ROMAN

CATHOLIC

PRIESTS

TODAY
- by -

L. H. LEHMANN, D.D.

(Former priest of the Oatholic Ohurch)

Author of "The Soul 01 a Priest"

AGORA PUBLISmNG CO.

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The following is a personal critical an­

alysis 01 the outlook ot the Roman Oatholic

clergy of our time, four hundred years af­
ter the Lut.heran Reformation.

It is 'written at the request of some in­

terested clergymen of the EV'angelical Lu­
theran Ohurch in America, with a view to
evaluate the prospects of a possible reform.
of the Roman Ohurch in our twentieth cen­

tury in line with the work of the Monk of

W'ittenberg.

The writer aims herein to present a dis­

passionate view ot this great question. He
leaves it to the discriminating reader to

apportion the praise or blame of what is

stated where it belongs. His analysis is
based upon his own personal experience as
a ministering priest of the Roman Catholic
Ohurch on three continents, and as the re­
sult of his studies as a graduate theologian
of the Roman Ohurch.

It is divided into two sections: one deal­

ing with the outlook of priests still at­
tached to the Ohurch; the other with that

of those who break away from it, and .their

consequent approach to, or further drift
from, a truer interpretation 01 Ohristian

eoteriotoçu.



SECTION I.

Roman Catholic Priests

Today

Outlook of Priests Attached to the

Roman Church

There is no body of men in the world

today about whom so little can intimately
be known as the priests of the, Roman Cath­

olic Church. In the United Btates alone
they number thirty thousa.nd.

By their adherents they are lauded, un­

questioningly obeyed-almost deified. By
their enemies they are condemned, ridi­

culed-hated. As a consequence, true know­

ledge of their doctrinal beUefs and moral

status cannot be had from either side. An

air of mystery and excessive reverence,

aided by the perfume of incense and flowers,

cuts off a priest from intimate contact with

his own congregation; hate and anger be­

cloud the judgment of his, avowed oppon­
ents in the opposite camp. His exclusive

social status, forced celibate mode of liv­

ing, and his disassociation from the ordi­

nary life of other men, make It extremely
difficult for even a fair-minded outsider to

guess what the mind and outlook of the

Roman Catholic prtest really Is. On the

one side, there is a credulous' acceptance
of impossibilities, on 'the other, over-esti-

3



mated reports of flagrant deception and

immorality.

What then is the true mind and religi­
ous outlook of Roman Catholic priests to­

day? What do they really believe? How
do they actually live? What is their atti­
tude towards Protestantism? Does their

attitude in all these differ in any way from

that of priests in Luther's time?

BACKGROUND

Priests of the Catholic Church may be

divided roughly into two classes: those edu­
cated in Catholic European countries, and
those reared and trained in countries of

the modern Protestant world. This differ­

ence of geographical background has an

important bearing upon their religious ou t­
look later as priests.

Generally it may be said that priests
with an 'entirely Catholic background sel­
dom can be induced to renounce the priest­
hood and the practices of their Church­
even if serious doubts assail them. The

fear-conditioning of their early training
forces them to remain as ministers of the

Roman religion even when personal faith
and sanctity disappear. This is especially
true of Irish priests, and those of exclusive
Irish extraction.

On the other hand, those reared in a
Protestant atmosphere frequently express
dissatisfaction with many of the beliefs and

practices of the Church, and are seldom
steadfast in their obedience to all the de­

mands of their superiors in disciplinary
matters. This is so well known to Church

4



officials, that many 'bishops in Protestant

countries refuse to accept boys for the

priesthood who have not had a completely

Catholic background, both as to country

and family.

Furthermore, pr.iests from Protestant en­

vironments, especially with a taint of Pro­

testant blood in their families, are gener­

ally not without an inkling of' desire for

belief in salvation by a more personal ac­

ceptance of Christ than is offered them by

the authoritarian method of the external

law system of Rome. It is this class that

succeeds in quietening the minds of Protes­

tants today concerning the menace of Rom­

anism in the modern world. They even go

a long way when making apology for their

Church in agreeing with Protestant critics

-will even admit that salvation in the

long run depends, not upon the legalistic

stipulations of the Pope, but upon individ­

ual acceptance of salvation from God. 'I'hese

priests are responsible for the: present ap­

parent desire for understanding between

Catholics and Protestants. Officially, how­

ever, they are bound to uphold the exclu­

sive claim of Rome to monopoly of salva­

tion-a fact which all their handshaking

and specious good fellowship cannot hide.

Among the preponderant Irish and Ger­

man priests in the United States, however,

there is no trace of this apparent concilia­

tory attitude towards Protestantism. They

insist with their congregations upon the

exclusive Roman teaching that salvation

and damnation depend directly upon strict

obedience to the laws and regulations laid

down by the Church in Rome.

5



BELIEF

Few priests take interest in the Bible as

something of personal, spiritual value, The

few texts, in defense of the Church's or­

ganic structure, which they learned in

seminary, suffice to bolster up their de­

fense of the Church in their Sunday ser­

mons. Irish priests, in particular, invari­

ably retain their distaste for the' Book

which is connected with their childhood

aversion to' everything Protestant. While
such priests remain in office, therefore,
there is little hope that they would be in­

duced to accept and proclaim the Gospel

teaching of salvation as Protestants under­

stand it.

