoral Council last month, we decided it would be good to try to develop a “Maintenance Advisory” committee for the whole county. This would consist of experts in their field (i.e. folks who have professional experience in the building trades) who can advise us on project scope, contracts, and contractors. Sometimes, this might involve direct work (like drawing up plans or writing up project scopes).

If you can help us with this, please e-mail Keri Cleary (clearyk@whatcomcatholic.org) with your:

• Name/Contact Info
• Professional Competencies