Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

Burnout in Catholic Clergy: A Predictive Model Using

Psychological and Spiritual Variables
Stephen J. Rossetti and Colin J. Rhoades
Online First Publication, July 29, 2013. doi: 10.1037/a0033639

CITATION
Rossetti, S. J., & Rhoades, C. J. (2013, July 29). Burnout in Catholic Clergy: A Predictive Model
Using Psychological and Spiritual Variables. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. Advance
online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0033639
 Psychology of Religion and Spirituality © 2013 American Psychological Association
2013, Vol. 5, No. 3, 000 1941-1022/13/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0033639

Burnout in Catholic Clergy:

A Predictive Model Using Psychological and Spiritual Variables

Stephen J. Rossetti Colin J. Rhoades

Catholic University of America Loyola University Maryland

Catholic priests are faced with innumerable demands, unrealistic expectations, and few tangible results.
Moreover, in today’s society, there are fewer priests, even greater demands, and a surrounding culture
that is increasingly secular and apparently less supportive. Thus, burnout in Catholic clergy is commonly
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

presumed to be high. The purpose of this study was to move beyond assumptions and explore the real
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

extent of burnout among Roman Catholic clergy (using a standardized test of burnout) and then to
explore those variables that were statistically related to burnout. A sample of 2,482 Catholic priests
across the United States was given the Maslach Burnout Inventory. They scored significantly less burned
out than Maslach Burnout Inventory norm groups that included a general sample and that also included
those who were male or who worked in social services or medicine. When investigating those variables
that were associated with burnout, exercise and taking time off were significantly correlated to lower
levels of burnout; however, the effect was small. The more important variables associated with burnout
were job satisfaction, inner peace, childhood psychological problems, relationship to God, and good
friends. On these more important variables, priests reported high levels of health and well-being. A large
majority indicated being happy as priests and reported having good friendships, satisfaction with their
relationship to God, a limited history of childhood psychological problems, and a strong sense of inner
peace. For Catholic priests, and likely for all people, strong psychological and spiritual support systems
seem to be most important in preventing burnout, especially for those engaged in the demanding positions
of caring for others.

Keywords: burnout, clergy, job satisfaction, relationship to God, inner peace

It is commonly assumed that Catholic clergy experience high
levels of burnout. First, there are several factors in clerical life and
ministry that predispose clergy in general to burnout (e.g., Davey,
1995; Grosch & Olsen, 2000; Kinman, Obrene, & Rodriguez,
2011). As Sanford (1982) noted in his book Ministry Burnout,
“Many kinds of work can lead to Burnout, but the ministering
person faces certain special circumstances” (p. 5). Among these
factors, Sanford cited the never-ending nature of the work, lack of
tangible results, the need to deal with others’ expectations, and the
requirement to minister constantly to people in need.
As early as 1982, the Catholic Bishops of the United States were
concerned about stress in the lives of their priests and published
the pamphlet “The Priest and Stress.” Although it was not a
statistical study, the Bishops recognized unique stressors in a
Stephen J. Rossetti, School of Theology and Religious Studies, The
Catholic University of America; Colin J. Rhoades, Department of Pastoral
Counseling and Spiritual Care for Rhoades, Loyola University Maryland.
The study was made possible from a grant by James V. Kimsey,
Founding Chairman, America Online. A portion of the data was presented
in Why Priests Are Happy: A Study of the Psychological and Spiritual
Health of Priests by Stephen J. Rossetti.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Stephen
J. Rossetti, School of Theology and Religious Studies, The Catholic
University of America, 620 Michigan Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
20064. E-mail: rossetti@cua.edu
Catholic priest’s life, such as the many demands on his time,
commonly held unrealistic expectations, and sometimes negative
cultural changes in the context in which the priest ministers. The
Bishops went so far as to state, “Many overzealous priests run
great risks of suffering ‘burnout’” (Bishops’ Committee on
Priestly Life and Ministry, 1982, pp. 9 –10).
In the past decade, new factors have emerged that are likely to
exacerbate the levels of stress and burnout among Catholic clergy.
There is a sharply declining number of Catholic priests in the
United States; their celibate, religious lives are becoming increas-
ingly countercultural in the face of an advancing secularization
(Miner, Dowson, & Sterland, 2010); their workloads are rising;
and they have been subject to a decade of negative media stories
on the clergy’s sexual abuse of minors (Gautier, Perl, & Fichter,
2012). It is not hard to understand why many would presume that
Catholic priests in particular are dispirited, stressed, and suffering
from high levels of burnout.
However, when actually subjected to statistical investigation,
there have been some indications that burnout among Catholic
priests may not be as severe as commonly supposed, especially for
those with a satisfying spiritual life. Fichter (1984) was one of the
first to suggest that burnout among priests was exaggerated. In his
survey of 4,660 priests in the United States, potentially burned out
priests were defined as those who were both regularly overbur-
dened by their work and suffering a great deal of emotional stress.
In a written survey, participants were asked to self-report whether
they experienced a “great deal of emotional stress” and were

