Since Donald Trump took office, the news cycle has hit a frenetic new pitch. The daily torrent of push alerts, breaking news, and viral outrages has been relentless — and exhausting. We want to explain what truly matters and how to think about it. We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism.
Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today? For Catholic priests, love plays a major professional role.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/young-couple-kissing-sunset-getty-primary-1023-9e0dde201f404db4a560a1b5f97f4adc.jpg "Teen girls St. Louis")
They talk endlessly about the love of God, love for God, God's love of man, love of neighbor, even love of self, albeit this last one at times disparagingly. The one that lights them up the most, however, is their love of the priesthood, something every priest I know feels deeply. But the actual mechanics of love between two humans — the many powerful and often conflicted feeling that arise — create problems that are very challenging and deeply personal.
I am a psychologist, and I have spent much of the past three decades dealing with those kinds of problems. The kinds that compel priests' superiors to send them off for treatment at a facility dedicated to priests. The sample with which I am familiar is biased — it only includes those priests whose behavior has been called into question, and it does not include those involved with minors. I have dealt extensively with men who have been involved with other adults, both men and women.
For the rest, I am sure there are many good men who have navigated the choppy waters of physical attraction with relative aplomb if not ease. In fact, I know some. I take them at their word.
