Cincinnati priests tell USCCB head of concerns over priest shortage

Published: 2004-07-01

CINCINNATI (CNS) -- A group of priests in the Cincinnati Archdiocese sent a letter to the president of the U.S. bishops expressing their concern about keeping the Eucharist the central focus of Catholic life as the church faces a future with fewer priests. "As Catholics we claim to be (a) eucharistic community working to establish the kingdom of God," said the letter addressed to Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Actually, we are drifting away from that reality with the closing of churches and merging of parishes." "We understand the church does not consider herself able to ask the question, 'How shall we celebrate the Eucharist in the absence of a priest?' because we cannot go where the question might lead: the ordination of married men," the letter stated. Copies of the letter were also sent to Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk and Auxiliary Bishop Carl K. Moeddel.

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