Detroit — Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said a sign of the Holy Spirit working in the Archdiocese of Detroit would be an increase in vocations.

It’s only been a few months since Unleash the Gospel was released, but Fr. Joe Horn had some good news to report to the archbishop.

“I’d like to share with you some good news I’ve had from Fr. Joe Horn,” Archbishop Vigneron wrote to the priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit on Aug. 3. “We have a significant increase of new AOD seminarians beginning their studies this fall. Thanks for all you do to encourage those the Lord is calling to hear and respond to Him.”

Fr. Horn, who was installed last year as director of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Office of Priestly Vocations, said he can’t take credit for the recent uptick in men discerning the priesthood. But when he came to the office last year, he did ask the archdiocese to pray.

“November of last year, we asked the Presbyteral Council to pray monthly for vocations, and we have around 30 priests in the archdiocese praying for vocations,” Fr. Horn said. “Since we’ve been doing that, we’ve seen a regular and steady flow of interest.”

This past January, Fr. Horn hosted 19 men interested in the seminary, which he said was bigger than years prior.

“The archbishop is calling for a radical change in the archdiocese, and I believe that is what we’re doing,” Fr. Horn said. “If what he calls for happens, we’ll see a huge increase in people coming back to the faith. If more come back to the faith, we’ll need more priests to take care of their spiritual needs.” There are 40 seminarians enrolled at Sacred Heart Major Seminary for the Archdiocese of Detroit, including 14 who entered this year. In 2016, Fr. Horn said nine entered for the archdiocese.

The 14 incoming seminarians are the most the archdiocese has had since 2009-10, when 18 local seminarians entered. However, 12 left the seminary from that class.

2010-11 had 13 incoming seminarians, but the number of men entering the program has been in the single digits since then.

While quick to credit God’s providence as the primary reason for the uptick, Fr. Horn said efforts from his office to highlight vocations, such as the Heroic Priest campaign and videos profiling current seminarians and their discernment stories, have been positive influences.

“Prayer has been a primary cause, but we also have a good website,” Fr. Horn said. “We published videos of testimonies and the witness of our seminarians and why they are there. I can’t tell you how many people have come back to me, inspired by their faith.”
The short videos and an introductory video featuring seminarians at various locations throughout Detroit are meant to inspire men who are already thinking about the priesthood — it’s why they visited the website in the first place.

“The testimonies of the guys that are here have inspired people to be here,” Fr. Horn said. “People struggle to find God’s will, but when they watch the video, they might say, ‘Wow, that’s me.’”

To continue the increased interest, Fr. Horn would like to see his office get out to the various regions of the archdiocese, working with offices in the Chancery to co-sponsor events promoting vocations with other ministries.

“We need to be taking the message out to the regions, cultivating the call,” Fr. Horn said. “We need to encourage people teaching catechism, spending time with the youth, training them on how to recognize a vocation, how to make the prospect of becoming a priest real for a young person.”

Fr. Horn said the faithful not only need to pray for vocations, but seek out those they feel are called to the priesthood, to be that first friendly face to suggest God has greater plans for them.

“Some 70 percent of the guys who come to me say someone else saw a vocation in them, and they’ve taken it more seriously to answer the call,” Fr. Horn said. “So that’s the next step, taking a bolder step in teaching others what it takes to make that invitation in cultivating the call.”