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    The Psychological Effects of Multiple Roles in Priesthood and Religious Life
    The Psychological Effects of Multiple Roles in Priesthood and Religious Life
    The Psychological Effects of Multiple Roles in Priesthood and Religious Life
    Ebook165 pages1 hour

    The Psychological Effects of Multiple Roles in Priesthood and Religious Life

    By Elias Rinaldo Gamboriko

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    The study unearths the psychological effects on priests undertaking both religious and priestly duties. It examines how devotion to Godly duties could be associated with the psychological welfare amongst both active and non-active priests from the Roman Catholic Church. The priests psychological integrity is determined by administering a survey questionnaire to a selected sample of priests determined by factors including self-autonomy, positive relationships with others, personal growth and development, self-acceptance, and their inherent purpose in religious life. The study reports that majority of non-active priests reported to have undergone severe psychological stress before and after they quit priesthood (Kirkpatrick 2005). Equally important, the study investigates how multiple roles in priesthood and religious life affect priests psychological welfare and development. Finally, the study shows how multiple roles in priesthood and religious life affect the psychological healthy of priests and the correlation between their attachment to God to their overall psychological wellbeing.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateJan 20, 2012
    ISBN9781468544190
    The Psychological Effects of Multiple Roles in Priesthood and Religious Life
    Author

    Elias Rinaldo Gamboriko

    Dr. ELIAS RINALDO GAMBORIKO, AJ. PH.D, Ed. D. EDUCATION Doctor of Psychology (Ed .D in Pastoral Community Counseling Psychology Major) December 2012 Argosy University- Phoenix, AZ. USA Doctor of Philosophy and Theology: Ph.D. in Philosophy & Theology November 2007 Aberdeen University- Idaho USA Master of Arts in Christian Spirituality and Counseling Psychology June 2006 Creighton Jesuit University-Omaha-Nebraska, USA Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Philosophy May 1999 Pontifical Urbaniana University Rome-Italy Diploma in Theology: Upper Second Class Honor. May 1992-1999 Apostles of Jesus Theologicum - Langata – Nairobi - Kenya - Africa Diploma in Philosophy & Religious Studies: Upper Second Class Honor. May 1990-1992 Apostles of Jesus Philosophicum- Langata – Nairobi - Kenya – Africa LICENSURE & CERTIFICATIONS A certified Chaplain / Certified by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. Ordained to priesthood in Tombura-Yambio Catholic Diocese South Sudan. June 20th,1999/Bishop Joseph Gasi Abangite. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Assistant Professor-Chung-Jen College -Taiwan-China 2014. Assistant Pastor and Chaplain-Catholic Diocese of Alexandria Louisiana. 2013-2014. Pastor St.Josephine Bakhita Parish- Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. 204-2013 Assistant Pastor Catholic Diocese of Rumbek / Catholic Diocese of Rumbek South Sudan / Kakuma Refugees Camp Kenya Africa. Rector & Teacher (2000 – 2003) Rector- Catholic Diocese of Rumbek / St. Josephine Formation center / minor Seminary /Catholic Diocese of Rumbek-South Sudan ( Kitale-Kenya). 1999 - 2004. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (or “SPECIAL TRAINING”) CPE Training. Association for Clinical Pastoral Education 2004. A certified Chaplain: Certified by The National Association of Catholic Chaplains (USA) in 2006 and renewed in 2011. Hobby: Playing Soccer, Jogging, and workout in gymnasium, biking, reading books, research and writing books. Books Written: - The Psychological Effects of Multiple Roles in Priesthood and Religious life 2011 - Psychological Trauma and Ptsd / Soldiers (Child). 2010 - The Funny Risen Jesus. Elias Christology Now! 2011/2012 - The phenomenological study of the lost generation of the Sudan. 2012

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      Book preview

      The Psychological Effects of Multiple Roles in Priesthood and Religious Life - Elias Rinaldo Gamboriko

