The Secret Life of Priests
April 3, 2002 — -- Jim Martin is a Catholic priest, but he isn't a saint, he isn't clueless and he likes to go to parties on occasion. But people he meets often aren't quite sure what to make of a socializing priest.
Instead of mingling easily, some people at parties apologize to Martin for cursing in front of him, speak to him as if he were a child, or shy away from conversation altogether. It's not everyone, of course, but it happens enough that Martin, a 41-year-old Jesuit priest in New York City, has miserable party stories at the ready.
"People treat you as if you know nothing about the real world. One guy said, 'I work in an investment bank, I am not sure you know what that is.' I went to Wharton for undergrad and spent six years in corporate America," says Martin, author of In Good Company: The Fast Track From the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.
That's not as bad as the time someone Martin just met asked him if he really did keep his vow of celibacy. While Martin might be tempted to chalk up these comments to plain rudeness, he chooses a more charitable explanation: "It's probably not surprising because people don't often run into priests these days socially. There are fewer and fewer of us around, basically," he said.
It's true. The Catholic priesthood is shrinking and getting older on average as fewer young men decide to devote their lives to the Church. Making matters worse, the recent sex abuse scandals have added to the burdens of priests, many of whom say they feel isolated, lonely and overworked. It all adds up to a tough job and a difficult life that fewer people find appealing.
From 1965 to 2001, the number of priests in America declined from 58,632 to 45,191. In 1999, the average age of priests was about 60. One quarter of parish priests were over age 70.
Although there are several factors, the Church's celibacy rule is widely considered the major cause of an exodus of priests in the 1960s and '70s, and is cited as the No. 1 reason young men leave seminaries before they are ordained.
