The next morning, they would make lifelong promises of celibacy and obedience, and they were palpably elated by the prospect. There was a time where the church “maybe apologized for being Catholic,” he said later in the conversation. He and the other new priests agreed they were called to something different: advancing the Catholic faith, even the parts that could seem out of place in an increasingly hostile world. “The church is Catholic, and so we should announce that joyfully,” he said. Surveys tracking the opinions of priests have found that, starting in the 1980s, each new wave of priests in the United States is noticeably more conservative than the one before it, Dr. Vermurlen said.

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Persons: Zachary Galante, Francis, “, ” Deacon Galante, Father Galante, ”, we’ve, Brad Vermurlen, Thomas, Vermurlen Organizations: Francis de Sales Seminary, Catholic, American Catholic Church, University of St Locations: St, Houston, United States