A solution to the priest shortage--too bad I know the numbers are already going up!

"The number of priests has remained relatively stagnant during this pontiff's rule, but church membership has grown by 250 million. "

What? Stagnant? I don't think so! This news item was reported in 2002-Seminary Numbers Up in Eastern Europe, But Officials Cautious, Increase or Decrease in Seminarians For Selected Countries and Region (1985-2001) (by the way take a look around this site too--National Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood.)

"To reverse this trend, bishops must bring the church out of its tailspin. The focal point is figuring out how to recruit and train new priests -- and quickly. Otherwise, more churches will have to close.What can be done?"

"With one stroke of a pen, US bishops could demand that the Vatican acquiesce and allow them to begin training and ordaining married deacons. A few more years of study by these men could yield as many as 5,000 new priests for US dioceses alone. Other countries could follow suit."
"Danielle Kinkel is a graduate student at Boston College. John Kinkel, her father, is a former priest and author of the forthcoming "Chaos in the Catholic Church."