The priesthood vocational picture can be improved by the projection of a more positive conviction by priests themselves of who they are and what value there is in what they are doing, Atlanta Archdiocesan Vice-Chancellor Father Jerry E. Hardy says.

The newly-elected president of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors said, "We have to create an atmosphere in which a priest can make contributions to the community in ways to which we are not accustomed."

He was elected to his post at the vocation directors recent convention in Denver. The 32-year-old priest is believed to be the youngest president to head the organization."

The priesthood should encompass varied ministries, Father Hardy said. "It should be made more serviceable to the needs we are confronted with every day," he added, without specifying the new forms of ministries that should be included in the priesthood.

Father Hardy said that most of the 137 delegates attending the vocation directors’ national convention voiced optimism about the future of the priesthood, particularly about the possible new forms of ministries.

He said delegates met with Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Vonesch of Joliet, IL, a member of the NCCB's vocation committee, and urged that the position of vocation director be given priority status on the diocesan level.

Too often, a priest who holds a diocesan post is also named vocation director, Father Hardy said. The same priest often relinquishes the vocation job after a relatively short time, he added.

This practice should be changed, he said, because it places a low priority on the vocations' position importance. He said it also contributes to the lag in candidates for the priesthood.

“There should be at least some continuity developed in the vocation directors' position," Father Hardy said. "It's hard to develop any kind of program when you have such a constant turnover."

He said the vocation directors feel that their jobs should be given some definite importance. "Even if the priest has to do it on a part-time basis, it ought to be his first job," Father Hardy said. "The work of a vocation director is severely handicapped when it's not done on a broad scale."

Father Hardy said he gives the vocations job a priority status. "I put a lot of time into it," he said.

Father Hardy said the vocation directors adopted a resolution pledging "to work more diligently for minority group representation in its membership."