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Evolving Visions of the Priesthood: Changes from Vatican II to the Turn of the New Century

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Dean Hoge is professor of Sociology at the Catholic University of America, and author of books such as The First Five Years of the Priesthood: A Study of Newly Ordained Catholic Priests. Jacqueline Wenger was a graduate student at CUA.

The authors state in the Introduction to this 2003 book, "Yet everyone agrees that after spring and summer 2002 the public perception of the priesthood changed, and priests themselves have made changes in their lives. The only way for us to proceed under these circumstances, we believe, is to separate any discussion of the post-crisis priesthood from the body of our findings. We appraise as best we can what has changed as a result of the crisis in the epilogue of this book."

Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"If celibacy for priests became optional, do these priests think they would every get married? Not many. Four percent said 'certainly yes,' and another 8% said 'probably yes.' The rest said no. Diocesan priests were much more likely than religious to say that they would certainly or probably get married (15% vs. 7%)" (Pg. 40)
"At the time of the survey, an estimated twenty-nine thousand lay ministers were working in parishes, compared with twenty-seven thousand priests. Without doubt, professional lay ministers are one solution to the problem of fewer active priests being available in the future." (Pg. 51)
"Most problems with homosexual subcultures occur in the seminary. Some priests expressed concerns about promiscuity, a predatory attitude toward young seminarians, and an unwillingness to acknowledge or address these issues on the part of the seminary faculty." (Pg. 110)
"They note that the bishops John Paul appointed were different from earlier appointees---the new bishops were, to a man, conservative in their ecclesiology and their theology of the priesthood." (Pg. 123)
"Do these responses from priests and lay ministers mean we should anticipate future tensions between the two groups? ... The main tensions will occur beteen older, more educated lay ministers and younger priests." (PG. 129-130)