Moral Injury: The Mortal Wound of the Modern Priesthood

This essay is one I have wanted to write for a long time, and one I have been thinking about for many months, if not years. One of the silver linings of COVID has been increased attention to the mental and psychological effects of isolation and stress. The increase in depression, anxiety and related disorders is by now well documented and poised to increase, especially as the summer begins to wind down and people, especially the unemployed, find themselves inside with little to do.

One particular psychopathology is receiving wider attention as well: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, popularly known as PTSD. The roots of our understanding of this illness go back to soldiers in war, particularly after the First World War, where soldiers with “shell shock” would demonstrate, sometimes for life, symptoms of panic and terror at even very slight provocations, like sudden sounds or unfamiliar experiences. We know a great deal more about PTSD than we ever have, especially with advances in neuroimaging technology. We see how the parts of the brain (such as the amygdala) that regulate our most primal emotions, such as fear, actually grow in response to repeated stress and trauma. Meanwhile, this disease even taxes the nervous and endocrine systems, leading to adrenal fatigue, metabolic disorders, and other problems.

Around the same time the problem of PTSD was being identified and understood by the medical community, a somewhat similar problem is now receiving greater attention, but not nearly the amount of attention I believe it deserves: the problem of Moral Injury, which is the topic of this essay.

According to the Organization Volunteers of America, moral injury has no short definition. Here is what they say in full:

“There is no predictable set of causes, but there are experiences that create a risk for moral injury. They involve high stakes situations, such as life and death, a high risk for failure, no clear right and wrong choices, and harm done. A person can have moral injury not only from directly inflicting harm, but also from witnessing it happening, hearing about it, or surviving being harmed. Moral injury from being harmed involves trusting people with power who fail to do the right thing. Experiencing harm may involve feeling betrayed, humiliated, frustrated, furious, and ashamed of being contaminated by evil. People may also do things to survive that violate their conscience and believe they are no longer good.”

The description of symptoms goes on to list the following: “People will often feel grief, as well as guilt, remorse, shame, outrage, and despair. They lose trust in themselves and their moral foundations; their relationships may be disrupted because they cannot trust others not to judge them, and they self-isolate. They may mask their inner pain with alcohol or drugs. They can become alienated from societal norms and lash out in anger at the slightest provocation.”

In the past two and a half years this blog has been active, I have been in touch with very many Priests throughout the world who have been sharing with me very sad life experiences, along with symptoms which I believe are very much connected to the subjects of PTSD and Moral Injury. I have written about the issue of clerical mental health in general before, but I think now we can identify these problems by name.

I would like to begin with a question, which I rarely do in an essay: Fathers, how many of you have felt the symptoms described two paragraphs ago? If you have felt this, have you also been the direct victim of, or been witness to, the situations mentioned above? Notice how Moral Injury does not only have to happen to you directly for there to be true damage. The damage done by Moral Injury is collateral: witnessing the problem that caused the injury even in another person can cause the pain and damage to adhere to yourself. This may help to explain why many Priests report not even so much the tragedy and abuse they have suffered, whether from their peers, superiors or those they serve; instead, they have close bonds with other Priests who have suffered exceptional trauma at the hands of the Church, whether clerical or lay.

It is a truism that the average secular Priest is exposed more than the average person to what could be called ‘moral hazard’. For instance, a good Priest regularly has to give counsel to people who may react adversely. He will often find himself in a situation which demands a level of emotional engagement that can quickly deplete his mental and spiritual resources. This is not something which prayer and piety in and of themselves can immediately ameliorate. But divine grace is powerful, and if a Priest utilizes these, and has a healthy support structure, the damage can be mitigated.

However, this is rarely what is found across the world. To quote again from the VOA website, “Moral injury from being harmed involves trusting people with power who fail to do the right thing”. This is, without any doubt in my own mind, the primary source of moral injury in the Modern Priesthood today. Priests as human beings have, like the people they serve, their personal struggles and even falls. With adequate self-care and that of a Spiritual Director or even a therapist, much of this can be addressed and healed, but when the source of moral injury moves from one or more predictable stimuli, such as a stressful parish or the regular battles which an authentic spiritual life entail, to a systemic problem, the problem is magnified. The wound may even be mortal, causing Priests to lose sight of the divine source and meaning of their vocation, which may even cause them to request dispensation from the demands of the clerical state.