1
 2 ROSSETTI AND RHOADES
“regularly overburdened with work.” Those who endorsed both
statements amounted to only 6.2% of the sample. Although rec-
ognizing the very real stresses of priestly life, Fichter posited that
we ought not sell short their ability to cope.
The General Social Survey of 27,587 Americans, conducted
from 1988 to 2006, found that the most satisfying professions were
those that involved helping or protecting others, teaching, and
creative work (University of Chicago News Office, 2007). In
particular, clergy were the most satisfied of any occupation in the
United States, with 87% reporting being very satisfied (Gautier et
al., 2012; University of Chicago News Office, 2007). It is perhaps
not surprising that job satisfaction among the general population
has been strongly linked to lower levels of burnout (Kinman et al.,
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2011; Miner et al., 2010), including in a study of Catholic priests
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in India (Raj & Dean, 2005). Although one can be satisfied with
one’s job or “calling” and be burned out, or conversely, one can be
dissatisfied with one’s job and not be burned out, the two variables
appear to be interconnected, as the cited research shows.
Golden, Piedmont, Ciarrocchi, and Rodgerson (2004) noted that
the possible contribution of spirituality in lessening burnout has
been little studied. In their research of 321 United Methodist
clergy, the authors concluded, “The less one feels oneself in
intimate relationship with the Divine, the greater the likelihood of
burnout” (p. 123). Conversely, the more the clergy felt a sense of
well-being in their prayer lives, the lower were their burnout scores
(r ! –.26, p " .005).
Turton and Francis (2007) likewise found that having a positive
attitude toward prayer among Anglican clergy was associated with
lower levels of burnout on the three subscales of the Maslach
Burnout Inventory (MBI): Emotional Exhaustion, r ! –.19, p "
.001; Depersonalization, r ! –.25, p " .001; and Low Personal
Accomplishment, r ! –.32, p " .001. Similarly, Doolittle’s (2010)
study of 358 parish-based United Methodist clergy found that
dissatisfaction with one’s spiritual life was strongly associated
with burnout on the three MBI subscales (see also Miner et al.,
2010). Doolittle also found that regular exercise, spiritual reading,
retreats, having a mentor, and bible study were associated with
lower burnout scores (see also Virginia, 1998). He suggested that
having a “rich network of relationships” may assist in preventing
burnout (p. 93).
Of direct applicability to Catholic priests are Cherniss and
Krantz’s (1983) findings that burnout was mitigated in “ideolog-
ical communities” in which there was a shared social commitment,
sense of values, communion, and identification with the whole.
Thus, the authors found that burnout was relatively absent from
those in Montessori schools, religious care centers, and monaster-
ies who saw their work as a calling, not merely as a job (Cherniss
& Krantz, 1983; Schaufeli, Leiter, & Maslach, 2009; Stevens,
1984). Indeed, the clergy are trained to believe that (and largely
hold to the notion that) their lives truly represent a divine calling;
similarly, much of their training inculcates a sense of communion
with the whole along with a sense of shared values.
Despite these potentially mitigating factors, much of the work
and discussion on clergy burnout to date presume the presence of
higher levels of burnout among the clergy than the general popu-
lation. Thus, in understanding the prevalence of burnout among
Catholic clergy, it is important to use standardized instruments
with objective norms. Is burnout a serious problem among the
Catholic clergy as presumed, or is it, as Fichter suggests, a myth?
It is too easy to allow one’s personal presumptions or anecdotal
evidence to inform judgments about a population that has been the
brunt of much negative media attention. Any discussion of burnout
among the Catholic clergy would be well served to begin with a
large-scale, direct survey of Catholic clergy, using a standardized
instrument and comparing their scores with objective norms based
on other populations. Such data should begin any serious, in-
formed discussion of burnout among the clergy, and the present
study endeavored to promote such efforts.
In particular, the purpose of the present study was to explore the
extent of burnout among Roman Catholic clergy in the United
States and to delineate some of the psychological and spiritual
variables associated with burnout. Ultimately, such variables can
be used to assist priests and the Church in preventing burnout; this
