Above average ratings included reputation as an academic institution, the quality of college preparatory curriculum, the percentage of graduates who go on to college, and the opportunity to develop multicultural affiliations. As expected, Quigley received its highest ratings on its two most important objectives, providing students with the opportunity to consider priesthood and to develop spiritually. Priests see their role in motivating young men to attend a seminary as highly personal. Respondents have a clear preference for the value of personal life style and interaction with potential candidates, i.e., giving good example, personal invitation to likely candidates for priesthood, and visibility in school. Priests are aware of the lifestyle conditions that might that might pose problems for potential candidates for priesthood.
Respondents agree that the demand to practice celibacy for life represents a definite sacrifice.
In contrast, the issues involving the necessity to think about making a lifetime commitment and a poor image of the priesthood among parents are viewed as lesser obstacles Priests see a knowledge gap among the laity in terms of both current awareness and communications to correct the situation. Respondents feel that the laity are generally uninformed about what priests do and do not hear enough about how priests positively affect the lives of others. Comments of the priests surveyed bespeak a desire for creativity and the exploration of new approaches to vocational recruitment that better cope with the times and can improve results at the parish level. In this regard, surve y findings provide, possibly for the first time, a representative impression of clergy opinions, attitudes, and recommendations on which to initiate positive action in this direction.