Catholics seek "real men" for priesthood

In response to a steep decline in the number of men enrolling in Catholic seminaries, the New York Diocese is attempting to "man-up" the reputation of the priesthood. A new advertising campaign launched during the visit of Pope Benedict runs under the slogan The World Needs Heroes. A slick new Web site features images of priests engaged in vigorous - even dangerous ministry pursuits.

The campaign is an obvious attempt to counteract the negative image of priests following years of sex scandals. Richard Sipe, a former priest from Boston, believes that anywhere from a quarter to a third of the priests in the U.S. are homosexuals, and this reputation is keeping heterosexual men out of the profession - hence the outreach to "real men" in the ad campaign.

To read an article about the campaign, click here.

To visit the NYPriest recruiting Web site, click here.