Pastor or manager? Young priests placed into a role they did not sign up for

Abstract

The number of young persons attracted to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic church in Europe has been steadily declining over the past few decades. Persons attracted to this role usually view it as a vocation, with the main occupational aspects of the role they are interested in being addressing the pastoral needs of their congregation, both from a spiritual and a personal/social perspective, and their involvement in the rites that are important to them and their faith. The number of persons interested in becoming priests or pastors has been steadily decreasing in most religions. As a result, in Malta, persons studying for the priesthood are thrust into the role of vice parish priest as soon as they are ordained and can expect to be “promoted” to parish priest soon after. The role of a parish priest is however much more managerial rather than pastoral, with incumbents expected to perform a number of managerial roles such as paying the bills and managing accounts, coordinating and leading various types and levels of meetings, and ensuring the smooth running of the parish as a whole. In most other organizations managers are surrounded by a dedicated team of people who have usually been specifically selected according to certain criteria, are a good fit with the organizational culture, and are all committed to the same goals. Parish workers, however, usually mostly include volunteers with limited availability of time and expertise, and at times having agendas which are at odds with the main agenda of the parish. Priests are not given any managerial training in their formative years, with training mainly focused on theology. Young priests have expressed concern at having to take up such an important role which they do not feel prepared for, and which is somewhat at odds with what they originally expected to be doing as priests. This qualitative study will interview young priests from an organizational psychology perspective, focusing on their perception of how what they are actually doing matches what they expected to be doing, with its possible consequent effects on motivation, job satisfaction, and attrition. Six to eight young priests will be interviewed, and data will be analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. [excerpt]