Questions About the Priesthood
What is a parish priest?
Most diocesan priests do our ministry as parish priests. We are the guys who celebrate the Sunday Mass, preach the Word of God, baptize, marry and help people at times of death.
We lead youth groups and help in confirmation programs; we attract people to Jesus through the RCIA (Rite of Christian initiation of adults) religious education. It is our role to animate the Christian community and guide people to actively live out their call to holiness that comes in Baptism. We make sure that ministry happens in our parishes.
What is the difference between a diocesan priest and a priest who belongs to an order?
A diocesan priest commits himself to a specific geographical location and promises obedience to the bishop of the (arch)diocese. He will most likely be involved in parish ministry and ultimately become a pastor of a parish. A priest who belongs to an order, on the other hand, commits himself to the special charism of the Religious Order. For example it may be teaching or preaching or ministering to youth or doing missionary work. He takes the formal vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience and lives in community with his brothers in the order. He also learns and practices the spirituality of the founder of the Religious Order.
I'm a teenager and think that I might have a vocation to be a priest.
I suggest two things for you. Prayer and service. By PRAYER, I mean that you should participate in Mass each week AND you should have some daily conversation with the Lord. Use your Bible to listen to God or find a devotional book that maps out daily scripture passages and/or short explanations or thought questions about the passage. In this way you will develop your friendship with the Lord and be able to listen to his call even better. By SERVICE, I mean that you volunteer to help someone. Are there any day camp groups that need volunteers? Does your school have a service club that helps people? Does your parish church need someone to help teach catechism to the little children? Maybe you could tutor grammar school children? Does a senior citizen convalescent home need a visitor? I think you are getting the idea. PRAYER and SERVICE are the key ingredients to prepare for the life of a priest. And you can keep up your other interests!
Most dioceses have someone called a vocation director. The months of September, October, and November are good months to contact the vocation director. Ask your local priest who it is and give him a call. He will probably know of a college seminary so that you can begin your formation for the priesthood. Priests earn an undergraduate degree, for example, a Bachelor's degree in philosophy. Then they go on to study Theology at the graduate level in preparation for ordination and the priesthood.
How much do priests earn?
Priests get a monthly stipend which can range from $400 and up. They pay taxes. They usually receive room and board, have a car and gas and health insurance. Each diocese has its own plan. Religious order priests turn in their salaries to the community and follow the communities' directives regarding the vow of poverty.
Why is it that some priests and religious dress in clerical garb or habits and others don't?
Those who maintain habits or clerical garb today do so for various reasons. One of the primary reasons is that religious dress is a sign. The garb is an instantly recognized symbol of faith in God and commitment to Christianity.
Another frequent rationale for religious garb is that it is simple dress and therefore a way to live out the vow of poverty. A sister, brother, or priest who wears religious garb can own just two or three changes of dress and be free of the expense that may be involved in a more extensive contemporary wardrobe. Other communities say the habit is an important sign of penitence for them.
Some communities have opted to wear street clothes, saying that the most valid sign of Christian faith is lifestyle, rather then garb. They contend that religious dress creates an undesirable barrier between them and laity with whom they work. Some Catholics and non-Catholics distance themselves from people in traditional religious dress.
Furthermore, those who have discontinued wearing habits often say the original reason for it was to wear the dress of the common people; therefore, street clothes are the common people's clothes nowadays.