information will likely be of assistance to the laity as well.
Method
Procedure
In 2008 –2009, a six-page, written survey was mailed to every
priest serving in 23 Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the
United States. The mailing included diocesan priests as well as
religious order priests serving in their dioceses (dioceses around
the country were originally given the opportunity to be a part of the
survey, and it was these 23 dioceses in particular that had re-
quested to be included).1 The dioceses surveyed were spread from
the East Coast to the West Coast and from North to South. There
were three dioceses from the western region of the United States,
eight from the Midwest, six from the Northeast, and six from the
Southeast. Varying sizes of dioceses responded, including five
large archdioceses; four small, rural dioceses; and 14 moderate-
sized dioceses from different states around the country. The par-
ticipants were assured of their anonymity and confidentiality; the
participating dioceses were also assured of their confidentiality.
Most dioceses mailed reminders to all of the priests; surveys were
ultimately returned by mail in unmarked envelopes. The mean
response rate was 57%.
Participants
There were 2,482 Catholic priests who returned usable surveys,
including 2,145 diocesan priests and 337 religious priests. The age
spread was as follows: age 25–29 years ! 24 (1.0%) participants,
age 30 –39 years ! 169 (6.8%) participants, age 40 – 49 years !
352 (14.2%) participants, age 50 –59 years ! 522 (21.0%) partic-
ipants, age 60 – 69 years ! 680 (27.4%) participants, and over 69
years of age ! 726 (29.3%) participants; nine (0.4%) participants
did not indicate their age. Although this sample is skewed toward
an older population, this is representative of priests in the United
States given that the mean age of priests is 63 years (Gautier et al.,
2012). Regarding their race/ethnicity, participants self-identified
1
Diocesan priests are members of a specific diocese that encompasses a
geographical area under the leadership of the local diocesan bishop. Reli-
gious order priests are ordained as members of a specific religious order—
such as the Franciscans, Jesuits, or Dominicans— each with a unique
religious charism. The religious order priests were serving in the local
dioceses where the survey was conducted.
 BURNOUT IN CATHOLIC CLERGY
as follows: 51 (2.1%) Hispanic, 34 (1.4%) African, 14 African
American (0.6%), 2,251 Caucasian (90.7%), 19 (0.8%) Vietnam-
ese, 14 (0.6%) Filipino, 45 (1.8%) Polish, and 23 (0.9%) from
India; 20 (0.8%) participants checked “other,” and there were 11
(0.4%) missing responses. Although this was not a random sample,
the participants represented a wide variety of age groups and
ethnicities across the United States.
Measures
The MBI is an instrument that is widely used to measure
burnout. It is composed of 22 items that make up three factors:
Personal Accomplishment (PA), Depersonalization (DEP), and
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Emotional Exhaustion (EE). The MBI posits that those who are
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burned out feel emotionally used up, they become negative and
cynical toward those whom they serve, and they suffer from lack
of a sense of personal accomplishment (Maslach, Jackson, &
Leiter, 1996). Thus, Maslach et al. (1996) defined burnout as not
simply a state of being overwhelmed with work: There are more
than a few people who are inundated with excessive work yet who
manage not to burn out. Instead, burnout results in an internal
dynamic of a personal sense of a reduced efficacy, cynicism, and
emotional exhaustion.
In the present study, the Human Services Survey version of the
MBI (MBI-HSS) was used. This version was viewed as most
applicable to priests because it was developed for those in human
services institutions who have intense involvement with other
people. In addition, the words work and people or recipients in the
survey items were changed to ministry and parishioners, respec-
tively, to be more applicable to the lives of priests. There is some
precedent for this change because the MBI itself substitutes stu-
dent for recipient when administering the MBI to teachers. Be-
cause the MBI is often researched, Maslach et al. (1996) have
provided norms for the general population as well as for some
subgroups. This makes the MBI particularly helpful in this study
when comparing the scores of the priest sample with the general
population and other specific populations.
Several survey items were also included in the study to measure
the spiritual practices of priests along with some of the emotional
