His Eminence the Most Reverend Saba, Archbishop of New York and Washington D.C, Metropolitan of the Antiochian Archdiocese in North America during his address to the Antiochian General Assembly at the 56th Archdiocese Convention in Phoenix, AZ on July 28th, 2023, pointed to the current “priest and mission crises” and the need to plant more seeds for the ordination of new priests and establishment of new missions:
We see a “shortage of eligible candidates for the priesthood. We have approximately 456 active and retired priests. The average age of active priests is 60. This means that in 5 years we will face the challenge of securing priests to continuing the ministry of Christ in our parishes. We are witnessing the beginnings of an economic setback, deterioration of individual finances, high cost of living, low wages, and signs of the decline of the “Life of Luxury.” The vast divide between the income of employers and employees is causing disinterest among the young in pursuing employment in the job market. Also, I hear about the fears of the retirement of a priest, who has been serving without compensation, because the parish is unable to afford a new priest, as well as from some parishes that are only able to afford one priest, they need more, but cannot afford it. The Archdiocese constantly receives requests by different parishes, not missions, for monthly financial assistance.”
There is no question that the “crises of clergy and new missions” spans well beyond the Antiochian Archdiocese to our brethren in other jurisdictions. Please plan to give and support to meet the basic needs of priests and grow Christ’s missions in North America.
Source Antiochian Archdiocese Website: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/1692
