When is a crisis not a crisis? When it involves the church it seems.
The number of priests in active ministry 20 years ago - in 1995 - was 3,550.
There are now just 2,019 in active ministry - which represents a drop of 43%.
Just over 67% of that number are over the age of 55 - while it is believed the majority of those are actually even older.
Where is there evidence of strategy and planning to face this 'crisis'?

Stan Mellett shares some thoughts on the importance of having a pastoral approach to funeral rites "when the increasingly normal experience is a funeral for one who has long since lost touch with the church, had ceased to practice the faith and been in an irregular marital situation,"
"People who have little contact with church – uneasy with ceremony and ritual – anxious and uneasy about protocol, any effort to accommodate and accompany them through the Wake, funeral Mass and burial/cremation is a service not to be underestimated; an important pastoral opportunity not to be missed."

First Reading: Revelation 20:1-4; 21:1-2

Those who reject the beast will reign with Christ, 1000 years.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. He …