and spiritual variables in their lives. These variables were selected
as likely having some impact on burnout based on previous re-
search and theory. These single items, with obvious face validity,
were used to measure a wide variety of variables possibly associ-
ated with burnout in the most parsimonious way.
All of these questions used a 5-point Likert scale including
strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly disagree,
except for the questions on private prayer, which offered five
possible answers based on time in daily prayer (not daily, 1–15
minutes, 16 –30 minutes, 31–59 minutes, and 60 minutes or more),
and the item on making an annual retreat, which also offered five
possible answers (almost all the time, usually, sometimes, rarely,
almost, and never).
A factor analysis was used with principal-axis factoring to
determine whether these items statistically fit together into single
factors or larger variables. These larger variables, plus any items
that did not factor into large variables, could then be correlated
with the three burnout subscales to see whether, in fact, they were
related to burnout. Based on the results of the factor analysis in
Table 1, several items were combined into larger variables. A
3
Cronbach’s alpha was computed on each factor to measure the
statistical reliability of the resulting scales. “Day off” and “annual
vacation” were combined to form a variable called time off. “Close
priest friends,” “emotional support from others,” “share problems
and feelings,” and “good lay friends” were combined into a new
variable called good friends. “Emotionally abused,” “dysfunc-
tional family,” “growing up suffered depression,” and “growing up
suffered anxiety” were combined to form childhood psychological
problems. “Support Bishop leadership” and “good relationship
with Bishop” were combined to form relationship to Bishop.
“Inner peace” and “good self-image” were combined to form inner
peace. Lastly, “God loves me personally,” “closeness to God,” and
“nourishing relationship to God” were combined to form relation-
ship to God. The internal consistency of the new variables was
sufficient for use in this study.
Results and Discussion
Priests’ MBI Scores
The 2,482 respondents were given the MBI. There were 2,460
scorable responses. The results for priests under the age of 70 years
were also computed. Many priests 70 years and older may be
retired and could possibly skew the results (priests typically retire
between 70 and 75 years of age). Thus, a separate statistic for
priests under the age of 70 years was computed.2 The results are in
Table 2.
The relatively positive scores of the priests compared with the
norm groups provided in the MBI manual as noted in Table 2 are
remarkable (Maslach et al., 1996). The priests scored significantly
better than all other norm groups (p " .001) on the three subscales:
They were markedly lower in emotional exhaustion and deperson-
alization, and they were higher on personal accomplishment. All
three are positive findings and suggest that priests, as a group, are
significantly less burned out than their lay counterparts.
These findings are even more remarkable when adding the fact
that the workloads of priests are high and, by all accounts, increas-
ing. A 2002 study by the Center for Applied Research in the
Apostolate reported that the mean hours per week worked by
priests in the United States was 63 hr (Perl & Froehle, 2002). In a
2004 sample of 1,242 Catholic priests in the United States (Ros-
setti, 2011), fully 42.3% agreed or strongly agreed with the state-
ment “I feel overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do.”
What is more, when asked about their exercise habits in the present
study, only 58.3% of priests either strongly agreed or agreed with
the survey item “I exercise on a regular basis.” Although this is a
simple majority, it seems unlikely to account for the group’s
markedly lower scores on the MBI.
2
Priests 70 years and older (M ! 8.83, SD ! 7.81) scored significantly
less emotionally exhausted than priests 69 years of age or younger (M !
15.53, SD ! 9.80) with p " .001. Priests 70 years and older (M ! 2.60,
SD ! 2.98) scored significantly less depersonalized than priests 69 years
of age or younger (M ! 4.67, SD ! 4.61) with p " .001. And the priests
70 years and older (M ! 36.94, SD ! 8.97) scored significantly lower on
personal accomplishment than priests 69 years of age or younger (M !
37.89, SD ! 7.13) with p ! .005. Thus, the older priests have a slightly
lower sense of personal accomplishment but significantly lower scores on
emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, presumably because many of
them are retired.
 4 ROSSETTI AND RHOADES

