Pope Opens Synod on State of the Priesthood : Religion: But despite worldwide problems, conference is expected to reflect papal conservatism on key issues.

Concelebrating a High Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with delegate bishops from around the world, Pope John Paul II opened a monthlong synod here Sunday to consider the development of priests and their strengthening at times of spiritual, sexual or psychological crisis.

By all indications, the tenor of the assembly will match John Paul’s own conservatism on such key issues as celibacy, Vatican observers say. As ever, the emphasis will be on defending age-old priestly vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.

The question of married priests is a non-starter at a conference expected to focus less on changing the nature of the Roman Catholic priesthood than on seeking ways to improve the quality of priests as they already exist, and attracting more.

“The Holy Father has made clear that his interest at the synod is not the priesthood but the formation and education of priests,” an American participant said.

Some 240 bishops from five continents representing the world’s 400,000 Catholic priests filed into the majestic cathedral on a sparkling autumn Sunday for the opening Mass. In his homily, John Paul likened priests to the Biblical sons summoned to labor in their father’s vineyards.

“We wish to follow the words of the Lord of the vineyards, who today also calls us. These words resound all around the world, among so many peoples and nations, in so many churches. The vines of the Lord are vast, as broad as the world. . . . Go and work in my vineyard!” the Pope said.

The synod, an advisory body created by Vatican II reforms to advise the Pope, will deliberate on the theme “The Formation of Priests in Circumstances of the Present Day” through Oct. 28. It is up to John Paul whether to accept his bishops’ concluding recommendations, which are certain to include proposals for greater spiritual and psychological preparation for aspiring priests and continuing education for those who have already taken their vows.

Discussion will range from a shortage of vocations in secularized countries like the United States and Western Europe, to the need for better seminaries in countries of Africa and Asia, where the number of priests is growing quickly, to the reopening of centers for priestly education in countries of Eastern Europe, where restrictions on religious freedom have eased in recent months.

The number of men studying for the priesthood has begun growing slowly worldwide after dramatic declines in the last two decades. In the United States, where there are around 55,000 priests--about one for every 1,000 Catholics--ordinations are still fewer than deaths and “defections,” the Vatican’s phrase for priests who leave their calling, often for sexual reasons.

A working agenda culled from the suggestions of nearly 100 episcopal conferences around the world will examine ongoing education to combat what Dutch Archbishop Jan Schotte, the synod’s secretary general, calls “the phenomenon of tiredness or ‘burnout,’ which priests of all ages seem to suffer from.”

A study commissioned by American bishops two years ago found that many priests in the United States said they were overworked, lonely and sexually troubled. It contended that the mandatory celibacy is a major reason why priests leave.

Officially unmentioned by the Vatican but hardly lost on delegates to the synod are two embarrassing recent sex scandals. In Atlanta, Archbishop Eugene A. Marino resigned in the wake of a two-year “intimate relationship” with a young woman parishioner. The Vatican said only that Marino had resigned for reasons of health.

In Newfoundland, Canada, Archbishop Alphonsus Penney submitted his resignation after a church-appointed commission charged that priests in his archdiocese had sexually abused boys in their care for more than a decade.

Earlier this year, the Vatican warned that aspiring priests and nuns must overcome sexual desires that threaten their chastity vow, and suggested to bishops that psychological testing could be useful in anticipating sexual problems in novices.

In synod deliberations, American bishops will be represented by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, Cardinal James Hickey of Washington, D.C., Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati and Bishop John Marshall of Burlington, Vt.