PRIESTHOOD
A Happy Priest and the
New Evangelization
By Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti
T
he public image of priesthood
has changed. Formerly, priests
were envisioned as a kind of
idyllic figure, serene and wise. In 1944
and 1945, “The Bells of St. Mary’s” and
“Going My Way” were two of the larg-
est grossing movies of all times. These
movies received a number of Acad-
emy Awards including best picture.
Bing Crosby, with his velvet voice,
played the saintly Father O’Malley. He
was the “perfect” priest.
Today, details of priest offenders
have been given blanket coverage in
the media. The new image of priest-
hood is one of a lonely, dispirited fig-
ure whose unnatural lifestyle breeds
psychological disorders and even
sexual deviation.
In both instances, the image of
priesthood is extreme and mislead-
ing. The Bing Crosby images were
aimed at selling movie tickets and
the modern scandalous ones at sell-
ing newspapers, yet each reflected a
bit of the popular projections of the
times. Neither of these images gives
us an accurate picture of the men
who minister to the people in parish-
es, schools, hospitals and elsewhere.
The former images came from a
day when the Catholic faith was im-
bedded in many cultures such as Irish,
Italian, French and German. Today, in
our increasingly secular age, adhering
to the Catholic faith is more a mat-
ter of personal choice. At times, the
modern secular mentality slides into
atheism and the Catholic faith is por-
trayed as a repressive authority that
ShutterStock Photo
imposes life-denying “dogmas” on its
believers. The result, especially in its
priests, is thought to foster unhappi-
ness, pathology and repression.
Can we begin to paint a more ac-
curate picture of Catholic priests?
The place to begin is with the priests
themselves, using a more scientific ap-
proach. Therefore, I surveyed 2,482
priests (2,145 diocesan priests and 337
religious priests working in the dioces-
es) from 23 dioceses of all sizes around
the U.S.A. The anonymous and con-
fidential surveys were sent out to all
the priests of the dioceses and the
response rate was a solid 57 percent.
Therefore, while recognizing the stan-
dard limitations of survey research,
the results should be fairly representa-
tive of priests around the country.
Are Priests Unhappy?
One of the most striking findings
of the survey was the overwhelming
happiness reported by the priests.
When asked directly, 92.4 percent
agreed or strongly agreed, “Overall,
I am happy as a priest.” When this
‘Overall, I am happy as a priest.’
striking figure is cited, there are some
who object. “It can’t be true,” they
say. However, looking at several oth-
er studies, this finding has been con-
firmed again and again.
For example, in March 2001,
when the Center for Applied Research
in the Apostolate (CARA) surveyed
1,234 priests, 88 percent of the priests
strongly agreed with the statement,
“Overall, I am satisfied with my life
as a priest,” and 87 percent strongly
agreed that “I am happy in my min-
istry.” Similarly, in the 2001 NFPC
study of 1,279 priests, 94 percent said
they were very happy or pretty hap-
py. Likewise, a 2002 LA Times poll of
1,854 priests reported that 94 percent
agreed, “Most of the time, I am happy
with my life as a priest.”
Time and again, surveys of priests
have come up with the same result:
about 90 percent of priests say they
are happy as priests and satisfied with
IN BRIEF
• Are priests
unhappy?
• Why are they
happier?
• Two variables:
mental health and
spiritual/relational
issues
• Spiritual and
relational lives of
priests
• Conclusions
March 2012 The Priest 19
 PriestlyHealing.com
their ministries. And when clergy
happiness rates are compared with
other vocations and professions in
the United States, they come out the
highest. For example, the National
Opinion Research Center’s 2006 Gen-
eral Social Survey of 27,000 Ameri-
cans found that clergy, of all denomi- “The priest should mold his human personality in such a way
nations, reported the highest level of that he becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their
job satisfaction and the happiest life meeting with Jesus Christ the Redeemer of Humanity.”
of any group in the United States.
Likewise, when the 2001 NFPC re- - Blessed John Paul II, I Will Give You Shepherds
sults for priests were compared with
all other age cohorts in America, they This website addresses a number of important issues
also came out on top.
Simply put, study after study on
in priestly life including, accusations against priests,
priestly happiness has found the ministry to those with pornography conflicts,
same results. When asked, about 90 loneliness, conflicts in priestly relationships,
percent priests say that they are hap- ministry to those with sexual conflicts, the crisis in
py. And this happiness rate is higher
than other professions or jobs in the
the Church and affective maturity in seminarians.
United States. Brought to you by:
Richard P. Fitzgibbons, M.D. • Peter C. Kleponis, Ph.D. and staff
Why Are They Happier?