Table 1
Pattern Matrix for Principal-Axis Factoring of Survey Items

Childhood Relationship Relationship

psychological problems to God to Bishop Good friends Inner peace Time off
Survey item (# ! .78) (# ! .80) (# ! .82) (# ! .71) (# ! .77) (# ! .69)

Growing up, I suffered from depression .67 $.08 $.13 $.08 $.13 .04
I grew up in a dysfunctional family .70 $.08 $.04 $.01 $.01 $.06
Growing up, I suffered from anxiety .67 $.06 $.10 $.06 $.15 .01
I was emotionally abused as a child
before the age of 18 .68 $.04 $.07 $.05 .01 $.05
I feel that God loves me personally and
directly $.18 .57 .14 .22 .16 $.07
I have a relationship to God (or Jesus)
that is nourishing for me $.12 .70 .08 .23 .10 .02
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I feel a sense of closeness to God $.10 .74 .08 .19 .16 $.04
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

I support my Bishop’s leadership $.07 .14 .76 .05 .04 .01

I have a good relationship with my
Bishop $.12 .08 .85 .11 .05 .01
I currently have close priest friends $.09 .08 .15 .53 .02 $.10
I have good lay friends who are an
emotional support for me personally $.06 .24 .04 .52 .12 $.03
I get emotional support from others $.06 .12 .07 .71 .12 $.06
I share my problems and feelings with
close friends .02 .13 .05 .59 .09 $.13
I feel a sense of inner peace $.25 .33 .16 .19 .64 .00
I have a good self-image $.30 .24 .13 .25 .60 $.06
I take a day off per week $.05 $.03 .00 $.09 $.03 .54
I take an annual vacation $.02 $.01 $.03 $.13 $.02 .77
Priests in my diocese/religious order
are supportive of each other $.15 $.02 .36 .13 .16 $.01
I attend priest gatherings in my
diocese/order as often as I can $.14 .10 .35 .10 .08 $.15
Growing up, I had difficulty coming to
grips with my sexuality .44 $.11 $.04 $.01 $.13 $.02
I exercise on a regular basis .05 $.07 $.04 $.11 $.17 .09
I read theological or spiritual books/
magazines regularly $.02 .12 .01 .17 .10 .00
I make an annual retreat .01 .02 .18 .04 $.04 $.27
I pray privately each day $.07 .16 .07 .01 .05 .11
Overall, I am happy as a priest $.30 .32 .26 .20 .32 $.01
Note. Loadings having an absolute value of .50 or greater are given in bold.

Because the results were contrary to popular assumptions, we
decided to collect another sample of MBI scores from priests. This
time, the words job and recipients were not changed to ministry
and parishioners, respectively, such that the MBI-HSS was left
completely intact. This version of the survey was administered
after one researcher (SJR) was invited (in 2010 –2011) to four
dioceses around the country to give a workshop to all of their
priests. At the very beginning of the workshop before the presen-
tation, the participants were given the MBI-HSS and were asked to
“be honest” when filling out the instrument. There were 217
respondents at these mandatory gatherings of priests (virtually all
of the priests present filled out the MBI).3 This time, the mean
scores on the three MBI subscales were as follows: EE ! 16.11,
DEP ! 5.67, and PA ! 37.21. These results were roughly iden-
tical to the original survey and indicate that this subsample of
surveyed priests was still much less burned out than the compar-
ison samples.
Using the total MBI sample norms, only 36 (1.5%) of 2,460
priests in this sample scored in the upper one third of the norm
sample for all three subscales and thus would be considered to
have a high degree of burnout. Compared with the social services
sample, 57 (2.3%) of the priests’ scores indicated a high level of
burnout.
Type of Priest and Differences in MBI Scores
Comparing the three MBI subscale means for the type of priest
(religious priests and the diocesan priests), there were no signifi-
cant differences on the PA subscale (p ! .23). However, there
were significant differences on the EE subscale (p ! .027) and
DEP subscale (p ! .007). For MBI-EE, the mean for the diocesan
priests was 13.74 (SD ! 9.88), whereas it was slightly lower for
the religious order priests, with the mean being 12.48 (SD ! 8.78).
For the MBI-DEP, the mean for diocesan priests was 4.16 (SD !
4.37), whereas it was slightly lower for religious order priests, with
the mean being 3.48 (SD ! 3.83). These findings support the
similar findings of Raj and Dean (2005) and Virginia (1998), who
used the MBI with Catholic priests in India and the United States,
3
Typically about 80% of priests show up at these “mandatory” gather-
ings. However, in one diocese, all of the priests except one showed up.
Thus, the response rate is well over 50%.
 BURNOUT IN CATHOLIC CLERGY 5

