"While we had no new seminarians start this fall in the diocese, I'm encouraged, nonetheless," Father Alford said. "We had 44 young men attend the Andrew Dinners, which were held this fall in each of our seven deaneries. That is a positive sign. Those numbers are pretty comparable to what we had two years ago at the dinners."
Invitations to the Andrew Dinners are sent to men who have either shown an interest in the priesthood or have been recognized by their pastors as having qualities that might be well suited for the priesthood. They are invited to join Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, Father Alford, and some priests from the deanery for an informal gathering.
"While we did not have any new seminarians at the start of this academic year, Bishop Paprocki just accepted two young men as seminarians for the diocese. They will begin their formation in January at Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis," Father Alford said.
The Springfield diocese sends its seminarians to six different seminaries: Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis.; Mundelein Seminary near Chicago; Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis; St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana; and the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City.
"There are a lot of signs for hope," said Father Alford. "The Office for Vocations currently runs the Catholic Leadership Institute in the summer at Benedictine University in Springfield, and that is proving to be a good source for encouraging vocations.
"We send our college guys to Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis. They actually take classes at Marian University which is a mile away. Our older guys attend Hales Corner.
"For the most part the vocations we are getting are younger. We are seeing a little bit of a shift. They are either in high school or have recently graduated. But we still have men of all ages express an interest," he said.
"A couple of weeks ago the diocese was host to three seminarians from Poland, who are studying at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Michigan. They want to serve in the United States. Within the year they are required to affiliate with a diocese somewhere in the U.S. They came here to Springfield over Thanksgiving break. They enjoyed their visit here in the diocese, and they seemed to really appreciate that Bishop Paprocki could speak to them in Polish."
Two transitional deacons, Deacon Steve Arisman and Deacon Seth Brown, are completing their final months at Mundelein in preparation for their ordination in late May. Four other seminarians from the diocese are completing their third year of theology, and will be ordained transitional deacons in early May.