Columbus, Ohio - At St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, on the altar, Joseph Rolwing felt important.

He is 27 years old and a Catholic deacon, appointed as a Catholic priest on Saturday.

Rolwing studied at Josephinum, a religious academy in Columbus. It is the only seminary outside Italy ruled by the Vatican.

"I'm a regular high school student who played sports and did it all," Rollwin said. "I never thought I would do that. But the Lord has other plans."

In high school, he began to question his beliefs. Then in college, he felt the phone.

"'Did you hear the sound? Do you see the sign in the sky?" No, but I'm... praying that this rosary is overwhelmed by this wave of peace. ” said Lovin.

Rollwin's call is because the American Catholic Church faces a serious shortage of pastors. According to the number of applied research centers in Georgetown's Aspostate or Cara, the number of priests fell from 59,192 to 33,589 between 1970 and 2024.

Columbus also felt the impact, where 15 churches planned to close.

Earl Fernandes, the bishop who led the Diocese of Columbus, said: “We can also make up for the gap in the shortage of priests by introducing missionaries from other countries and also make up for the priests from different religious orders.”

According to Cara, about one in four Catholic priests in the United States are foreign-born.

Under President Trump's leadership Immigration suppressionunless the special visa for religious workers is extended, many people may be forced to leave soon. Last month, the Senate introduced new bipartisan legislation, the Religious Labor Protection Act, to protect foreign-born religious workers from deportation.

To recruit more priests in Columbus, people with priesthood will have retreats and monthly suppers.

The number of new seminary students in the Pope Academy has increased from 17 two and a half years ago to 40 this year.

Local Catholic leaders hope Pope Leo's electionthe first American pope ever will be the inspiration.

"I've never been happier than I am now, because being a pastor made all these promises: never get married, never do these things, and in the eyes of the world, it makes no sense." "But I've answered this call, and so far, it's the best decision I've made."