Virtuous priests come from good seminaries. The answer to the crisis is a return to the practice existing before the Second Vatican Council!

Trials, of course, take a long time. However, there is no secret that scandals involving Catholic clergy arise far too often—not only in Lithuania, but around the world.

Leaders of dioceses are urged to take stricter measures, punishing those responsible for sexual crimes against minors. This, of course, is a understandable trend. But it does not explain why the scale of such crimes is so large.

It is worth looking at this situation from the perspective of Catholic logic. The main principle of this logic is a correct understanding of human nature.

Man is not born good. In a certain sense, he is born “bad,” because his nature is tainted by original sin. This applies to all people and all men, including priests and even saints.

In order for a person to fight these bad tendencies and overcome them, he must regularly practice asceticism.

And what changes do we see in this area? The beginning of the crisis—was the period shortly after the Second Vatican Council. It was then that the number of priests began to decline, i.e., the number of vocations decreased.

This is a slightly different topic, which I will not discuss in depth here; I will just note that a person is capable of sacrifice if he pursues a great goal. If this goal does not lead him, he will not seek priesthood and, even more so, will not be willing to make sacrifices connected with this path.

Together with the revolutionary reforms adopted by the Council, the profile for training new priests changes.

The importance of ascetical practices—fasting, physical work, silence, solitude—moves into the background, and instead it is recommended to “go out into the world,” to interact with people, to integrate more into the local community, because this should help in pastoral care.

More about this in the article: “Pre- & Post-Vatican II Seminary Training Compared”

Pre- & Post-Vatican II Seminary Training Compared

But it is forgotten that priests are affected by demonic forces even more than ordinary people. And, most importantly, a priest should not be a community animator, but a moral light.

His authority is based not on eloquence, but on the ability to shape a certain ideal of a morally upright person, to the extent that he is able—at his maximum—to cooperate with God’s grace, so that he can be an example and provide moral guidance by teaching and offering the sacrament of penance.

Believers should help him by praying for the priest. But here a connection arises: along with the crisis of priesthood, there was also a crisis of faith, and accordingly the number of faithful—along with those who pray for priests—also decreased. Therefore, priests have less spiritual support in the struggle against powers of darkness.

In summary, it must be stated that the only systemic cure is a return to the traditional way of training priests that existed before the Second Vatican Council. This return must be “real,” not merely declarative, because today the situation is such that often rules undergo only minor formal changes, while the bigger problem is that in practice people deviate from them increasingly.

What does this return to stricter asceticism mean, than the one that prevails today:

• Strict rules and schedule: life in the seminary is regulated by a precise daily schedule, including early rising, mandatory periods of silence, and structured activities: study, prayer, the liturgy, and rest.
• External abstinence: emphasis is placed on physical self-restraint and refusal, grounded in rules: fasting and structured penances designed to restrain lusts. Mandatory wearing of a cassock in all circumstances: in the seminary and beyond it.
• Isolation: maintaining the community of future priests as a closed garden (hortus conclusus), in order to isolate candidates from worldly temptations and secular relationships. There can be no talk of access to the internet and electronic devices.
• Return to old religious practices: above all, a return to traditional liturgy—Tridentine Masses, regular recitation of the Rosary, mandatory adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, prayer according to the traditional breviary.

Today, this seems like a very outdated approach. However, human nature does not change, so the remedy remains the same.