During the, years of their seminary train­

ing they are not urged to take an interest

in the Scriptures for their intrinsic, per­
sonal worth. All that is taught them is the

required sections dealing with the defense

of the Church's historical and doctrinal

developmen t. A course in Exegesis is add­

ed in defense of Papal doctrine against the

attacks of the Modernists concerning the

historicity of the Bible and its incomplete­
ness for present-day needs. In their own

personal difficulties, no priest of my ac­

quain tance eyer took refuge in the guid­
ance and admonitions of the Bible. And

in my own case, I must confess that it

never occurred to me to search the Scrip­

tures to solve my doubts about the, claims

of the Catholic Church until the last mo­

ment, and then only because I discovered

that others had done so before me, and con­

sequently I sought only the passages they

made mention of.

Summing up, therefore, my estimate of

the beliefs of my former brother-priests

6



with whom I have worked on three conti­

nents, I can safely say that fully fifty per­

cent of them are either unbelievers in
the

Gospel teaching of salvation as
understood

by Protestants, or are ignorant of
it. Of

the other fifty percent, many do not. bother

themselves in the least about a better way

of salvation. About twenty-five percent ac­

cept the regulations of the Church
whole­

heartedly and blindly and, as a
conse­

quence, find a peace that comes of a per­

plexed resignation. These are the good,

conscientious and well-meaning priests gen­

erally met with. A few attempt to adjust

their acquiescience in Rome's legalistic doc­

trine of salvation to a private interpreta­

tion of the Gospels. On the other hand,

many priests who are most energetic
and

successful in the outward work and admin­

istration of church matters are godless in

their private lives.

Most priests I have known and worked

with, however, would consider a reform
in

their Church at large, especially in the mat­

ter of clerical celìbacy, were it not for the

almost insurmountable difficulties, economic

and sentimental, that stand in the way.

There are some who have confessed this to

me even after I resigned from the priest­

hood and had gone out from amongst them.

DISCIPLINE

A matter of prime importance to nearly

all priests is the difficulty of finding escape

from the stringent regulations imposed up­

on their own consciences and mode of life.

I would say that the majority of those who

take the matter under advisement do not

consider strict adherence to these legal

7



regulations as essential for their personal
salvation hereafter. To 'satisfy their con­

sciences, they sharply distinguish between
laws which are purely ecclesiastical, and
those imposed by their Church as the cus­
todian of the eternal, dìvìne laws of God.
Since the latter are included in the simple
ten Commandments, priests are ready to

acknowledge their obligation to adhere to
them. In 'some instances, however, they
excuse themselves even in breaches of the

Decalogue by indulgent interpretations
which practical considerations of Church

policy seem to make necessary. For ex­

ample, in the case of adultery in their own

lives, they will attempt to extenuate their

sin by appealing to the harsh law of the
Church which forbids them legal marriage.
Likewise, any seeming .injustice in the

handling of money can always be thrown
back upon the Church as responsible. This
ìs evident in the matter of accepting money
for the saying of masses, donations, and
also bequests given them by dying persons
either through fear or by inducement of

priests themselves. Again, the overlooking
of public injustice, graft and corruption in

government officials and friendly business

men, can also be debited to the necessity
of the Church. For they say it needs the

influence of powerful men in public life
to favor and safeguard its interests in a
hostile modern state.

CELmACY

In the matter of celibacy, Roman priests
today differ in no wise from those of Mar­
tin Luther's time. This needs no personal
testimony, since the sex urge in humans is

8



no less aggravating now as then. What

slight difference there may be is one merely
of a manner of acting. There is less sex

collusion between priests and nuns today
in modern Protestant countries. This is

due to stricter regulations, and less secrecy,
in the conduct of convent life. On the other

hand, advantage is taken of the greater
freedom available to pr ìests in their con­

tacts with women and girls of the world,
which is helped by their almost civilian

mode of dress', automobiles, and greater
freedom in going from place to place. The

advanced age of high ranking officials in

the Church renders sex scandals in high

places less likely in our day; though of late

the trend seems to be again towards selec­

tion of bishops from men in their early

thirties. Most Cardinals and all Popes, on

the other hand, are now advanced at an

age that usually precludes sexual potency.
This fact has helped to clear the Catholic

Church in modern times of the historic ac­

cusation of sex corruption among its hier­

archy.

THE PRIEST'S BREVIARY

The obligation of the daily recitation of

the Breviary book is another source of an­

noyance and sin to priests. Each day of

their lives the threat of mortal sin and

consequent damnation hangs over their

heads should they omit to mouth the pray­
ers therein commanded to be pronounced
with their lips. They style this obligation

1 Official Rome regards the dress of priests in
modern countries as laical and due to Protestant

influence. Their ideal is to have all priests wear
the soutane and tonsure even on the streets as they
do in Latin countries.

9



"The- Pope's Debt", and its daily burden is

bitterly resented by even the, best of them.

