Against trend, more priests in West MI

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - As the global Catholic Church awaits the selection of a new leader following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the church in West Michigan is growing its clergy.

The number of priests around the world has dropped sharply in recent years -- but West Michigan is apparently going against that trend.

The number of men in West Michigan who want to be priests has gone up. On Thursday, Bishop Walter Hurley of the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids told 24 Hour News 8 he didn't have only one reason why.  

Deacon James Vanderlaan, a Wyoming native, is one of those men. He will be ordained as a priest in June and said that at least in West Michigan, the number of people who want to become priests is rising.  

"Maybe it's not everyone, but there are people who are willing to commit their lives as priests," he said.

Five years ago, eight men were awaiting ordination. This year, there are 21.

"It's a matter of perception that yes, there's less people, but I think there's growing number of seminarians and that's a sign that the church is vibrant and is growing," said Vanderlaan.

And in West Michigan, the number of Catholics in the area has also  gone up slightly in recent years, bucking the national trend.

With more than 150,000 active Catholics in the last decade, the Diocese of Grand Rapids says it now serves more than 180,000 people. That is a lower number than the Diocese tallied in the 1970s, but the region's population has declined since then, too.  

"We have an aging presbyterate. The numbers are going to go down and there's no sugar-coating that, but the reality is as we move forward, I have a lot of hope people are rediscovering their faith," said Vanderlaan.

Bishop Hurley also said he thinks the Church would benefit in the future from a more charismatic pope like the late Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict's predecessor.