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1. Presumably all of the men were unmarried practising Catholics for at least some years before their ordinations, so they are not as the article claims 'giving up sex' by being ordained.

   Posted By: Peter G

2. Peter G: This is an event to be applauded and all Catholics should encourage men to contemplate the priesthood and pray for more men to realise they have a vocation.

   Posted By: deric davidson

3. Without wishing to rain on this parade of a little good news, a reality check is relevant.
   The article says these men were ordained deacons – normally that means they have been in priestly training for at least 6 years.
   Ten ordinations (should they all take the final step) is hardly “beefing up the dwindling number of priests” when it is projected that two-thirds of German parishes will not have their own priest by 2020.
   Nor does their turning from secular careers mean “… bucking a trend ….which characterises middle age as a crisis period, prompting rash decisions and impulse buys.”
   Really, one could equally claim that in turning to priesthood they have made mid-life crisis rash decisions, since they have not found life partners.
   I wish them well.
   However, church decisionmakers should not be snowed into thinking things are turning around without making some deep reforms.

   Posted By: PM, Eden

4. Deric: I said nothing to imply disagreement with your comments.
   PM Eden: Never fear, the deep reforms are well underway to fix the crisis which has afflicted the Church in Germany and in most other western countries.
   These reforms are most likely the very reason for the slow but steady uptick in vocations there in the last few years as evidenced here.
   Yes, it's slow at first, like turning around the Queen Mary, but it will happen with increasing speed in coming years.

   Posted By: Peter G

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