They ridicule its .crude Latinity and the

doubtful veracity of its, contents. Its virtue

lies in the actual repetition of the words

with the lips; any understanding of their [i
meaning or spiritual significance being un-

necessary.
l

A great many priests, especially of the
,I \

younger generation in Amerìca, soon rele-

gate its four volumes to the dusty shelv-es

of their libraries. They swallow the sin

of it as but one of many others, imposed

upon them by their state of life, which, un-

der the circumstances, can scarcely be

avoided.

10

FUTURE HOPES

The breaking up of Protestantism into a

multiplicity of warring 'sects is put forward

by many priests of the Church of Rome as

excuse for their continued hostility to

everything Protestant. They regard con­

tinued support of the Papacy as the lesser

of two evils in the conduct of Christianity

when faced with a choice between the

Church of Rome and any of those brought

into existence after Luther's Reformation.

Some look upon Protestantism as a well­

intentioned effort that has failed as pre­

dicted. And the idea ìs being accepted by

outstanding priests in America that the

present trend to Communism is a revenge

of history for the repudiation of centralized

Papal power in the sixteenth century. It

is further taken by them as proof of the

total repudiation of Protestantism with its

doctrine of individualism in theology,

which has, led to the evils, of rugged in-



dividualism in CIVICS and economics. In

the main, Roman Catholic priests dismiss
Protestantism with a shrug of contempt,
and unworthy of serious consideration as
a force for the solution of the ills of our

century. They regard it as a rootless sys­
tem, doomed to pending extinction.

SECTION II

Outlook of Priests Who Forsake the

Church of Rome

11

WHY THEY LEAVE

No better indication can be had of the

general outlook of the clergy of the Roman
Church than that evinced by those who
leave its ranks. Contrary to the unfair
opinion forced upon Catholics since Lu­
ther's time, few Roman Catholic priests for­
sake their ministry for base reasons. A
safer cloak for irregularities can be had by
remaining within the fold than by deliber­
ately leaving and getting married. The
chief reason for defections is, the sincere

conviction that the individual, and the race
at large, cannot be aided to a more pro­
gressive way of life by the application of

Papal dogmas and practices. There are
many who remain in the priesthood who
also hold such convictions, but by no means
all of them consider it obligatory to do
anything about it. The dire consequences
that follow the renunciation of their only
means of subsistence deter many who



would otherwise act up sincerely to their

convictions. Again, there is the specious

excuse that the responsibility rests entirely

with the Church-that impersonal creature

of ecclesiastical law which can easily be

made the scapegoat for all the. shameful

things that Rome has perpetrated through­

out the centuries under the banner of Jesus

Christ.

LOST SHEPHERDS

No more suitable name can be, coined for

ex-priests of the Church of Rome than this

-for those who were once shepherds of

souls, and now themselves utterly lost and

at sea as regards any religious belìef or

policy of guidance for themselves. Seldom

can any of them arrive by their own accord

at any haven of spiritual peace through

evangelical enlightenment. For they carry

with them out of the Roman Church their

distaste for the religion of the Reforma­

tion. Unaccustomed to seek solace from

Bible teaching, they are without personal

incentive to inquire for help from the, Pro­

testant Churches.

Of the one hundred-odd former Roman

priests whom I have known, either directly

or indirectly, scarcely a dozen accepted

permanently the tenets of Protestant be­

lief and policy. Of the remainder, some be­

came utterly indifferent to all reltgìous no­

tions, others avowed atheists.

The outstanding effort to reclaim the

wrecked spiritual lives of former Roman

priests of our generation was the work of

Father James O'Connor, himself an ex­

priest of the Roman Church, and founder

of Christ's Mission in New York City. He

12



WHAT OF THE FUTURE?

It may be said that an institution like
the Roman Church, SQ deep-rooted in his­
tory, so iron bound and regimented in ex­

ternals, and so lacking in true Christian

spirit internally, may be completely up­
rooted but neve·r again reformed - that
when attacked, its great shell will crack
and crumble to dust. Mexìcò, Spain and
Russìa might be quoted as examples of
what will happen to the Church at large.

But if use be looked for from priests who
forsake the altars of Rome, a sympathetic
and understanding approach must be made
to the problem both of their spiritual re­
habilitation and their economic needs.

Through them much could be done to
awaken the laity of the Catholic Church to
a truer interpretation of Christian teach­
ing. From within the ranks of the priest­
hood it can hardly be accomplished. Econ­
omic security and a center of operations
would have to he offered in order to in­

duce those within the priesthood to come
forth to proclaim the Christ of the Gos­

pels, and those who have already broken
with it to devote themselves to the comple­
tion of the work in our time of the great
Monk of Wittenberg.

13

was instrumental in rehabtlìtatìng close to
150 of his former brethern as they left
the priesthood. Some of these have since
served as pastors of Protestant churches;
others he succeeded in placing in business

positions. This Mission still survives under
the same, name in New York City, but has
lost its primary object in being of practical
help to men who once served the altars of
Rome.



 



 



By the 'same author

THE SOUL OF A PRIEST

A thrilling, absorbing autobiography.

Cloth binding, large readable type.

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