Table 2
Descriptive Statistics for the Maslach Burnout Inventory Subscales

Personal
Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalization Accomplishment
(range 0 –54) (range 0 –30) (range 0 – 48)
Sample Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Priests (n ! 2,460) 13.57 9.7 4.07 4.3 37.62 7.7

Priests under age 70 years (n ! 1,747) 15.53 9.8 4.67 4.6 37.89 7.1
Total MBI sample (n ! 11,067) 20.99! 10.8 8.73! 5.9 34.58! 7.1
Social services (n ! 1,538) 21.35! 10.5 7.46! 5.1 32.75! 7.7
Medicine (n ! 1,104) 22.19! 9.5 7.12! 5.2 36.53! 7.3
Males (n ! 2,247) 19.86! 10.5 7.43! 6.0 36.29! 6.8
!
Significant difference between both samples of priests: total priests (n ! 2,460) and priests under the age of 70 years (n ! 1,747), p " .001. Excerpted
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

from Why Priests are Happy by Stephen Rossetti. © 2011 Ave Maria Press, P.O. Box 428, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Used with permission of the publisher.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

respectively. They, too, found that diocesan priests had higher
levels of burnout on the MBI than religious order priests. Virginia
concluded that higher levels of ministry demands and lower levels
of mutual support in diocesan priesthood were likely the reasons.
Variables Associated With Burnout
Too often, popular articles and even professional workshops
attribute burnout simply to overwork and lack of exercise. Not
long ago, one researcher (SJR) attended a workshop on self-care
for psychologists, and the primary antidote recommended for
participants to ward off burnout was taking time off work and
exercising. Such recommendations are likely to be somewhat
helpful, but current research suggests that the causes and dynamics
of burnout are much more complex. The priests in our sample
represent a case in point. Despite the lack of regular exercise for a
large portion of priests and their working long hours, the priest
sample did not test as being significantly burned out. Why not?
And why are many popular assumptions about priesthood and
burnout apparently incorrect?
An intercorrelation matrix using Pearson r correlations was
computed for all the items. These new composite variables and the
remaining individual items were correlated with the three MBI
subscales, with the results shown in Table 3.
Based on the strength of each of these correlations on the three
MBI subscales, three multiple regression (MR) equations were
conducted, and all of the variables were entered (except those
whose correlations were less than .15 or were not significant) in a
stepwise regression. The results are in Table 4. Many of the
independent variables were significantly and, sometimes strongly,
correlated with each other. This presence of multicollinearity had
an effect on the MR equation, reducing the number of variables
that were statistically significant.

Table 3
Intercorrelation Matrix of Burnout Scales and Possible Predictor Variables

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

1. Burnout EE — .62 $.14 $.05! NS $.11 $.12 $.13 .36 $.19 $.12 $.20 $.39 $.10 $.20 .23 $.43
2. Burnout DEP — $.21 $.04! $.05! $.10 $.14 $.10 .24 $.18 $.12 $.18 $.32 $.10 $.22 .15 $.33
3. Burnout PA — .11 .10 .10 .30 .14 $.15 .10 .16 .09 .35 .16 .32 $.12 .29
4. Time off — .21 $.05! .20 .12 NS NS NS NS .08 .10 .10 NS .06
5. Annual retreat — .17 .14 .09 NS .17 .17 .12 .10 .31 .14 $.06 .15
6. Pray privately — .09 .14 $.10 .13 .21 .11 .18 .08 .23 $.13 .20
7. Good friends — .16 $.15 .20 .22 .19 .39 .20 .42 $.09 .33
8. Regular exercise — $.09 .08 .15 .14 .22 .09 .17 $.05 .14
9. Childhood
psychological problems — $.21 $.07 $.20 $.39 $.19 $.25 .42 $.36
10. Relationship to Bishop — .07 .35 .27 .33 .25 $.12 .34
11. Spiritual reading — .10 .21 .12 .23 $.06 .17
12. Priests support of each
other — .27 .27 .15 $.09 .26
13. Inner peace — .26 .53 $.28 .55
14. Attend priest gatherings — .25 $.10 .25
15. Relationship to God — $.19 .47
16. Growing up, I had
difficulty coming to
grips with my sexuality — $.23
17. Happy as priest —
Note. All correlations are significant at the .01 level (two tailed) except those with asterisk (!), which are significant at the .05 level (two tailed). EE !
Emotional Exhaustion subscale; DEP ! Depersonalization subscale; PA ! Personal Accomplishment subscale. (Percentages for variables 4 –17 are
available on request from the first author.)
 6 ROSSETTI AND RHOADES

