Personality and cognitive functioning among hospitalized sexual offending Roman Catholic priests

A tremendous amount of media attention has been directed towards sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests in recent years. While there are countless research studies on both sexual abuse victims and perpetrators in the professional literature, very few have specifically investigated Roman Catholic priests who sexually abuse minors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of personality and cognitive variables among hospitalized sex offending Roman Catholic priests using specific MMPI-2, WAIS-R, and Halstead-Reitan measurements. Specifically, the role of defensive coping styles as measured by the L, K, O-H, and R scales of the MMPI-2 along with IQ scores from the WAIS-R and the Halstead impairment index were investigated. A total of 160 Roman Catholic priests (80 who sexually abused minors and 80 nonabusing control patients) hospitalized in a private psychiatric facility specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of clergy were evaluated. Results suggest that overcontrolled-hostility (O-H) was the most reliable predictor of group membership while Verbal IQ approached statistical significance. Implications for further research are offered.     

Coping Mechanisms for Psychosomatic Symptoms among Aging Roman Catholic German priests

To identify and investigate coping mechanisms and other factors which may impact upon the psychosomatic symptoms of aging German Roman Catholic priests. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 499 aging German Roman Catholic priests with standardized questionnaires: Brief Symptom Inventory, Coping Inventory Stressful Situations, and Religious Coping Scale. Task-Oriented Coping exhibited a significant difference between the two groups. Multiple regression analyses indicated that psychosomatic symptoms could be best predicted by means of Task-Oriented Coping mechanisms, identification with priesthood, and by a low Negative Religious Coping. The success of adaptive coping processes for older clergy may depend on how they employ strategies, strengthen their spiritual dimensions, and manage important psychosocial aspects of aging. In our sample, Depression and Somatization are explained best by Emotion-Oriented Coping. It is desirable for aging priests to be aware of protective factors like Role Identification, Task-Oriented Coping, and low Negative Religious Coping, which may be helpful in improving their psychological well-being.     

深化中国学术视野中的古代希腊与罗马哲学研究

本文回眸了古希腊罗马哲学在中国的历程,指出了改革开放以来逐步进向以中国学术视野做有学术创新的研究,但需要加强某些薄弱环节;本文论述了古希腊罗马哲学的现代意义,为加强中西哲学与文化传统的整体性交往,需要深化中国学术视野中的古希腊罗马哲学研究;本文还就跨文化研究古希腊罗马哲学的视野与方法,提出一些供参考的见解.     

Female Aspirants to the Roman Catholic Priesthood

Parish priests (n=85), nonparish priests (n=55), and women who aspire to, but who are barred from, ordination in the Roman Catholic Church (n=235) participated in an investigation of Holland vocational-personality types, job satisfaction, and psychological dysfunction. Of the three groups, the women's Holland-type code, as determined by the means of the Holland-type scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory, was the most similar to the Holland-type code of clergy member as assigned by the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes. Women who were barred from the priesthood reported less job satisfaction than the priests. Significant differences on three clinical scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were in the direction of greater psychological dysfunction on the part of the priests.     

Depression and Anxiety in Roman Catholic Secular Clergy

A nationally selected random sample of Roman Catholic secular priests was investigated using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y. Additionally, a Self-Report Inventory requested information regarding participants' demographics as well as four categories of predictor variables (i.e., Vocational Satisfaction, Social Support, Spiritual Activities, Physical Environment) potentially associated with depression and anxiety. The study yielded a return rate of 64%. Secular clergy reported significantly greater depression and anxiety (both state and trait) than are reported in the general population. Low Vocational Satisfaction was found to be predictive of depression as well as both state and trait anxiety. Additionally, low Social Support was found to be predictive of state and trait anxiety. When the significant predictor variables were conceptually collapsed, it appeared that both people and place were significantly related to Roman Catholic secular priests' experience of depression and anxiety.     

Roman Catholic couples: wrath and religion.

