NEW YORK -- Maryknoll priests and brothers, facing a major budget
 deficit, are asking serious questions likely to affect the shape and
 direction of the society for years to come, according to Maryknoll's
 superior general.

Maryknoll has announced it is facing, for the second year in a row, an
operational deficit. To bring its $50 million budget into balance by
1994 will mean downsizing, or "right-sizing," Superior General Father
Kenneth Thesing said recently.

"Who are we? Where should we be going? Where will we be in the year
2000?"

Thesing told the society's top leadership that Maryknoll is in a
crisis. But crisis can mean "both danger and opportunity," he said,
adding that he did not hold that "we are in a panic situation."

Thesing said answers to questions about the mission of the society's
710 priests and brothers will help determine Maryknoll's "right size"
and function. He said his vision calls for a Maryknoll that is
smaller, older, more limited but "committed and focused, relevant and
effective."

The order can no longer operate as it did in 1970, he explained.

Then, Maryknoll was still growing, Orbis books had just begun and
opportunities seemed limitless, he said. When needed, "we could
recruit other religious and lay missionary associates to get the job
done," Thesing said. At the time, the society had more than 800
missioners in the prime of life, he added.

Today, the average age of the society's priests and brothers is 63. It
is estimated that, by 2000, Maryknoll will have about 600 members,
well over half of whom will be in their late 60s and beyond, Thesing
said.