It’s certainly true that a more charismatic Archbishop is going to help get the word out about priesthood.  Although we’re going to need a lot more than that.  Still, it’s a good start:

Recruiting young men to make the commitment to become priests is a complex process that involves guidance by priests as well as the self-explorations of the candidates, said the Rev. Luke M. Sweeney, director of vocations at St. Joseph’s. An important if intangible factor is how a candidate imagines himself in the future, a priest in full — and his bishop can be an important role model.

“Whenever he met with them, Cardinal Egan did an excellent job of connecting with our seminarians,” Father Sweeney said. But Archbishop Dolan brings “a different skill set” to that meeting.

“Each man brings to the job his own abilities, and Bishop Dolan is obviously blessed with a particular ability to reach out and inspire potential recruits,” Father Sweeney said.

On Monday evening, after a vespers service at St. Joseph’s chapel in which Archbishop Dolan addressed the seminarians as “the future of the priesthood I love,” many of them stood around gaping with what seemed a mixture of curiosity and awe as he held court in a scrum of television cameras and sound booms, answering questions from reporters.