Fewer than 40 percent of Americans see members of the clergy as major contributors to society, with Hispanic Catholics especially unimpressed, a recent Pew Research Center study shows.
The results put the clergy in the middle of 10 professions as far as perceived contributions go, and showed little change from a similar study done in 2009. Members of the military ranked first, with 78 percent saying they contribute “a lot” to the “well-being of society,” and lawyers came in last with 18 percent.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published the results Thursda
This makes for depressing reading. Perhaps there is a warning here for us not to be swallowed up in the ritual side of our work. But it left me wondering. For example, I have set the ball rolling with regard to a food bank. When it opens it will be based in our parish centre. It will be thoroughly ecumenical, with nearly all local churches supporting. I have met with a surveyor and builders to plan internal building works for the food bank, I have talked the project through our church council, and I have met with local church leaders so that it becomes not my project but one from the whole Christian community. It will be run by volunteers from all the churches. But what will an onlooker see? A project that apparently works without the priest’s involvement.
Terry Tee, yes, exactly.
And it doesn’t help that we live in a society where popular interpretations of the Gospel tend to emphasize an “Everyone Goes To Heaven” mantra. If no one believes their ritual and sacramental duties have any efficacy for the saving of souls, priests come off as just glorified figureheads presiding over the local charity network.