The way he describes it, he was praying in the lofty, 125-foot-high sanctuary of St. Vitus Roman Catholic Church, when he looked up at a life-size crucifix and was overwhelmed by a sense of peace and belonging. He realized he would commit the rest of his life to Jesus.

"It was like the classic movie scene: Guy sees girl across the room, knows she's the one," said Burbeck, who grew up on the Cary-Apex border. "I had this moment when I realized that [Jesus] would be my all-inclusive love."

Next month, Burbeck will don a black cassock, or robe, as he begins six years of training to become a Catholic priest. When he graduates from Philadelphia's St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 2013, he will serve in the Diocese of Raleigh, which like other dioceses nationwide, is experiencing a severe shortage of priests. In a modern culture that glorifies material wealth, sex and self-promotion, few young people consider the selfless life of the priesthood.

To Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, recruiting men such as Burbeck has become the No. 1 challenge. The number of U.S. priests has shrunk from 58,632 in 1965 to 41,794, while the Catholic population has grown by nearly 20 million. In cities such as Boston, where the shortage is much more acute, 62 parishes have been closed since 2004, and a recent report suggested more closings might be coming.

In the Diocese of Raleigh, which spans 54 counties from Chatham to Dare, there is one priest for every 1,791 Catholics. Nine small parishes have no priests, and mega-parishes strain at the seams with round-the-clock masses every weekend to accommodate an ever-burgeoning Catholic population.

Since Bishop Burbidge arrived in Raleigh last year, he has added a monthly service to pray for more priests. To encourage teens to consider the priesthood, he even refereed a basketball game of seminarians versus students from St. Thomas More Academy in Raleigh. So far, eight men have responded to the call -- an impressive feat that brings the number of seminarians in the diocese this coming school year to 21.

"I'm thrilled with how the awareness has been heightened," Burbidge said recently.

Scholars say that might not be enough. Dean Hoge, a leading expert on the priest shortage, estimates that efforts by bishops such as Burbidge might result in a 10 percent increase in priests at a time when the church needs a 100 percent increase.

"A 10 percent increase is fine," said Hoge, a professor of sociology at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. "Is it going to solve the problem? No."

But there is a curious thing about the new crop of Catholic priests. Many of them, such as Burbeck, who is 23, have a passionate commitment to the Catholic Church. At a time when many Catholics blame their priests for the horrific cases of sexual abuse of children, Burbeck said that in embracing the church, he felt not qualms but clarity.

"That's the reason I was created," Burbeck said referring to his desire to become a priest. "That's the meaning of my life."

Unusual path to seminary

In many ways, Burbeck is an unlikely priest.

For starters, he's young. The average age at which priests are ordained is 35, and many come to the priesthood as a second career. Burbeck, by contrast, will be 29 when he is ordained.

Plus, he didn't grow up Catholic. Only 6 percent of priests are converts. Burbeck grew up in the Church of the Nazarene, a small Pentecostal denomination with none of Roman Catholicism's elaborate rituals and centuries-old liturgies.

Next page >