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The shortage is leading to greater use of sisters, lay Catholics and deacons, a special ministerial office open to both single and married men. Though they cannot celebrate Mass, the church allows them to perform many functions commonly filled by priests. About one-third of the 19,313 parishes in the U.S. have hired sisters and lay workers for administration and pastoral duties with parishioners. There is also an ever growing number of priestless parishes, especially in smaller towns of the South and Midwest. Some are run by sisters or lay Catholics, who are permitted by Vatican rules to conduct Sunday Communion services and distribute hosts that priests have previously consecrated.
Chicago's Father Carolan warns of "burnout" among overburdened clergy. In some parishes, says he, "all you're doing is funerals, weddings and baptisms. There's not much time for anything else. Parishes become just like service stations. That's why guys get fed up." To prevent that, his parish has enlisted 400 lay volunteers who prepare families for baptisms, plan liturgies, run the finance committee, visit the sick and do most of the teaching. Deacons perform baptisms and weddings (without the nuptial Mass).
Vocations would increase, perhaps fourfold, if priests were allowed to marry, estimates Sociologist Dean Hoge of the Catholic University of America. He is a Presbyterian layman who reports on years of research in the forthcoming book The Future of Catholic Leadership. John Paul has declared the issue of clerical celibacy a closed topic, but Americans continually try to reopen it. The Rev. Terrance Sweeney, a former California Jesuit, last year released a survey showing that 24% of 145 U.S. bishops favored allowing married priests. Sweeney was subsequently forced out of the Society of Jesus for issuing the survey against his superiors' orders, and is now planning to marry.
Many observers believe that the most crucial long-range challenge to the Pope comes from the academic world, where so often teachers of theology are critical of church stands. The Charles Curran affair is the Vatican's first test case in America. While Curran teaches temporarily at Cornell, separate appeals of his dismissal are before a District of Columbia court and the faculty at Catholic University. The church contends that it has a right to insist on doctrinal allegiance from those who are paid to teach in its name. But the board of the Catholic Theological Society of America filed a statement with the faculty panel arguing that Rome's limits on doctrinal dissent are a "dangerous novelty" that would destroy theology as a legitimate academic field.
Far from backing off, the Vatican is on the verge of issuing a new decree that would give bishops added power to monitor the orthodoxy of theologians at all Catholic colleges and universities. America's network of 232 Catholic campuses, with a combined enrollment of 556,337, is by far the biggest in the world. The association of U.S. colleges and universities has vigorously protested a draft of the decree, fearing it would violate U.S. standards of academic freedom and jeopardize access to federal funds. Nonetheless, Francis X. Maier, editor of the conservative National Catholic Register, is convinced that the Pope will ultimately be the victor. Says he: "If it's a matter of doctrine, Rome will never lose. If it takes three years, fine. They've got the time."