The important question naturally
100 Four Falls Center, Suite 312 • W. Conshohocken, PA 19428
surfaces: “If priests are happier than
others, why is that so?” To look at the
sources of priestly happiness, I ran a
multiple regression equation, a sta-
tistical routine that will tell us which
variables most strongly predict priest-
ly happiness.
A number of variables surfaced,
and the full results of this study are
published by Ave Maria Press in Why
Priests are Happy. One might sum-
marize these variables in two gen-
The Stations of the Cross
based on the award-winning paintings by leonard porter
eral categories: mental health and
spiritual/relational issues. Mental-
health-related issues included such
things as growing up in a dysfunc-
tional family, having current mental
health problems, sexual conflicts,
and anger problems. The spiritual/
relational variables included such
variables one’s relationship to God, A new set of the 14 Stations for your church or chapel
view of celibacy, inner peace, having available in various sizes, framed or unframed.
close lay and priest friends. Regarding
“Loaded with complex and intelligent symbolism.”
the mental health variables, priests
– Denis McNamara, M.Arch.H., Ph.D.
were more likely to be happy if they
were not suffering from psychologi- Masterfully composed and richly detailed. Call or go
cal problems or had not had a dys- online to learn more about the symbolism and artistry
functional childhood. In this regard, iin thispowerful
n this powerfuldepiction
depictionof of
TheThe Sorrowful
Sorrowful Way.Way.
priests were about the same as the la-
ity, or perhaps a bit better off. S EGNATU R A F I N E A RTS S segnatura.com
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The priests in this survey were
March 2012 The Priest 21
given the Brief Symptom Inventory
18 (BSI-18) which is a standardized
psychological test measuring depres-
sion, anxiety, and somatization with
an overall combined scale called the
General Severity Index (GSI). Since
these conditions are most often en-
countered in psychiatric populations,
they should be good initial indicators
of overall mental health.
The results suggested that priests
are about as psychologically healthy,
if not a slight bit better, than the gen-
eral population. When comparing
the priests’ results to the norms for
the general male population, priests
scored slightly better, and the results
were statistically significant. The BSI-
18 uses T-scores with the norm being
50. The priest sample scored as fol-
lows: somatization scale = 48.89; de-
pression scale = 48.95; anxiety scale =
47.48; and GSI = 49.11. These priest
scores are slightly lower than the
mean T-score of 50 and thus a bit bet-
ter than the general norms.
These and other tests reported in
the study indicate that priests’ level of
mental health is probably slightly bet-
ter, but not greatly different, than the
general male population in the U.S.
This is a good counterbalance to the
suggestion that priests, as a group, are
more psychologically disturbed. On
the other hand, it suggests that priests
are likely to have their share of hu-
man pathology, just like their lay male
counterparts.
Since the mental health of priest-
hood and laity are probably similar,
it is unlikely that such mental health
variables will account for the consid-
erably higher rate of priestly happi-
ness. However, the other general cat-
egory of variables, spiritual/relational
variables, did surface some remark-
able findings.
Spiritual and Relational
Lives of Priests
Priests were asked directly and in
several ways about their relationship
to God. When given the statement,
“I feel that God loves me personally
and directly,” 96.5 percent agreed/
strongly agreed. For the statement,
22 The Priest March 2012
“I feel a sense of closeness to God,”
93.2 percent agreed/strongly agreed.
“From time to time, I feel a joy that
is a grace from God” elicited 94.9
percent who agreed/strongly agreed.
And for the statement, “I have a re-
lationship to God (or Jesus) that is
nourishing for me,” 96.1 percent
agreed/strongly agreed.
Priests reported being very posi-
tive about their relationship to God,
and this is clearly having a direct im-
pact on their lives, including their
level of priestly happiness. The cor-
relation between “Relationship to
God” and happiness as a priest was
very strong (Pearson’s r = .53).
Moreover, on many other spiritu-
al variables, the results were likewise
strong. For example, 87.4 percent
agreed/strong agreed with the state-
ment, “I feel a sense of inner peace.”
Not surprisingly, inner peace was
very strongly correlated with priestly
happiness (Pearson’s r = .57) as well
as with their relationship to God
(Pearson’s r = .55).
Also, if priests viewed celibacy as
a gift and as a calling from God, they
were much more likely to be happy
priests. The correlation of the celi-
bacy questions with priestly happi-
ness was likewise strong (Pearson’s r
= .47). Fortunately slightly over 3/4
of the priests saw celibacy in such a
deep spiritual light, thus positively
contributing to their satisfaction
with priestly life.