Table 4 Similarly, when looking at the two statements that make up inner
Summary of Regression Analysis for the Maslach Burnout peace, 87.4% agreed or strongly agreed with “I feel a sense of
Inventory Subscales inner peace” and 86% agreed or strongly agreed with “I have a
good self-image.” Thus, the priests reported a strong sense of inner
Variable B SE B % peace and very high job satisfaction.
Burnout—Emotional Exhaustion The presence of psychological problems in childhood was also
(R2 ! .25!!!) strongly related to burnout. This variable included growing up in
Happy as priest $3.64 0.29 $.26!!! a dysfunctional family, suffering childhood depression and anxi-
Inner peace $1.30 0.16 $.17!!! ety, and being emotionally abused as a child. Again, the priests
Childhood psychological problems 0.55 0.06 .20!!!
Burnout—Depersonalization reported relatively low levels, with 22.1% suffering from anxiety
(R2 ! .15!!!) and 9.2% suffering from depression in childhood. When asked
Happy as priest $1.17 0.14 $.19!!! whether they were emotionally abused in childhood, only 9.7%
Inner peace $0.61 0.08 $.18!!! agreed or strongly agreed, and only 18.0% said that their families
Childhood psychological problems 0.13 0.03 .10!!!
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were dysfunctional. Incidentally, only 4.8% of the priests said that

Burnout—Personal Accomplishment
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(R2 ! .17!!!) their parents were divorced.

