Our Office of Priests' Continuing Education provided a great program today presented by Msgr. Steve Rossetti, the Director of St. Luke's Institute. Using information obtained from a survey conducted between 2003-2005, he demonstrated that 1286 priests from 16 arch/dioceses across the land, at least in the 64% who responded there is a much stronger positive morale among American priests than many think. 90% of the respondents agreed with the statement "Overall, I am happy as a priest." 95.5% responded positively to "I am committed to the ministry of the Catholic Church." Likewise the study seemed to indicate that if a priest is satisfied with his Ordinary (arch/bishop) and his view of Church leadership, the priest will be happy. What the presentation and the material made clear is simple: today, following the years of the crisis there has returned to the priesthood a strong and healthy morale. Likewise the study demonstrated that where priests take the time for daily prayer, for the recitation of the daily Office, for the use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation the priest finds happiness in his vocation. While all this seemed good, the one particular area where priests indicate the greatest need for work is in Priestly Unity and Fraternity. More about this after some ruminating what the good Monsignor presented today.
