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Priests and Laity: A Profession in Transition

The Catholic priesthood, along with the ministry more generally, is in a state of actual and acknowledged crisis. 1 The most notable evidence of the crisis is in the drop in recruits ('vocations') and the increase in defections from the priesthood. However, the most serious problems may be the confusion over what services should be provided by the profession and over the proper relationship between the priests and the laity. The present crisis is unfolding in the context of an increasingly secular world, which generally threatens the position of the Church in society and questions its right to provide its traditional services. Although the secularization process has been going on for a long time, the American Catholic Church has only recently 'announced' its crisis. This paper explores a number of factors that have combined with the process of secularization to produce the present crisis and the processes that flow from it. Our observations come from a three year study of the diocesan priesthood of a major United States diocese that we conducted under the auspices of the Bishop of the diocese and the elected Senate of Priests. Quantitative data are from our 1970 survey of the priests of this diocese.