” “The priests’ future? "It depends on the diocese", in an Italy where "the trend of callings is very different" and some dioceses are affected by "serious problems" while others "ordain more priests than 50 years ago". With these words, card. Camillo Ruini, president of Cei, answered the journalists’ questions during the latest press conference of the General Meeting of Cei, which ended in the Vatican today. "The problem is certainly a serious one, but all in all we are not in a serious emergency, as is the case in just a few dioceses", specified the cardinal as he spoke of the current situation of calls to priesthood in our country. "It is clear he added that the figures of 50 years ago are no longer imaginable in the future", and this is why bishops are "promoting many responses", starting from "more commitment for the lay and the deacons" and "more mobility for priests", for instance in the mountain villages. "Obviously, the more widespread the priests are, the better", commented Ruini, who thinks that in the church community "there’s nothing better than personal contact". The crisis of vocations in some dioceses, announced the president of Cei, is countered by "the increased number of vocations in many parts of the South". Lesser seminaries are also undergoing a revival: in the seminary of Rome, which in the last few years had had just three students, there are 17 now and there will be 25 to 30 next year.” “
