USD Magazine, Fall 2003

annulled in 1995, Leon, a father of five and grandfather of 13, began exploring ways to enter the priesthood. Among those who previously didn't quality for acceptance at Sc. Francis, he considered joining a religious order or a diocesan program in Montana. "I had written to Sc. Francis in the past, and had been very politely, but very emphatically, told that I was not a candi– date," says Leon, whose experience in the church allowed hm to move directly into rheology graduate work at Sc. John's Seminary, a Los Angeles-area theologate. "The change is an answer to a prayer. It means I can pursue my calling and minis– ter in my hometown, something I could not have done before." CALLinG TH0sE WiTH A CALLinG The need for more priests, however, won't be met simply by adapting to better serve men who already want to enter the priest– hood. On a smaller scale, Sc. Francis and the San Diego diocese face the same chal– lenge as the church as a whole - finding men who want to become priests. Although the issue has received atten– tion in San Diego, the city currently has no pastor-less parishes, in large part because of one significant advantage: geography. Priests, it turns out, want to live in San Diego as much as anyone else. Forry-five of the 232 priests in San Diego are visitors from other dioceses, and a sig– nificant number of retired priests come to the area and remain active on at least a part-time basis, offsetting the effects of the shortage. In other regions, however, recruiting is made difficult by realities inside and out– side the church. Sex-abuse scandals have tarnished the priestly image, and the cate– gorical refusal by the Vatican to change its seance on the celibacy requirement for priests or on the ordination of women is a barrier for some who might otherwise consider religious life. Also discouraging interest, says Dillabough, is the current portrayal of priests in popular culture. The one-time image of the priest personified by Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley in movies such as "Going My Way" and "The Bells of Sc. Mary's" has been displaced by one far less idealized. "Popular culture has a very profound effect on the types of careers children aspire to," Dillabough says. "Being a fire– fighter, for example, has become more