By David Kilby | Correspondent

For those serving God in ordained ministry, pursuit of one’s own happiness is not usually seen as high on the priority list. But about 170 priests of the Diocese learned during their annual convocation that happiness in the priesthood is both widely experienced and important to pursue.

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Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, who addressed the Priest Convocation held Sept. 9-11 in the Golden Inn, Avalon, reported findings from his studies into why priests are happy despite being bombarded by secular ideals.

Msgr. Rossetti is a priest in the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y. and a clinical associate professor of pastoral studies in The Catholic University of America, Washington. He holds a doctorate in psychology from Boston College, a doctor of ministry degree from CUA, and an honorary doctor of divinity degree  from St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore. He is the author of “Born of the Eucharist”, the “Joy of the Priesthood,” and many articles.

Over the course of three days, he would share how a priest’s joy is based on deeper foundations than the temporal sources of happiness that secularism suggests pursuing. Drawing from his psychological research, he dedicated his Sept. 9 talk to debunking several myths regarding the psychological and spiritual health of priests.

Contrary to widely held beliefs, he said, priests are “generally slightly healthier” than the general population.  Measured against criteria that would indicate “burnout” they experience a higher sense of accomplishment, are significantly less exhausted, and are half as bitter than the general population.

In his own study with about 20,000 priests, he found that the number one concern for priests is their workload, but other elements of their lives seem to prevent them from falling victim to burnout.

Msgr. Rossetti explained, “Fundamentally, priests like doing what priests do. They’ve got a lot of good friends, a decent spiritual life, and so they’re kind of hanging in there,” he said.

Pointing to the myth that priests are unhappy, Msgr. Rossetti cited a 2012 study from the Center of Applied Research in the Apostolate which found that 61 percent of priests are very happy and 36 percent are “pretty happy.”

Also, a 2006 General Social Survey of 27,000 Americans found that clergy, both Catholic and Protestant, had the highest level of job satisfaction at 87 percent, more than any other job holder group, Msgr. Rossetti shared.

However, in the end he pointed out that all of these statistics seem to beg the question, “If priests are so happy in this life, why don’t more people become priests?”

He turned to the audience to hear their answers.

“I’m not quite sure happiness is the motivating factor of people becoming priests,” said Divine Word Father George Koottappillil, parochial vicar of Mother of Mercy Parish, Asbury Park. “There could be many other factors that determine your choice of your way of life. Happiness could be just one of them.”

Bishop David M O’Connell, CM, speaking from the audience, said there aren’t many men joining the priesthood because they don’t have any one-on-one connections with a priest. “Unless they get to know a priest they can’t get to see that the priest is real.”

Father Caesar Rubiano, administrator of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Trenton, who is finishing graduate studies in Rome, said there is a combination of factors that contribute to his happiness as a priest.

“On the personal level, how you’re satisfied with your own life, calling out your inner self. Second ... are you happy with others? To embrace these two dimensions is to be with God.” He said balancing the inner self, relationships with others and with God are the three factors that keep him “sane and mentally healthy.”

“I’ve always been grateful to be a priest,” said Msgr. Sam Sirianni, pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Freehold. “And it’s nice to know that I’m in the majority.”

On Sept. 10, Msgr. Rossetti gave a second presentation entitled “Ministry in a Secular Age.”

“To the secular mind, Catholicism cannot promote true personal happiness,” he wrote on one of his PowerPoint slides. “And the unhappiest of them all must be the Catholic priest ... and thus, one of the most powerful witnesses to the truth of our faith is a happy priest.”

He went on to share that a ministerial life today requires “a personally-integrated faith that responds directly to the secular challenges of today,” a masculine spirituality, a strong personal support network, “strengthening our Gospel vision,” and radical holiness.

Msgr. Rossetti ended his presentations with Jesus’ words from John 16:33, “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”