During the seventies, most American Catholic bishops, priests and laypeople rapidly abandoned the traditional devotions and trappings that had sustained the Church for generations. Those who objected often felt like strangers in their own spiritual homes.
Three recent studies indicate that this trend is finally coming to an end.
Three Studies, One Conclusion
Younger priests, on average, are more traditional than the older men they will replace in the coming decades. That is the conclusion of a new study titled “Morale, Leadership, and Pastoral Priorities: Highlights from the 2025 National Study of Catholic Priests.”
The new study confirms two earlier ones. The first was “The Class of 2025: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood,” conducted by Georgetown University in 2024, and focused on those about to be ordained. The other study was released by “The Catholic Project” in 2022.
The 2022 study gave rise to an article from Pope Francis’s confreres at the Jesuit journal America, “U.S. Catholics are More Liberal. Young Priests are More Conservative. Can the Synod Help Us Overcome Our Divisions?”
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America’s contention that the general run of Catholics in the U.S. is liberal is doubtful at best. However, the second sentence in that title is undeniably accurate. Younger clerics are, indeed, more orthodox.
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There are many reasons for this development. Like many Catholics of their generation, some are simply hungry for holiness. Others seek a beauty that transcends felt banners and folk music. They seek the timelessness of traditional expressions of the Faith. Vacuous twentieth-century attempts to replace the wisdom of Saint Thomas Aquinas repel them.
The trend is undeniable.
A Significant Generational Shift
Like the study that so concerned the Jesuits, The Catholic Project also sponsored the new study. The Gallup Organization, which virtually founded modern opinion polling about ninety years ago, conducted the more mechanical aspects of gathering data.
The study is quite comprehensive, covering a wide range of topics. However, the real difference is between the generations.
The survey notes that seventy percent of priests ordained before 1975 called themselves progressive. Conversely, a similar number of those ordained since 2000 identify as conservative or orthodox.
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The significance of this shift is massive. During the early seventies, liberal priests were so common as almost to be a cliché. Such men appeared in war protests, on television, in movies, in the lyrics of popular songs and, of course, in real life. Enthused by the Second Vatican Council, they embraced change in its myriad forms. These were also the men who bristled when Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical letter Humanae Vitae. Stories of the many men who abandoned their vocations and left the clergy abounded in the popular press.
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Thankfully, Our Lord has seen fit to repair some of the rot that gave rise to such conditions. The extent of that change is remarkable and inexplicable by any means other than supernatural. Indeed, there has not been any sudden reversal in attitudes among seminary professors, nor has there been a groundswell of conservative bishops. For clerical progressives, like the editors of America, the change is mystifying.
On the subject of secular politics, the trend is similar, but not quite as dramatic. Sixty-one percent of older priests claim to be either “somewhat” or “very” liberal politically. Only ten percent of younger priests express similar views. On the other hand, fifty-one percent of younger priests are “somewhat” or “very” conservative.
Ecclesiastical Concerns Displace Social Justice
Likewise, there are significant differences between the pastoral priorities of priests ordained before 1980 and those ordained after 2000. The most dramatic differences lie in two areas—climate change/ecology and relations with the “LGBTQ community.” Over three-quarters of the elder priests place a high priority on ecology, while two-thirds emphasize “LGBTQ” concerns. For the younger men, the emphasis falls to about one-third for both issues. Other issues, especially those dear to liberals—immigration, poverty, racism and social justice—show similar, but far less dramatic, changes.
On the other hand, there are two issues in which younger priests place far greater emphasis than their elders. Younger men are far more likely to emphasize eucharistic devotion—a shift from fifty-seven to eighty-eight percent. Additionally, larger numbers of younger priests favor access to the Latin Mass, increasing from eleven to thirty-nine percent. Even though social issues still retain importance, younger priests are far less likely to rank them above concerns related to worship and the practice of the Faith.
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These are heartening developments, ones that speak well for the continued growth of the Church. Many so-called mainline Protestant sects emphasized social issues. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is experiencing a revival of traditional practices, such as eucharistic processions, the return of tabernacles to the high altar, the reintroduction of incense, more rigorous training of altar servers and congregational recitations of the Rosary. At the heart of many of these hopeful developments lie the young and dedicated priests who carry them out.
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