Selling the Priesthood
Greetings from Starbucks again, snowflakes. Goregous day here in the River City of the Pharaohs, a beautiful dusk visible outside the picture windows of my favorite coffeehouse.
I've been thinking a lot lately -- especially in light of B16's comments about "the hope of social promotion" -- about priesthood and how to best promote it given the context of the post-modern world in which we live. There are some recent examples of note in this realm.
The archdiocese of Indianapolis, headed by the well-regarded catechesis supremo of the USCCB, Dan Buechlein of St. Meinrad's, has approached it by doing a Matrix-esque campaign. I'm not one for that approach -- it strikes me as being as intelligent and sophisticated as Keanu Reeves, himself -- but if it works, and actually arouses interest in guys of substance as opposed to Dungeons and Dragons devotees and tribal-chief wannabes, then as Benelli once said, "It's OK. We go. We do." (And if someone can send Jacob the Vatican Watcher one of those posters, I'm sure he'd be very grateful.)
The archdiocese of Denver -- home of the rustling wind -- recently introduced a new vocations site as well. It says nothing about being a tribal chief and everything about giving one's life in service. This pure, back-to-basics strategy should not be surprising, but the tribal-chief bit is, sadly, not a foreign one to our shores. That said, using it in recruitment is as unthinkable as comparing Marcel Maciel to Jesus and Levada to Pilate.
Oh, wait. That happened, too.
A couple years back, one prominent diocese dropped seven figures (that's $1million-plus, people) on a multimedia campaign to show off how beautiful priesthood was by... showing off aesthetically pleasing priests. Genius, right? Well, it was sure a triumph for bella figura.
In reality, it was a disaster, and the diocese in question actually had fewer candidates entering the seminary than the year before the boys started appearing on TV screens and billboards, answering once and for all (as if there was a question) that symbolism without the substantive witness of priesthoods of service does not a vocations crisis unmake.
Has anyone seen the movie "Zoolander"? A brief primer for those who haven't: Ben Stiller plays a top-tier male supermodel who's been moved to the sidelines by a blond, long-locked wonder called Hansel (played by the Butterscotch Stallion himself, Owen Wilson). Every time Hansel walks into a room, a house-style soundtrack resounds which keeps groaning his name and the A-list designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell) remarks, "Hansel. So hot right now."
Which brings me to my approach, and an assist from the Pope's athletic/photogenic/other adjective here secretary. Could Georg Fabulous be the man to save us?
I'm envisioning a poster with a poster with Georg -- just Georg -- looking at the camera as he tends to do. And the caption running along the bottom is simple and to the point:
Call me crazy, but I think I'm onto something.
-30-
I've been thinking a lot lately -- especially in light of B16's comments about "the hope of social promotion" -- about priesthood and how to best promote it given the context of the post-modern world in which we live. There are some recent examples of note in this realm.
The archdiocese of Indianapolis, headed by the well-regarded catechesis supremo of the USCCB, Dan Buechlein of St. Meinrad's, has approached it by doing a Matrix-esque campaign. I'm not one for that approach -- it strikes me as being as intelligent and sophisticated as Keanu Reeves, himself -- but if it works, and actually arouses interest in guys of substance as opposed to Dungeons and Dragons devotees and tribal-chief wannabes, then as Benelli once said, "It's OK. We go. We do." (And if someone can send Jacob the Vatican Watcher one of those posters, I'm sure he'd be very grateful.)
The archdiocese of Denver -- home of the rustling wind -- recently introduced a new vocations site as well. It says nothing about being a tribal chief and everything about giving one's life in service. This pure, back-to-basics strategy should not be surprising, but the tribal-chief bit is, sadly, not a foreign one to our shores. That said, using it in recruitment is as unthinkable as comparing Marcel Maciel to Jesus and Levada to Pilate.
Oh, wait. That happened, too.
A couple years back, one prominent diocese dropped seven figures (that's $1million-plus, people) on a multimedia campaign to show off how beautiful priesthood was by... showing off aesthetically pleasing priests. Genius, right? Well, it was sure a triumph for bella figura.
In reality, it was a disaster, and the diocese in question actually had fewer candidates entering the seminary than the year before the boys started appearing on TV screens and billboards, answering once and for all (as if there was a question) that symbolism without the substantive witness of priesthoods of service does not a vocations crisis unmake.
Has anyone seen the movie "Zoolander"? A brief primer for those who haven't: Ben Stiller plays a top-tier male supermodel who's been moved to the sidelines by a blond, long-locked wonder called Hansel (played by the Butterscotch Stallion himself, Owen Wilson). Every time Hansel walks into a room, a house-style soundtrack resounds which keeps groaning his name and the A-list designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell) remarks, "Hansel. So hot right now."
Which brings me to my approach, and an assist from the Pope's athletic/photogenic/other adjective here secretary. Could Georg Fabulous be the man to save us?
I'm envisioning a poster with a poster with Georg -- just Georg -- looking at the camera as he tends to do. And the caption running along the bottom is simple and to the point:
PRIESTHOOD. So hot right now.
Call me crazy, but I think I'm onto something.
-30-
posted by Rocco Palmo at 19:26
3 Comments:
Rocco,
I am from the Indy Archdiocese. I can probably get a poster for you. We have a few in the office. I can probably get it autographed if you want since I know the priest they got to pose for it.
Maggie
A picture of Georg and the term: Priesthood. So hot right now, would sell in say, South Beach. Surely, there would be no shortage of homosexual/metrosexual clergy. The priesthood should be presented for what it is through the example of the clergy living the message responsible for the clerical profession. There are a few of those around and it doesn't take a poster or ad campaign to sell that truth.
Maggie, does that offer hold for Rocco alone?
I'm a fan of using pop culture as a weapon against itself. Any kind of media campaign has fulfill a basic directive: spark interest. One reason why I think the 'Matrix' poster will do that is because those who know the movies will understand the symbolism and perhaps give it some thought.
A picture of Georg and a catchy phrase... Maye it'll work for others?
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