Bishops’ Panel Says U.S. Priests Face ‘Serious Morale Problem’

A “serious and substantial morale problem” afflicts the nation’s 53,500 Roman Catholic priests, many of whom are overworked, lonely and sexually troubled, says a ground-breaking report by a panel of U.S. bishops.

Discussing openly problems that once were kept quiet, the Bishops’ Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry said some priests are just going through the motions and many “have settled for a part-time presence to their priesthood.”

Part of the priests’ morale problem, said the committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, comes from the feeling that they are caught between Vatican directives and a Catholic laity that is often at odds with Rome.

Suggestions Compiled

Pope John Paul II has urged priests to accept suffering as part of their fate, but the American bishops have said that is not helpful and have compiled suggestions on how to improve priests’ morale.

The panel report, obtained Friday, said there are many creative and energetic priests, but “it is also clear to us that there exists today a serious and substantial morale problem among priests in general.”

The report was hailed by Catholic clerics as the first official recognition of the situation’s gravity.

“I think it’s very encouraging that the bishops are helping the priests name the pain,” said Father Frank J. McNulty, who represented U.S. priests before the Pope last year in Miami.

Bishop John McRaith of the Owensboro, Ky., diocese led the subcommittee that drafted the report. “There really has been no scientific analysis done of the morale of priests,” McRaith said. “I think our point was that the morale of priests always needs attention.”

A dwindling number of priests is ministering to a larger flock. The U.S. Catholic population rose from 48 million in 1970 to 53.5 million in 1988. The shortage of priests is both a cause and a result of the morale problem, the report said.

Mandatory celibacy is a major reason for clergy leaving the priesthood and for loneliness among those who stay, the bishops said. The church has not helped priests deal with their sexual feelings as it should, it said.

The report recommended that a priest’s sexuality be recognized as an “essential component of human existence” and that better methods, including encouraging close friendships with men and women, be found to help priests lead a celibate life.