Last Thursday, Bishop Wilton Gregory, the head of the U.S. Unless the church changes its policy, the Milwaukee priests argue, in a matter of years the Catholic priesthood in America might become an endangered species. Given his traditional tendencies, it may come as something of a surprise that Aufdermauer is one of three Milwaukee priests who recently sparked a fiery debate in American Catholic thought and theology: Should the church force celibacy on all priests? Aufdermauer and 168 other local pastors who signed his petition say no, and they cite statistics to support their claim: According to the Catholic University of America, for every 100 priests who die or leave the church, only 30 or 40 replace them. He even wanted to enter the seminary before he began high school, but his father and mother couldn't afford it. "Once as a kid that got me upset, because the nun said you're supposed to pray before and after." "I always remember we prayed before every meal, but not after meals," he said. He tried his best to follow all the church's rules, even if it meant setting his parents straight on a few things. Even when he was a boy growing up on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin, he knew.
Joe Aufdermauer always wanted to be a Catholic priest.
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