The problem of seminary debt is of growing concern to many Protestant churches.
Experts say it is hard to recruit new ministers because of low pay and high seminary debt.
One study by Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary said 82 percent of current Presbyterian pastors will likely retire by 2025, but there are not enough pastors to replace them. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a watchdog group that vehemently defends the church and its teachings, released its 2000 annual survey of anti-Catholic bias and said the institutional church bore much of the brunt last year. It is our job to see to it that it gets a fair hearing. Among the incidents cited in the report, the League pointed to the flap over the hiring of a new chaplain for the House of Representatives. Republican leaders passed over a Catholic priest in favor of a Presbyterian and Catholics protested.