In the midst of this 65th Anniversary Year in the Diocese of Allentown, Bishop Alfred Schlert sat for an interview with the AD Times, reflecting on a wide range of topics relevant to our local Church and its faithful in five counties.
You just ordained six new priests, the most since 1983. How are you feeling about that?
“Grateful.” That's the first word that comes to my mind. To have this many men ordained to the Priesthood, it shows that 65 years into our life as a Diocese, there's great vibrancy.
It also speaks well of the people of the Diocese who help nourish vocations. These men came from families and parishes that provided great encouragement and support. Getting a new priest to the altar of Ordination is the work of all the baptized. The whole Church is involved.
What will this infusion of new priests mean for our Diocese?
It'll mean new energy. I think it's very good for people to see young men who are committed to their life as priests, who are committed to a life of celibacy, which is so countercultural today.
A new priest has a fervor that is very evident in his new assignment. But he also has much to learn. The seminary gives him the background and the formation, but it’s the parish that helps him learn how to be a good priest.
There’s a sharp rise in the number of young people becoming new Catholics, here in our Diocese and nationwide. Why?
Clearly, it's the movement of the Holy Spirit. But I think the Holy Spirit may be getting some help from the isolation that many young adults feel in the world today. Young people grew up in a pandemic. Technology allows them to remain isolated rather than going out and talking to people face to face. People are feeling disconnected.
And what is the Church by definition? It’s a community. Young people have restless hearts; they are looking for something. And the Church is here with its ever-ancient, ever-new message.
Pope Leo has been on the job a little more than a year. How’s he doing?
Remember when they said we’d never have an American pope? You don’t hear that anymore. Pope Leo has shown himself to be a man of the world, and a shepherd of the world. He has a gentle, humble way. He listens a lot. I think his Augustinian formation is serving him very well.
His timing on his encyclical about Artificial Intelligence could not have been better. It’s capturing the attention of so many people. You see, our faith is applicable and relevant in every age.
For a lot of young people, the Pope is a breath of fresh air for them. They see that he’s vibrant. He works out every day and plays tennis. He has sent a lot of encouraging signals in his first year– how he speaks, his demeanor, how he celebrates the Liturgy, how he uses the papal office.
What’s the overall trend on priests? Are we gaining, holding our own, or on the decline?
Because of the age of many of our priests, we have more on the other end of their ministry – closing in on retirement – than we do at the beginning of pastoral work. That’s why we need to work and pray for vocations, because even with these six new men, we still will be facing a priest shortage in the years ahead.
You mentioned a priest shortage. Can you talk more about that please?
I’m certain our prayers will be answered about vocations for the future, but it takes a long time to make a good priest. We have six new priests this year, but we really need five or six new priests every year, and that will take some time to occur. For example, the way the seminary classes fall, no one will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Allentown in the next few years.
What will it mean to have fewer priests in the near term?
It means that priests will have to continue to live a sacrificial life, working harder to minister to the people. It also means that there’s more work for us to do in better deploying and assigning the priests that we have. It may even mean some additional parish consolidations.
But we are going to work very, very hard to maintain those places where there is a vibrancy of faith and parish participation, where people are doing their best to assist the pastor in everything it takes to administer a parish. We’ll be consulting with parishioners and priests as much as we can to find solutions until we start to see the fruits of our prayers for new priests.
What do you see as our greatest gifts as a diocese?
Our greatest gifts are our priests, our people, our deacons, our consecrated religious, and our seminarians. Yes, there are diminishing numbers of practicing Catholics in some areas, but let's focus on who's here. They want to live in their Church. They want to participate in their parishes. And our priests are very giving of their time and their talents.
Another gift is our geographic diversity. Some areas in the Diocese are growing and some aren’t, which presents various challenges. But because our regions are different, our Diocese is a mosaic. That diversity is a gift, and we will work to build on our strengths.
As Bishop, what keeps you up at night?
Some of the things I think about are: How are we going to make sure we serve the needs of the people? How are we going to recruit enough priests? How are we going to be able to bring people back to the Church? And how are we going to effectively evangelize people who do not yet know Christ?
What can the average person in the pew do to help?
We have to pray for vocations, preferably before the Blessed Sacrament. That's number one.
Number two, people should live their baptismal gifts. We all have gifts to offer. If you're married, live a holy marriage. If God blesses you with children, allow your children to be exposed to the faith and bring them up in the faith.
Collaborate in your parishes. Take an active role. Pray for and help your priests. Encourage those who have stopped practicing their faith to return; invite them back home. These are the things that we can all do.
Our society is so divided on so many levels. How can we heal that?
First, let’s acknowledge each other’s humanity. God created us in His image and likeness. He didn't create us as a member of a political party. He didn't create us in one wing of the Church, to the left or right. He created us to be humans in His image and likeness.
So let’s see all people in God’s image, not as a label. That's what enlivens our society. That's what makes it less coarse. That's what makes it a more loving society: when we see the image of God in each person.
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