THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE is experiencing a very pleasant trend that has bucked the national direction in recent years. After a decades-long slide in priestly vocations, the Diocese could be on the leading edge of a revival.
The 2024 “Official Catholic Directory,” by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, for the first time in years, showed an increase nationally from 2,759 to 2,980 in men preparing for priestly ordination for the most recent academic year.
FR. CHEEYOON CHUN WITH HIS SISTER, SR. MARI JOSEPHINE CHUN, RELIGIOUS DIRECTOR OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP. PHOTOS BY THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE
While it’s hard to generalize from a one-year 8 percent uptick, at least it’s hopeful.
Although that is way down from the 6,400 seminarians in 1970, it’s a start.
Just a year ago, the Catholic Vocations Ministry report saw a very different picture.
“A steady decrease in the number of priestly ordinations was observed in many dioceses across the country, continuing a long-term trend of fewer men entering seminary and completing formation,” the report stated.
However, that may be changing.
This year, the Diocese of Orange is on track to enter more than a dozen new applicants to study in affiliated seminaries, more than double the previous year. They will be joining 19 existing OC seminarians ranging in progress from discernment to pastoral year.
FR. CHEEYOON CHUN IS THE DIRECTOR OF PRIESTLY VOCATIONS IN THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE.
This year’s group also includes three graduating high-school seniors and the brother of a seminarian.
Overseeing the office of Priestly Vocations in the Diocese of Orange is Fr. Cheeyoon Timothy Chun, who succeeded Fr. Brandon Dang after a year as his assistant.
“That’s a healthy number,” Fr. Cheeyoon said of the influx, which he sees as a potential sign of a broader attitudinal change since the pandemic. “Coming out of COVID, I think people are more open,” he said.
It is an opinion shared at other dioceses.
In 2023, the Catholic News Agency reported, “a notable surge in enrollment, signaling a potential turnaround in some regions.”
Fr. Cheeyoon said it’s too early to know whether this year’s influx is an outlier.
After assisting Fr. Brandon last year, Fr. Cheeyoon is now on his own. He notes having two fathers staffing Vocations — usually it is one — may have made a difference.
“I think that helped widen the net,” he said. “The true test will be next year.”
A BIG STEP
The process of discernment and formation to consider the priesthood is no small task.
Fr. Cheeyoon is a prime example. It took more than 20 years, from his first inklings in middle school to ordination as a priest at the age of 35.
In the Diocese of Orange, the Office of Vocations helps guide and encourage parishioners to find their path, regardless of whether it leads to ordination. Taken from the Latin root vocare, which means to call, vocation in the Catholic Church is much more than just a job, it is a divine calling.
It all begins with discernment, which the Church describes as a “decision-making process that honors the place of God’s will in our lives.”
OC Vocations hosts a variety of events, often in conjunction with Consecrated Life, to help congregants determine where they are led. These include workshops, retreats, seminars and classes in multiple languages, where congregants learn, share, ask questions and, maybe most importantly, pray.
For many, questions are answered in one or two meetings.
Parishioners may choose to consider paths such as consecrated life for men or women, the diaconate or married life.
Consecrated life is “a call to make a radical, total and free gift of self to Christ and following his example by embracing for one’s entire life the evangelical counsels: poverty, chastity and obedience.”
There are more than 30 societies, orders and institutes for consecrated life in Orange County. Deacons, many of whom are married, are a backbone of the
Church, fulfilling many vital roles at the parish level and beyond, following discernment, education with wives and families and ministry and diaconate reviews and approval.
Married life is an option for couples seeking deeper discipleship and strengthened families.
Fr. Cheeyoon said he meets people in all stages of their journeys. Some are nearing a decision and “some are just curious and have questions.”
Regardless, the priest tries to be equally accessible and welcoming.
“When they come their hearts are open,” the priest said, although he also counsels those who might do better in other communities of the faith.
“It depends on their talents and personalities,” he said. “I try to cover the full gamut.”
At the end of the day it is up to the individual to listen, pray and decide.
No matter the choice, Fr. Cheeyoon said, “I will walk with them.” The decision is rarely easy, notwithstanding the seven-to-nine-year education commitment.
For his part, Fr. Cheeyoon gave up a successful, but ultimately lacking, career in architecture — something he still loves. Now instead of physical structures, he said he is involved in a different kind of construction.
“God still calls me to be a builder,” he said. “Now I am building the sanctuaries of people’s hearts.”