On Saturday, June 28, the nave of Notre-Dame de Paris was packed to the rafters. Plastic chairs had to be set up on the parvis. One by one, under the scorching sun, the candidates for ordination stepped forward as their names were called. Each one announced the ritual phrase, "Here I am!" Sixteen of them walked to the recently consecrated bronze altar, lay down on the cathedral's checkered floor, and received the laying on of hands from Archbishop Laurent Ulrich and approximately 500 priests from the Paris diocese. This spectacular liturgy, held in every diocese once a year before summer, could take place at Notre-Dame for the first time since the April 2019 fire, rather than at the Saint-Sulpice Church.

The year's numbers matched the grandeur of the setting: There were 16 ordinations, 10 more than the previous year. Following significant increases in adult baptisms during Easter celebrations, the Archdiocese of Paris experienced another moment of grace. Don't Catholics persistently ask for priests in their prayers?

In reality, that Saturday in June was illusory. "A blip," said a Paris priest. "You have to look far back to find a double-digit number, and it will take many years before we see one again."

You have 82.52% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.