Is the Growing Shortage of Priests Perhaps a Blessing in Disguise? An African View

Abstract

Is the worldwide relentlessly growing scarcity of priests perhaps in God’s providence a “blessing in disguise”, as was advocated already at the 1970 Lusaka AMECEA bishops’ assembly which prepared itself for the coming Roman Bishops’ Synod with the topic “the ministry of the future church”? It was then argued that the growing scarcity, in Africa especially caused by its enormous demographic growth of the number of baptized, today almost five times more than it was in 1970, while the number of its priests has a bit more than doubled from 17’000 to 37’500. This enormously growing disparity should pressurize the African Catholic laity called “a sleeping giant” [99.98% of the Catholic Church is laity!], to take matters finally seriously into their own hands. There can be among them no scarcity of pastoral leadership talent, the Spirit-given charism of male and female ministry, as the burgeoning African churches amply prove.