      Contents

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      CHAPTER 1

      CHAPTER 2

      CHAPTER 3

      CHAPTER 4

      CHAPTER 5

      REFERENCES

      APPENDIX A

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      THIS STUDY HAS BEEN created with the help of my Parents, friends, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Bishop Paul J. Swain, my professor Edward Umberto Adriano IT who was very instrumental from the beginning to the end. Special reference also goes to my Confreres of the Apostles of Jesus Missionary for Africa and the World, my home Bishop retired Gasi and Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombua-Yambio Diocese—South Sudan, the Adoration Sisters of Perpetual Adoration who were helpful with prayers for the completion of this book. Finally I also acknowledge all the respondents to the questionnaires used for the study as they determined the ability of the study to generate the recommendations after analysis of the results.

      CHAPTER 1

      INTRODUCTION

      Introduction

      PRIESTHOOD ENTAILS THE FULFILLMENT of various roles that are rendered for the church and the community. The many roles that priests must be able to accomplish then entail high levels of responsibility and the ability to perform obligations with strong commitment physically, psychologically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, with far-reaching implications to one’s personal and social life within the community. In church, the priests communicate the word of God and administer many activities for the congregation including baptism, communion, confession and forgiveness of sins, etc. Based on biblical teachings, the word of God ordained priests to: (1) rule the church, (2) carry out the mission of evangelization, (3) administration of baptism, (4) celebration of the Eucharist, (5) allow the forgiveness of sins, (6) performance of liturgical or sacramental actions (Acklin, 2006, p. 11).

      In the community, it is the responsibility of the priest to (1) perform pastoral counseling, (2) be involved within the social life of the parish, (3) be involved within the social life of the community itself outside of the parish as such, (4) deal with social/moral/political issues of the day as relevant within the life of the community, and finally, (5) consider the time spent and valuation placed upon the necessary administrative requirements and responsibilities implicit within the exercise of ministry (Morgan, 1999, p. 17).

      Besides the multiple roles of priesthood in the church and the community, it is also the responsibility of a priest to live a life that is comparable to the life of Jesus Christ on Earth. Therefore, priesthood is not merely a profession or career; most importantly, it is a way of life that priests must be able to live inside and outside their church and community obligations.

      When a person is ordained a priest, he becomes a sign of God’s presence and power in the world. His consecration represents Christ’s total self-emptying, and also prefigures the day when Christ’s kingdom will be fully realized. Since the priest is intimately identified with Christ, his priesthood is in some way a permanent of his being. In philosophical terms, the priesthood is not merely a role one has, but it is an aspect of what one is. In theological terms, the priesthood is an irrevocable gift of God (Wuerl & Lawler, 2004, p. 391-392).

      The multiple roles that priesthood requires may be a source of anxiety, stress, burnout, exhaustion, and even depression, consequently affecting priests" performance and their religious life inside and outside the church and the community. Figure 1 below shows the various factors in the workplace that are sources of pressure and occupational stress, as well as the outcomes of stress.

      SKU-000540188_TEXT.pdf

      Figure 1. The Occupational Stress Model (adapted from Cooper and Marshall, 1976)

      Source: Clarke & Cooper, 2004, p. 6

      The many issues and problems attached to the multiple roles in priesthood and the psychological impact of such roles to occupational stress and the psychological condition of priests are the mechanisms that propel the development of the study. The overall goal of the study is to determine the specific psychological effects of the many roles and responsibilities to priesthood to the religious or spiritual lives of priests. In doing so, possibilities of developing stress management techniques and recommendations that are specifically structured to the needs of priests and that will influence positive and productive work life for this population may arise. The succeeding sections will relate information about the background of the study, including the specific problems and research questions that the study will address in the research process.

