Lincoln Nebraska has best Priest/Parishoner Ratio

See Article

"According to the Official Catholic Directory of 2005, the authoritative guide to the Catholic Church in the U.S., there are 121 active diocesan priests in Lincoln and 89,236 Catholics.

Those numbers indicate there is one priest for every 737 Catholics, which is far greater than the total national statistic of one priest for every 4,723 Catholics. The New York Times reported Oct. 7 that in 2003, there was nationally one priest for every 2,677 Catholics, meaning the U.S. priest shortage has nearly doubled in the last two years.

In Omaha, with one priest for every 1,755 Catholics, the diocese is slightly behind Lincoln but still far above the national average.

The directory also shows that some of the lowest ratios of active priests to Catholics tend to occur in larger dioceses.

The Diocese of Los Angeles has only one priest for every 12,217 Catholics, and the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, has one priest for every 11, 927 Catholics."

In Lincoln Nebraska not only is the Latin Mass encouraged but the Society of St. Peter has a major seminary there. Their website

With all due respect for Cardinal Mahoney but one source says that three people are ordained in the largest catholic diocese in the U.S. See notes in this link

Cardinal Mahoney told one group that the Parochial ministry is changing. He was refering to his pastoral letter, As I Have Done For You

“The pastoral letter does not chart out a course for dealing with the ‘vocation crisis,’ but is, we believe, a Spirit-assisted response to the deepening awareness that it is in the very nature of the Church to be endowed with many gifts, ministries and offices,” he said. “Consequently, mere adjustment and small shifts in practice will not do. What is called for is a reorientation in our thinking about ministry, as well as in our ministerial practice.”

I guess if you cannot inspire men to become priests you tell people that the Holy Spirit doesn't need Priests but needs us to change our thinking. The Bishop of Lincoln has another approach, Pray for vocations

I am sure that Cardinal Mahoney is sincere but Lay people need leadership and the sacraments so that they can go out an save the world, they don't need to compete with priests for jobs in the sanctuary.