Priests: a Calling in Crisis.

Father Andrew Greeley Published by The University of Chicago Press 2004 Hardcover; pp. 156, ISBN 0226306445 $19.95 CAN

Father Andrew Greeley's latest book, Priests--A Calling in Crisis, provides a potpourri of sociological facts culled from three different surveys of the priesthood, personal opinions of the always controversial priest-sociologist about the Catholic Church, and a series of conclusions designed to shake up the Catholic hierarchy. Greeley's stated objective is to provide a report on the "sociological facts about the Catholic clergy" as they emerge from his analysis of data extracted from a 1972 National Opinion Research Center (NORC) study of the priesthood and two surveys of priests conducted by the Los Angeles Times.

The book jacket indicates Priests offers a new vision for American Catholics--a vision "based on real problems and solutions rather than on images of a depraved, immature, and frustrated priesthood." Throughout the book, however, Greeley incessantly makes reference to what he calls "The Year of the Pedophile." This is indeed troubling given the information provided in the recently completed John Jay College Report on sexual abuse, which indicates that more than 80 percent of the abuse was of a homosexual nature.

In the first chapter Greeley reviews the work of those "experts" who have shaped the views of many about the state of the priesthood in the U.S. He argues that their views are "self-justifying" and that much of their work is "fatally flawed social science." The "sociological facts" which Greeley outlines in chapters 2 through 4 undermine a number of commonly-held stereotypes which exist about the priesthood. He rightly argues that the public image of the priesthood has been adversely affected by hyperbolic comments about the priesthood and misleading coverage of the sexual abuse scandal.

The most troubling part of the book is chapter 5 ("Priests and the Catholic Revolution") where Greeley discusses what he calls the "Catholic Revolution"--a revolution opposed by the "prophets of doom" in the Church, but supported by the "lower clergy and the laity" who have "simply turned the (Church's) hierarchy off." Greeley believes "sex and gender issues" and "institutional matters" relating to the priesthood are the motivating factors behind the Revolution. Greeley also reports that support among the clergy for three "internal reforms" (married priests, women priests, and the popular election of bishops) increased between 1993 and 2002.

In chapter 6 ("Clergy, Hierarchy and Laity"), Greeley suggests the hierarchy treats priests like low-level employees and the clergy treat the laity like clients for whom one need not have much respect. He also claims few priests understand why Catholics leave the Church and many have no idea about the spiritual needs of the laity.

In chapter 7 ("Priests Under Pressure"), he argues that between 1970 and 1993 most priests rejected abuse charges and still do not understand the "horror of sexual abuse." He suggests "the rules of clerical culture are so strong that priests are blind to the possibility of abuse." Greeley also believes priests do not listen to the laity, bishops do not listen to priests, and the Vatican does not listen to the laity, priests, or bishops.

Greeley also uses the book to disseminate his views on the institutional Church. Here is a nonlinear summary of what he believes: "The reforms of the [Second Vatican] Council ... were modest attempts at housekeeping by very moderate men" (p. 8). The hierarchy's effort to support a partial restoration of the "older order" in the decades since 1970 has led "to anger, disillusion, and bitterness in the Year of the Pedophile" (pp. 8-10). "The leadership has begun to produce a clergy that would like to rebuild the Church that it perceives existed before the Council--thus introducing a cleavage between the middle-aged clergy and the younger" (p.74). "The impetus of reform is still strong in the Catholic Church despite three decades of restoration" (p.84). "No one [in the Vatican] has any idea what's actually happening. Hence phenomena like the Year of the Pedophile" (p.131). "The Church entered the Year of the Pedophile with the average ability of the bench of bishops at perhaps an all-time low" (p.131). "Many bishops are clueless ... They continue to act like men who know all the answers when they don't even know the questions" (p.129)."Priests ... seem curiously out of touch with the laity, the world in which the laity live, and the religious problems the laity have" (p. 57). Some priests under the age of 45 are "counterrevolutionaries" who "represent a very different kind of priest who are much more acceptable to the restorationist leadership in the Church" (p.81). Although the "Church always needs new men with vigor and zeal and new ideas," it should think twice before ordaining young men who are not "flexible" enough to acquire "new knowledge"--just as it "would be about the ordination of someone who frequents the gay bars of who shows signs of being a child abuser" (p. 124). Church leaders should "leave homosexual priests alone, so long as they avoid the gay scene and the gay lifestyle" (p. 118). The non-ideological laity (the overwhelming majority of Catholics) are angry because of the shortage of priests, the authoritarianism of some priests, the poor quality of preaching and liturgy in local parishes, and the perceived discrimination of women (p. 9). "In the year 2000, the Year of the Pedophile ... the Catholic Church in the U.S. began to implode" (p. 1). I believe this nonlinear presentation of Greeley's opinions (as opposed to sociological facts) gives you some insights into what he thinks of the Catholic Church. It also means this book is about more than the clergy.

The book does not "provide a new vision for American Catholics," as the book jacket claims. It simply provides a vehicle for disseminating the personal opinions of the Father Greeley, who frequently uses "sociological facts" to undermine Church teachings and disciplines with which he disagrees. For example, the book ends with this observation: "In the worst case, the Catholic Church in the United States may suffer the late of St. Augustine's diocese of Hippo in North Africa."

Greeley also opines that "it may go down the drain, but not because of attacking infidels, not because of celibacy or homosexuality of sexual abuse, not because of-secularism and materialism, but because of incompetence, stupidity and clerical culture" (p. 131). in short, readers should be prepared for another attack on the institutional Church by one of its longstanding critics.

Patrick Metress, Ph.D, is the director of the Catholic Research Centre in Burke, VA, USA.