Priests also reported strong rela-
tionships with others as well. Over
76 percent agreed/strongly agreed
with the statement, “I have a good
relationship with my bishop.” This is
remarkable when one considers that
a recent Conference Board survey of
5,000 American households found
that only 51 percent of Americans
liked their supervisors. This, too,
positively contributes to priestly hap-
piness. The Pearson’s correlation be-
tween a priest’s relationship with his
bishop and his overall happiness was
a significant r = .38.
Priests also reported strong per-
sonal relationships. They said they
had good lay friends and priest
friends. Of the 2,482 priests sur-
veyed, 93 percent agreed/strongly
agreed with the statement, “I have
good lay friends who are an emotion-
al support for me personally,” and
87.6 percent agreed/strongly agreed
with the statement, “I currently
have close priest friends.” These two
variables were also strongly predic-
tive of priestly happiness; when the
questions regarding close friendships
were combined into one variable, its
correlation with priestly happiness
was significant (Pearson’s r = .35).
Conclusions
My study and several others con-
sistently show that priests report
a very high level of happiness and
satisfaction. In fact, it is among the
highest of any vocation or profession
in the United States.
The results of my study suggest
that it is not their level of mental
health that is making the difference.
Priests might be slightly healthier,
psychologically speaking, than their
lay counterparts, but not markedly
so. Thus, we cannot look to these
kinds of factors to explain priestly
happiness.
The strongest predictors of priest-
ly happiness were spiritual and re-
lational values: inner peace, view
of celibacy, relationship to God and
relationship to others. In fact, the
variable relationship to God was also
the strongest predictor of inner peace
and similarly one of the strongest
predictors of having a deep integra-
tion of celibacy.
It is likely that the strength of a
priest’s relationship to God is the sin-
gle strongest contributor to his per-
sonal happiness as a priest. In short,
a priest with a strong relationship to
God is a happy priest!
At the same time, priests report-
ed strong human connections with
other priests, with the laity, and with
their bishops. John Paul II’s Pastores
Dabo Vobis speaks of the priest as a
“man of communion.” The great ma-
jority of our priests are just such men
and these interpersonal connections
(Turn to page 51)

In addition to the Exodus story,
Strong’s Concordance lists 34 ap-
pearances of the word “dew” in the
Scriptures. Notable in the context of
the Eucharist is the exhortation in
Proverbs (3:19-20) to be wise: “The
Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding He established the
heavens; by His knowledge the deeps
broke forth, and the clouds drop
down the dew.” The creation of the
universe is the result, not of circum-
stance or accident, but of an intricate
plan of a wise God. The clouds drop
down the dew because the Lord’s wis-
dom has ordained it so. Jesus Christ is
the Word of God (John 1) and also “to
those who are called, Christ crucified
is the “power of God and the wisdom
of God” (1 Cor 1:24), while to unbe-
lievers He is a stumbling block and
folly. As disciples of Jesus, we accept
Him — His teachings, sacraments,
example, and sacrificial love — as
the supreme wisdom, far beyond the
folly of the world. By the wisdom of
God in Christ, the sacraments drop
down grace like clouds drop down
the dew, in mystery and beauty.
Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist,
through the words and ritual of
the priest during the consecration
at Mass, is the fullest experience of
God’s presence known to mankind
on earth. The wise working of God
in creation and the rescuing of the Is-
raelites from slavery is seen manifest
in the mysterious dewfall. Our prayer
in the canon of the Mass is that the
Spirit once again descend in mystery
and sweetness upon simple bread and
wine to transubstantiate them into
the very Body and Blood of Jesus,
our food on the journey into God.
The altar is the garden of fruitfulness,
where the dewfall of grace nourishes
our gifts and Christ becomes present
in our midst. How fitting is this new-
ly translated prayer, and how rich in
food for contemplation! TP
FATHER ALBRIGHT, a priest of the
Diocese of Youngstown, is religion
teacher and chaplain at John F. Ken-
nedy Catholic High School in Warren,
Ohio.
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MSGR. ROSSETTI, D.Min., Ph.D., is a at 800-348-2440 ext.5
priest of the Diocese of Syracuse and
Associate Dean for Seminary and SHRINE DESIGN
Ministerial Studies at The Catholic
University of America. His latest book,
ElEctronic Wax candlE StandS
The “Real” Alternative
Why Priests are Happy, is available (877) 642-7474
from Ave Maria Press at avemari- www.WorldsFinestCandleStands.com
apress.com.
March 2012 The Priest 51