Qualitative methods were used to research the effects of the religious beliefs and practices of ten Roman Catholic couples on the ways in which they managed anger and conflict in their marital relationship. The couples were interviewed separately, twice each, using Grounded Theory techniques in the first, semi-structured interview, and Repertory Grids in the second. Religious beliefs supported a broad range of positions on anger management from self-control through to the thoughtful expression of anger. It is suggested that religious beliefs and practices can be thought of as expanding or restricting "space" by reducing the intensity of anger experienced and by providing an opportunity for reflection which enabled participants to take greater responsibility for their part in conflicts. The relationship with God affected the "space" in the couple relationship by meeting some of the unmet needs of individuals and by detouring anger away from the spouse to God where it was felt to be safely contained. This procedure was used more by wives; their husbands seemed more often to fear and avoid conflicts and the expression of anger. Links were made between the marital relationship and the relationship with God. It was proposed that these systems are both evolving interactively with changes in one resulting in changes in the other. However, there can be a delay before changes in one system can be integrated with conflicting beliefs or practices in the reciprocal system, which may result in ambivalent attitudes toward anger and conflict. Clinical implications and directions for future research were suggested.     

Pilot Study of Psychopathology Among Roman Catholic Secular Clergy

This pilot study gathered information regarding overall levels of psychopathology in a nationally selected, random sample of U.S. Roman Catholic secular (i.e., diocesan) priests using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 2004). The study yielded a response rate of 45%. One-half of the participants reported marked psychological problems, with interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, and depression most strongly correlated with the instrument’s overall index of psychopathology. Four dimensional scales were elevated (i.e., obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, psychoticism), as were two indices (i.e., GSI, PST). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Personality expectations and perceptions of Roman Catholic clergy members

This study examined the expectations of Roman Catholic priests' personality characteristics. Personality measures (i.e., Symptom Check List-90-Revised, Weinberger Adjustment Inventory, Belief in Personal Control Scale, and several authordesigned measures) were administered to 102 undergraduate students. The subjects' perceptions of Roman Catholic priests' personality traits were examined by having the subjects complete the Personality Adjective Checklist (PACL) describing a typical Roman Catholic priest. These scores were compared to PACL scores from 12 successful applicants to the priesthood. Findings suggest that subjects tend to view Roman Catholic priests stereotypically as authority figures and that Catholic subjects view priests more positively than do non-Catholic subjects.     

The situation of the Roman Catholic Church in Belorussia

Válogatott irások (Selected Writings) by Lajos Ordass, edited by István Szépfalusi. Bern: Az Európai Protestáns Magyar Szabadegyetem, 1982.     

The Roman Catholic Church of Norway and migration challenges

Ever since its re-establishment in Norway in 1843, the Roman Catholic Church has grown steadily. On 1 January 2017, the church had a total membership of approximately 150,000. The reason for the latest, and certainly largest, wave of Catholic migrants to settle in Norway is labour migration resulting from the eastward expansion of the EU in 2004, when Poland and Lithuania joined. About half the Catholic population of Norway originates from these two countries. This article focuses on the following research question: How does the Roman Catholic Church in Norway, represented by sisters in religious communities, priests and ecclesiastical employees, respond to the large influx of Catholic migrants to Norway? The study is based on a qualitative survey consisting of semi-structured interviews with 10 informants, all religious sisters, priests or ecclesiastical employees. Although some informants admit that the strong growth resulting from migration has posed problems, such as tendencies to form ‘parallel congregations’ based on ethnic origin, most expressed a positive view of this influx of migrants and of the future of the Catholic Church in Norway.     

Roman Catholic Approaches to the Qur'an since Vatican II

Vatican II opposes polemical attitudes to Islam but gives no specific guidance on the Qur'an. Modern Roman Catholic writing on the Qur'an includes a considerable variety of approaches. At the positive end of the spectrum: for Christian members of GRIC (Groupe de Recherche Islamo-Chrétien) the Qur'an is “an authentic Word of God, but one in part essentially different from the one in Jesus Christ”; George Dardess affirms that the Qur'an and the Eucharist are both means through which “God shares with us God's self through the word”; for Giulio Basetti-Sani the Qur'an is divine revelation but it does not contradict Christian doctrine; Jacques Dupuis sees the Qur'an as a real but imperfect revelation. More cautious approaches are found in the writings of Jacques Jomier and Christian Troll, for whom the biblical testimony to Christ is the decisive word of God, and not just one divine revelation alongside another in the Qur'an.