Understanding Catholic priests beyond the headlines
Anthony Isacco's friend is a Catholic priest who tells Anthony he has become "hesitant, cautious, and lonely" since sexual abuse by priests and its subsequent cover up in the past decade have exploded in headlines across the world.
Understanding Catholic priests beyond the headlines
Diane Russell Girardot, L.P.C.
Editor's note: Diane Girardot is sending dispatches from the American Psychological Association conference in Orlando, Fla. from August 2-5.
By Diane Russell Girardot, L.P.C.
Anthony Isacco's friend is a Catholic priest who tells Anthony he has become “hesitant, cautious, and lonely” since sexual abuse by priests and its subsequent cover up in the past decade have exploded in headlines across the world. The parish priest, who can easily spend hours ministering by a parishioner’s hospital bed as part of his job description, admits to his friend to being nervous about wearing his religious collar in public these days.
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Isacco, a psychologist at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, and Ethan Sahker, M.A, presented a study at the American Psychological Association’s annual conference Thursday that flips the negative attention to how a vast majority of Catholic priests have dutifully served God and their parishioners.
“Where are the stories about their strengths?” asked Dr. Isacco. His study gathered self-reports from 15 priests ages 29-76 who had been in the priesthood for 6 months up to 50 years in multiple work settings. These reports mirror Dr. Isacco's friend's comments about feeling lonely and stereotyped. Prior research has focused on the negative aspects of the priesthood within the Catholic church. This study highlights the group’s strengths, supports, and stressors.
The first strength is their dynamic relationship with God, an under-focused issue, priests rely on to assure them they are not alone with life’s difficulties. “They believe and teach that God carries people through everything,” explained Sahker. This relationship with God is important, he adds, to contribute to their own overall health and wellness and ability to cope with stressors.
Mary Gail Frawley-O’Dea, PhD, of the Presbyterian Seminary Counseling Center in Charlotte, N.C., presented data from a pilot study on the physical, psychological and spiritual health of Catholic priests and their fitness for duty.
“They are Devine caretakers,” she said, “that have to comply and believe in the “truth” of their organizational system. They struggle if they are silent and they struggle if they disagree.” Dr. O’Dea says the Catholic Church is a kyriarchy, a social/political system of domination that is based on the power and rule of the lord/master/father. She is outspoken about her belief that the sexual abuse cover ups were a tremendous mistake and a persistent problem.
Asked what positive press they both would like to see, Drs. O’Dea and Isacco agreed that the priesthood is about loving being a priest and doing important work - God’s work. Isacco said his friend is an extremely good priest who is happy being a parish priest and doing his job. He wants to feel loved and supported, not just by his parishioners, but by society as well. And he wants his collar to represent the true intentions of its existence - it designates him as a man of God.
Diane Russell Girardot is a Chester County-based licensed mental health professional, who is a former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter now merging both careers with her coverage of the APA convention.
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I always saw priests as a nice fall back position for "socially awkward" men. A good place for gay men in the closet to hide, at least until the last 20 years or so when being gay became more socially acceptable. Also a good place for functional Asperger's Disorder sufferers. That job has long term stability and is regimented enough where one who is aversive to change can not only function but also gain confidence and thrive. I did always think of The Priesthood as a fallback position, not something on many A lists of professions.— D. Charles Tanksley
Interesting thought. But, there is the concept of being "called" into service that would elevate the priesthood to A list if that were the case.— Diane Girardot- If "celibacy" wasn't simply the largest theft of land in this history of this planet, you could come up with all sorts of excuses. Fact is for the first 1000 YEARS "priests" were married (just like the apostles supposedly) and "churches" were their homes. Until they died and then the property and land was passed onto the eldest son. If he didn't follow the family business? The Vatican was f-ed. So what better way to grab land on a global basis? Have some dude dream god told him to enact "celibacy", even though ole' Jesus must have simply forgotten that part. What a bunch of garbage. These little children need to READ SOME HISTORY before committing their kids to a life of perversion and a faux "law" built on one of the largest crimes in the history of man.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
- Dear CiceroSpuriousDeodatus:
Please give us the history, not just the accusations. Why do you atheists always do that?— Joe Mick
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