Predictive Factors for Commitment to the Priestly Vocation

This work examined some factors affecting commitment to the priesthood. The subjects are 172 Catholic priests and seminarians. Various test were given to evaluate several factors such as demographic, familial, social, psychological, and religious aspects. The Hierarchical Multiple Regressions were used to analyze the data. The results showed that an increased level of agreeableness, defensiveness, masculinity, intrinsic religious orientation, sacred view of the priesthood, and relationship with bishop/superior were associated with an increased level of affective commitment when the demographic, social, and psychological variables were held constant. An increased level of parental care, extraversion, and loneliness were associated with a decreased level of affective commitment. In addition, the study found that affective commitment was positively correlated with affect balance, psychological well-being, and religious well-being, while thought of leaving the priesthood had negative correlations with psychological well-being. The findings suggest that priestly commitment is multi-dimensional in nature, meaning that, to maintain it, one should also integrate various aspects involved.