Inside the mystery

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

Despite seeing priests every Sunday, most lay Catholics don't know much about them, their lives or what they think.

That's why Thomas Kunkel decided to interview priests across the country. The result is Enormous Prayers: A Journey into the Priesthood (Westview Press, Boulder, Colo., 1998).

Kunkel is a Catholic, a journalist, an author and dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland and president of its American Journalism Review.

He began his research in 1995 and interviewed a broad range of priests, young to old, religious and diocesan. They include Fr. Benedict Groeschel, well-known for his retreats and appearances on EWTN; Msgr. Ralph Beiting, founder of the Christian Appalachian Project; a Tridentine priest from Ohio; city priests, country priests and small town priests.

He notes that "priests aren't gods, or even saints, but human beings. Some are brilliant, some are dullards and a few, as we now know, are dangerous. In this regard they are not unlike every other segment of society. But in most other regards they remain apart, literally and imaginatively, objects of our enduring curiosity. In an age without mystery they are mystery men."

Kunkel began the book shortly after reports of clerical sexual abuse became public in the early 1990s. The more than 95% of priests who are not abusers were hit hard by the revelations, as were most Catholics. No one knew when Kunkel wrote the book that the same issue would explode only a few years later. Reading the book with that knowledge makes us even more aware of how difficult the last three years have been on our priests.

Kunkel uses the interviews to bring to life a portrait of men devoted to their calling. I was struck by how much I'd like to sit down and talk with some of them, or to have them as a pastor, spiritual director or friend. While I did not come away personally disliking any of the priests, some left me if not cold, at least cool - just like regular guys.

Some priests discussed their concerns over declining numbers and aging ranks that force them to serve more than one parish. But none are whiners. The only priests who came across as at all angry at church leadership were those who didn't think some bishops are strict enough.

The book has been out a few years, but is available in book stores or online (the Brown County Library in Green Bay also has it). Enormous Prayers should be must reading for seminarians or anyone considering a vocation to the priesthood. It's also recommended for priests and Catholics who want to know something about these "mystery men."