“Go to Mass and confession frequently”: Bishop Francis Malone reflects on faith, vocations, family
Bishop Francis Malone, 75, has served as the Bishop of Shreveport, Louisiana, since 2020, leading a diocese serving nearly 40,000 Catholics. He was raised in Philadelphia, where his childhood parish was predominantly Catholic, and was recruited to serve in the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, due to sparse vocations there. Ordained a priest for Little Rock in 1977, he served for 43 years before being appointed Bishop of Shreveport by Pope Francis. Malone earned a License in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America and grew up in a devout Catholic family of nine children. Despite the demographic differences, Shreveport has a significant Baptist population compared to other southern Louisiana regions.
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Bishop Francis Malone, 75, grew up in a devout Catholic family of nine children in Philadelphia during the 1950s and 1960s.1
His mother died at 37 from a blood clotting ailment when he was 12, leaving his father to raise the family while working for the U.S. Army.1
The neighborhood around Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish was predominantly Catholic with abundant vocations.1
Malone credits five parish priests, including those who anointed his dying mother, and his father—who led family prayers and Legion of Mary devotions—for shaping his vocation.1
Recruited from Philadelphia to the vocation-poor Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, Malone lived with his uncle, Msgr. Bernard Malone, upon arrival.1
Ordained in 1977 after seminary at Holy Trinity (University of Dallas) and earning a canon law license, he served 43 years there before Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Shreveport in 2019 at age 69.1
Malone and his seven surviving siblings, all practicing Catholics, pray the rosary weekly via Zoom, a tradition started six years ago.1
His younger brother organizes it, with Malone providing a reflection and blessing.1
As pastor of Christ the King in Little Rock for 19 years starting 2001, Malone launched 24/7 perpetual adoration, yielding 14 priestly vocations from zero.1
He replicated this in Shreveport, where the diocese now has six seminarians for its 40,000 Catholics.1
The five French priests, Servants of God, died in 1873 tending yellow fever victims in Shreveport instead of fleeing.1
Malone has advanced their canonization cause in Rome, hoping for venerable status soon.1
Key initiatives include a new retreat center and high school renovation.1
In retirement, Malone plans weekend parish help, time with Philadelphia family, and a move to Little Rock.1
Malone urges immersion in parish life: frequent Mass and confession, perpetual adoration, parish groups, and support for priests.1
He views parishioners as "the saints of the Church" who inspire clergy.1
How does frequent Mass attendance influence Catholic vocation rates?
Frequent Mass attendance exerts a profoundly positive influence on Catholic vocation rates, serving as both a vital spiritual nourishment and a key catalyst for discerning and embracing priestly and religious vocations. According to Catholic teaching, the Eucharist—encountered most directly through regular Mass participation—not only sustains the faithful in holiness but also enkindles pastoral charity and openness to God's call, countering secularizing trends that have led to declines in both practices.
Catholic sources consistently highlight a stark correlation between waning Eucharistic participation and reduced vocations, portraying them as intertwined symptoms of broader cultural and spiritual crises. In post-Christendom contexts, the collapse of Christian culture has precipitated sharp declines in Mass attendance alongside "radical drop[s] in vocations," cohabitation, smaller families, and institutional challenges like parish closures. Similarly, papal addresses note concerns over "negative statistics" linking low Eucharistic celebration participation to vocation shortages, urging bishops to combat absenteeism from Sunday Mass as a wound to ecclesial communion. This pattern is not isolated; even regions buoyed by immigration face secularizing forces eroding practices among youth, exacerbating priest shortages.
Magisterial documents root the influence of frequent Mass attendance in the Eucharist's nature as the "source and summit" of Christian life (Sacrosanctum Concilium, referenced across sources), where Christ reveals His paschal mystery and calls the faithful to priestly service. Pope John Paul II emphasizes that "God’s gift of priestly and religious vocations is mysteriously related to the participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic Sacrifice with reverence," as the Eucharist enkindles pastoral charity in potential vocations, sustaining priests while awakening it in the young. Liturgy, particularly the Eucharist, forms a "great school for learning how to respond to [God's] call," revealing the Church as a "priestly people" and valuing suffering offered in union with Christ as vocational aid.
Fostering love for the sacraments among the young, especially love for the Eucharist, is an important part of promoting vocations.
This dynamic extends to youth ministry, where regular Mass—Sunday and daily—generates a "vocational and missionary impulse," sending attendees forth as transfigurers of the world.
Popes have long promoted daily or frequent Mass and Communion as fostering virtues essential for vocations. Pope Paul VI deems it "desirable" for the faithful to attend Mass "each and every day" and receive Communion to master passions and unite with God, strengthening against sin. Earlier, Pope Leo XIII observed that "virtues of the Christian life have flourished best wherever... the frequent reception of the Eucharist has most prevailed," warning that neglecting it saps religious vigor—implying its role in sustaining vocational generosity. John Paul II echoes this in calls for youth to develop "the habit of staying with [Jesus] in the Eucharist," birthing "holy vocations to the priesthood" since "without the priesthood there is no Eucharist."
Parish and family life amplify this: vibrant liturgical animation and family apostolate, centered on Eucharist, make God's voice "resound and... find a more generous hearing."
To harness this influence, sources advocate continual prayer, liturgical emphasis, and youth formation. Bishops are urged to remind the faithful of Sunday obligations while fostering daily habits, linking Eucharistic fervor to vocational prayer: "pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers." Vocations pastoral work must integrate liturgy as "influential and indispensable," awaiting the Spirit like the apostles.
In summary, frequent Mass attendance directly bolsters vocation rates by immersing the faithful—especially youth—in Christ's Eucharistic mystery, igniting charity, obedience to God's call, and countering secular drift. This is no mere correlation but a divinely ordained dynamic, as taught across papal exhortations and pastoral frameworks, calling for renewed Eucharistic devotion today.