Inner peace 1.29 0.13 .22!!!
Good friends 0.55 0.07 .16!!!
Relationship to God 0.71 0.11 .14!!!
Note. Only variables with % above .1 or below $.1 are included.
!!!
p " .001.
Although many of the independent variables were significantly
correlated with the three MBI subscales, only a few were in the
final MR equation because of multicollinearity. Nevertheless, it is
clear that vocational happiness (i.e., happy as priest), inner peace,
and the presence of childhood psychological problems were
strongly related to the EE and DEP subscales.
The MBI-PA subscale has been debated as to whether it belongs
as a measure of burnout (Schaufeli et al., 2009). Results suggest,
in fact, that it is different from the other two MBI subscales. The
variables in this study, which were strongly related to this sub-
scale, were somewhat different: Inner peace remained, but added
to that was good friends and relationship to God. To understand
which variables are related to burnout in Catholic priests, we
included both the results of the MR equation and the correlation
matrix.
Priests’ Responses on Key Variables
Priests work an average of 63 hr per week (Perl & Froehle,
2002), and 42.3% feel overwhelmed with their workloads. How-
ever, it was previously noted that the burnout level in priests as
measured by the MBI is relatively low, contrary to popular expec-
tation. There were a number of key variables in this study (see
Tables 3 and 4) that correlated with burnout in Catholic priests. It
might help to explain the relatively lower MBI scores of priests by
looking at their responses on this survey to these key variables.
Easily the two variables most powerfully associated with burn-
out in priests are happy as priest (or job satisfaction) and inner
peace. In Table 3, the correlations for happy as priest and inner
peace with the three MBI subscales range between an absolute
value of r ! .29 and r ! 43. These two variables are significantly
related to burnout but they are not equivalent to it and, thus, are
different constructs from burnout. One can be satisfied with one’s
job or vocation, that is, be happy as a priest, and have a sense of
inner peace and yet still be burned out. On this survey, when given
the statement “Overall, I am happy as a priest,” a very large
percentage (92.4%) of participants agreed or strongly agreed.
Relationship to God was strongly associated with burnout as
well. Over 90.0% of priests agreed or strongly agreed with all three
of the items making up this variable. They said they felt a close-
ness to God and they felt that God loves them “personally and
directly”; they also professed to having a relationship to God that
is personally nourishing. Similarly, a large percentage of priests
reported having good friends, another variable significantly and
negatively correlated with burnout. When asked whether they have
good lay friends, 93.0% agreed or strongly agreed. Similarly,
87.6% said they that had good priest friends, and 83.2% said that
they share their “problems and feelings with close friends”; 90.9%
professed to getting “emotional support from others.”
When investigating the most significant variables that help the
individual resist burnout, we see that the priests profess to have
high levels of those variables: They profess to be happy in their
vocations with much personal support, they have strong relation-
ships with others and with God, they appear to have relatively low
levels of childhood psychopathology, and they have good self-
images and much inner peace.
Limitations and Future Research
There are some limitations to the present study. For example the
sample used, although extensive, was not random. Also, the MBI
has not been operationalized specifically for clergy. Moreover,
although the response rate for the survey was good (at 57%),
burned out clergy may have been less likely to respond to a survey.
Also, it is possible that clergy are particularly susceptible to
demand characteristics in survey research. As clergy, they may try
to present themselves and their vocation in the best possible light.
It is possible that there is a disproportionate amount of shame that
impedes clergy from admitting to being burned out, especially
given that they usually perceive their state in life as a calling from
God. Future studies may want to include personal interviews of
randomly selected clergy to confirm clergy responses on the MBI.
Also, measuring possible physical sequelae of burnout in clergy
would likewise provide a more objective and less subjective mea-
sure of burnout.
The results of this study may possibly apply to other popula-
tions, but there are some caveats. For example, one’s relationship
to God is arguably important to many people, not just priests.
However, it is likely to be particularly important to someone who
has dedicated himself to serving God in the Church. Thus, the
importance of this variable as found in this research may not be as
 BURNOUT IN CATHOLIC CLERGY
directly applicable to nonclergy populations. The strong impor-
tance of one’s spiritual life—that is, relationship to God—for
preventing burnout as found in this research suggests the need to
test this finding in a general population of the laity, perhaps
comparing the importance of one’s relationship to God among
varying degrees of belief and nonbelief.
Conclusion
It seems that Fichter (1984) was correct in questioning the
assumption that large numbers of Catholic priests in the United
States are burned out. Certainly, there are burned out priests, with
1.5–2.3% of priests surveyed in the present study scoring in the
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high burnout range on the MBI. However, this study, which is the
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
largest survey of Catholic priests in the United States to date using
the MBI, indicates that, as a group, priests score markedly lower
on burnout than comparable lay populations.
This is not to say that priests are not overworked. In fact, it is
very likely that they are. There is no end to the work of a priest.
Workloads continue to rise with the increasing numbers of Cath-
olics and decreasing numbers of priests. A large percentage of
priests is understandably feeling overwhelmed. This is a serious
problem and one that needs to be immediately and directly ad-
dressed. But workloads and hours worked are not the same con-
structs as burnout. One researcher (SJR) is very familiar with a
number of priests whose output is enormous, and yet each morning
they get up and attack the day with enthusiasm. This researcher
also knows priests on the opposite end of the spectrum, who are
able to do a fraction of that work and who are teetering on being
burned out.
This study begins to focus on some of the more important
variables that may indicate whether a priest, or perhaps anyone,
will become burned out. Essentially, the study found that a priest
who likes what he does, has a strong sense of inner peace, and has
a limited history of psychological problems, plus a strong network
of support from friends and a strong relationship to God, is very
likely not going to burn out. This echoes the findings of Gautier et
al. (2012), who quoted one of their respondent’s comments as
summarizing their findings about priests: “Overworked but happy”
(p. 49).
There were other variables that were related to fewer burned out
priests. These included having a good relationship with the Bishop,
attending priest gatherings, and priests supporting each other in the
diocese or religious order. Spiritual practices such as private prayer
and doing an annual retreat were significantly but very modestly
correlated with burnout. Similarly, the oft-quoted need to take time
off and to exercise was also correlated with not burning out, but the
correlations were low. It is helpful to do such things, while at the
same time there are much more powerful buffers against burnout.
Any workshop on self-care for priests, and likely for anyone,
would do well to first focus on these more important factors when
discussing burnout prevention.
Contrary to popular myths, Catholic priests appear to be very
satisfied in their callings, with their satisfaction rates among the
highest in the country. Moreover, priests appear to feel good about
themselves and profess to have a strong relationship to God and
close friends. They report having a strong network of personal and
7
spiritual supports, which likely act as a bulwark against burnout,
despite their demanding work schedules.
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Received September 29, 2012
Revision received March 11, 2013
Accepted May 6, 2013 !