Priesthood and Community: Reflections on the Vocation Crisis

We are all familiar with the conventional wisdom which holds that the greatest obstacle to vocations to the priesthood is the obligation of celibacy.
Celibacy is a difficult question for many young men thinking about the priesthood today, as indeed it should be, but I wonder if this question, once raised, does not blind us to other concerns of potential candidates which need to be considered.
Recently the National Catholic News Service published a letter (Origins, January 3, 1980) by a committee of bishops appointed by the bishops of the New England region in which they attempted to articulate the qualities the Church seeks in candidates for the priesthood.' Their effort is a good one and will be widely read but it also raises a second question.
Has the Church attempted to identify what these same candidates are looking for in the priesthood they are considering?
What follows is an attempt to answer this second question, based on my own experience as a teacher and counselor in a mid-sized Catholic university, and to reflect on what the expectations of potential candidates might suggest about the priesthood today.