The new analysis of a study that claims to be the largest national survey of Catholic priests conducted in more than 50 years has found, among other thin-gs, that priests describing themselves as “progre-ssive” are practically go-ing “extinct” among U.S. seminary graduates, with the vast majority of young ordinands describing themselves as conservative and orthodox.
Conducted by The Catholic Project, a research group at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the newest release focuses on polarization, generational dynamics, and the ongoing impact of the sexual abuse crisis.
Part 1 of the survey, released last October, found that despite rela-tively high levels of per-sonal well-being and ful-fillment among priests as a whole, a significant percentage of priests have issues with burnout, dis-trust in their bishop, and fears of being falsely accused of misconduct.
The new November report highlights “several themes which have emerged from closer analysis of the quantitative data, as well as careful study of the qualitative data collected from the one-on-one interviews with priests.” The study used survey responses from 3,516 priests across 191 dioceses and eparchies in the United States.