It’s a good question. I’ve noticed a lot of new priests — many ordained just a few years — walk away from the vocation. It may be one of the most significant unreported stories of the modern Church.
So why is it happening?
The National Catholic Register looks for some answers:
When Toby — not his real name — approached the altar during his ordination Mass roughly a decade ago, he was understandably nervous — perhaps much more so than the average ordinand.
Despite growing up Catholic, loving his faith, and enjoying constant encouragement throughout his seminary experience, Toby had nevertheless been harboring serious doubts about whether he could truly say “Yes” to priesthood. But he says expectations from family, supporters and the seminary itself created a situation where he felt it impossible to step back from ordination.
Though he immediately felt deeply insecure in the priesthood, Toby, on the advice of an older priest, decided to take his best swing at parish ministry.
“By Christmas, I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown,” Toby recalled.
“I was trying to do something wholeheartedly and properly and conscientiously, and my heart wasn’t there. Especially, saying Mass became very painful. It was this experience of this chasm between what I was doing and where I was [mentally].”
Toby requested laicization just a few years after his ordination day. He told the Register he had always harbored a strong attraction to marriage; he’s happily married today.
To be sure, Toby spent significantly less time ministering as a priest than most ordained men. But the phenomenon of men leaving the priesthood in short order — for reasons that have nothing to do with misconduct or scandal — are more common than you might think.
Experts who work with U.S. priests told the Register they have increasingly seen, in recent years, the issues of burnout and loneliness drive men away from their vocation. And the data support this observation: According to a recent study by The Catholic Project, younger priests are reporting higher levels of burnout and loneliness compared with their more senior peers.
Priests need regular and intentional peer interaction and fraternity, support from the laity, and ongoing human and spiritual formation to persist in their vital service to the Church, experts in priestly formation told the Register.
“Indeed, formation never really ends. It should be a constant part of a priest’s life — but this is not always the case,” said Anthony Lilles, professor of moral theology and dogmatics at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
It is anecdotally understood that a notable number of priests are requesting dismissal from ministry these days, but it’s hard to know how many with certainty. Lilles and others said they have a sense that an increasing number of young men are leaving the priesthood shortly after ordination, but to date this has not been substantiated by a formal study.
Generally speaking, Lilles said, a man leaving the priesthood within five years indicates an issue with his seminary formation — after five years, a lack of ongoing support is likely the biggest factor.