      Background

      The multiple roles of priests, as discussed in the previous section, are palpably complicated and demanding. Along with leading the church and the community, priests must also be able to mold themselves to embody roles, characterization, and expectations due to the prescriptions of the word of God and the preconceived notions and perceptions of people toward priesthood. However, meeting the roles, responsibilities, and expectations are not easy feats. Often, priests fall under the pressures and stresses of their profession because of the necessity to meet all their roles and responsibility, as well as expectations from the church and the community, especially as instruments and embodiments of Jesus Christ.

      Idealism gives way to fatigue. The new priest discovers that there is no way he can do all the work, all the time, and still feel human. The work of the parish priest is cyclical (Christmas comes every year, and no matter how well you did it last year, it will come again this year). The work is never done and in some sense, you are always starting from a blank slate. Priests who have not established a routine of rest and self-care will deal with their fatigue by working harder. Eventually the fatigue and stress become habitual and oddly sustaining (Richards, 2007).

      The specific role of fulfilling priesthood as a way of life and the responsibility of pastoral counseling necessitate a higher degree of understanding of psychological perspectives from which priests may be able to draw knowledge and experiences to come to terms with the relationship between personal life, theology, and ethical approaches in dealing with the church and the community. Furthermore, the role of a priest is intertwined with the understanding and development of the self that is projected in self-image or self-representation. The self-image or self-representation exhibited by an individual is defined within the parameters of the environment in which the person carries out his or her roles. The identification and evaluation of all roles an individual plays will most likely represent his or her psychosocial identity and the quality of interpersonal relationships (Randall, 1989).

      Moreover, the necessity to understand and establish a sense of self for priests is doubly difficult due to the inability of other people to distinguish the priest and the person outside the church.

      A priest is rarely seen as the person he or she is. This is counterintuitive, and comes as a disappointment… The duties of the job would seem to make being seen relatively easy—after all, a priest is often preaching, giving spiritual counsel, sharing experiences at a deep level, teaching, being with people at moments of crisis and joy. However, functioning effectively as a priest involves a delicate negotiation with one’s self about being seen. The priesthood involves self-offering, not self-immolation. Constant sharing of self is a sure road to burnout. More importantly, the priest needs to remember always that even if self-disclosure were appropriate to the role, it always backfires because the priest is rarely seen as the person he or she is (Richards, 2007).

      Thus, it is logical to assume that a stressful environment that will lead to burnout, depression, and related problems will most likely influence an individual’s self, in his actions and thinking, in the same way. For this reason, the immediate environment of an individual, which in this case is the church, the community, and the home for the priest should be able to influence the development of self and behavior positively and not otherwise. With the stressful and highly demanding roles required in priesthood, it is expected that such conditions may influence self or character development of priests negatively, thereby affecting the quality of their lives and performances in church, community, and personal life.

      Apart from addressing issues with the self, priests are even more concerned with their responsibility to other people for they are also considered counselors, significantly affecting their personality and way of life. We define pastoral counseling as counseling practiced by God’s people in the context of His church and under the authority of Scripture… The goal of pastoral counseling is to glorify God by assisting struggling people to establish and/or deepen their relationship with Christ (Babler, Penley, & Bizell, 2007, p. 14). However, aside from being involved with individuals in the community and being able to assist them in establishing personal relationships with God, pastoral counseling also requires priests to be knowledgeable of some concepts in psychology. Naturally, psychology is important in developing a model for Pastoral Counseling. The fact that I discuss it last is to make a point. Psychology is almost the only discipline informing Pastoral Counseling (Farris, 2002, p. 170).

      In the book Basic Types of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Clinebell defines pastoral counseling as the utilization of a variety of healing (therapeutic) methods to help people handle their problems and crises, grow more fully and thus experience healing of their brokenness (Hill and Armstrong, 1998). The objective is to provide a platform based on which the individual aims to liberate and empower himself by reaching the goal of oneness with the spirit. Clinebell further states spiritual and ethical wholeness is the heart of all human wholeness and that "pastoral

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