Retired archbishop of San Francisco John R. Quinn wrote: "I believe... that this is the best time in the history of the Church to be a priest, because it is a time when there can be only one reason for being a priest or for remaining a priest -- that is, to 'be with' Christ". 

"It is not for perks or applause or respect or position or money or any other worldly gain or advantage. Those things either no longer exist or are swiftly passing. The priest of today is forced to choose whether he wants to give himself to the real Christ, who embraced poverty, including the poverty of the commonplace, rejection, misrepresentation -- the real Christ of the gospels -- or whether, with the mistaken throngs of Jesus' time, he wants an earthly, worldly messiah for whom success follows upon success".