n his first visit to the United States, Pope Francis on Wednesday
urged American bishops to help priests spend more time caring for the
spiritual needs of their parishioners. However, American priests who
wish to follow his example may find themselves stretched thin. The
priest shortage leaves each of them caring for record numbers of
parishioners.
In his final exhortation to his brother bishops in Washington, Pope Francis urged them to find ways to encourage the spiritual growth of priests, “lest they yield to the temptation to become notaries and bureaucrats, but instead reflect the motherhood of the church, which gives birth to and raises her sons and daughters.” He added: “Train them to be ready to stop, care for, soothe, lift up and assist those who, by chance, find themselves stripped of all they thought they had.”
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/pope-francis-us-visit-catholic-priest-shortage/
In his final exhortation to his brother bishops in Washington, Pope Francis urged them to find ways to encourage the spiritual growth of priests, “lest they yield to the temptation to become notaries and bureaucrats, but instead reflect the motherhood of the church, which gives birth to and raises her sons and daughters.” He added: “Train them to be ready to stop, care for, soothe, lift up and assist those who, by chance, find themselves stripped of all they thought they had.”
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/pope-francis-us-visit-catholic-priest-shortage/