A slick new informercial video, produced by the SSPX, makes a compelling case for the construction of a huge new seminary in Virginia. On this video we see the Winona seminary operating to capacity, bursting at the seams, seminarians running around everywhere, crammed three to a dorm room, getting in one another's way. The serious overcrowding, we're told, affects the quality of the priestly preparation each candidate is receiving. It prevents students from achieving the level of quiet and contemplation required in the pursuit of their vocations, etc.
Yet, when Fr. Pfluger was here in Post Falls on April 10 he spoke of a serious crisis in vocations within the Society. He told us that there were many students in the Society's schools alright, but "few vocations" coming out of them. Then he wondered aloud whether it was our fault. Are we providing the "faith and example" in order to win our children? Children have to see the truth in their parents and teachers, he said, (Oddly, no mention of priestly example). In that way alone can we win these children to give their lives for the church.
Bottom line: Are there many vocations in the Society or are there not? Does Fr. Pfluger testify to the reality of a lack of vocations? Or do Winona Seminary director Fr. LeRoux and other SSPX officials, featured in the video, give us the proper pictures of things as they really are? Touching priestly vocations, does the SSPX hold a flush or merely a pair?