In 2003, the beginning of the sexual abuse crisis was duly, even exhaustively, observed and rightly critiqued by the media and lay faithful. Good Priests everywhere commiserated with the faithful, and did their best to heal the damage, yet very few people have done justice to the reality that a critical mass of clergy in the world today are the walking wounded, and if this is not addressed, the damage will be beyond reckoning.

As much as I want to criticize the Bishops for this problem, and there is plenty of blame to be sent their way, I also want to acknowledge that they, too, are victims of the problem of Moral Injury. I suspect that many feel that the current legal-bureaucratic risk complex which currently holds sway over most dioceses is untenable and ultimately alienates us from our fundamental theological and philosophical commitments. I suspect that some Bishops know that current diocesan norms and practices violate the moral and emotional integrity of their Priests, whether that is in abandoning standards of justice and basic evidentiary standards, practically denying the ontology of Holy Order, or even vindictively punishing Priests who try to restore equilibrium and health in the Body of Christ by questioning the seemingly unstoppable growth of the “Ecclesiastical Deep State”, the unaccountable bureaucracy which seemingly has several dioceses, and their Bishops, in thrall. These and other problems increasingly distance Bishops from their Priests, and in turn, Priests from their people. The net result is a collapse in trust, respect and integrity across the board. In this miasmic atmosphere, the promise of obedience does not take the form of a loving and wholehearted giving of self, or an engaging of the Priest or Deacon’s will in union with that of his Bishop for the service of the Church. Instead, it becomes like a choke collar, slowly depriving the Priest as he ages of the joy of his youthful and sincere self-donation. In this environment, Bishops make use of administrative or punitive actions, devoid of basic humanitas, which deeply wound the dignity of individual Priests. If we take the definition of moral injury seriously, this does not only wound the dignity of individual Priests: the hurting of our Brothers effects entire presbyterates, some of which exhibit symptoms that would fit clinical definitions of PTSD. Such Priests and their peers may overindulge in food or alcohol. They can become increasingly negative, critical and even contemptuous of the Church. The effects of moral injury are hydra-headed and largely unaddressed, but it is possible, with the aid of divine grace, to heal them.

The first step in healing systemic and personal moral injury, whether in the Church or elsewhere, is seeking above all to reestablish trust. Trust in leaders and institutions is at an historic low across the world. Bishops and Priests together have an epochal opportunity to reforge the bonds of respect, based upon the Divine Charity, Justice and Sacramental Grace which forms the “glue” of the Priesthood.

In my opinion, the second step required to heal this problem is that Priests and Bishops must be willing to take risks and be willing to be wounded. We call that capacity in healthy individuals vulnerability. Especially in light of the Second Vatican Council, the Church has often spoken of the “medicine of mercy” and the restorative power of the same. Hopefully many Priests preach and practice the ministry of mercy not just as flowing from the Sacrament of Penance, but also as a mode of life which reaches out to the lowest and the most isolated in society. Basic human compassion for, and understanding of, the complexities of modern life and the genuine pain Priests carry within is essential if any sort of healing is to be achieved.

Thirdly, we must, as C.S. Lewis said in his Abolition of Man, cease to “remove the organ and demand the function.” It is futile to enjoin charity, chastity, mercy and probity on the part of the rank-and-file clergy when these virtues are so routinely ignored by those in power. This process begins in the Seminary, and I believe that the problem I mention here is already inflicting harm in the formation of candidates to the Priesthood. Many candidates to the Priesthood are already entering that state of life with the wounds of divorce, bad educational experiences, and more. If we add to that a formation which demands conduct in keeping with the high call of the Gospels, without nourishment of the whole man, we cannot say we take the exercise of those values seriously, anymore than we take seriously someone who says they want to lose weight, yet fails to make changes in diet and lifestyle which are necessary for that outcome.

COVID, like for many people, has moved some of these deficiencies to the forefront of the Priesthood today. Like many of the people we serve, COVID has led many Priests to be more socially isolated. Some Bishops have done outstanding work in trying to reinvigorate the piety of the people of their dioceses. I propose that similar initiatives be made for Priests. I do not propose more pre-packaged programs or Zoom seminars. I strongly recommend increased social contact between Priests, and Priests and their respective Bishops. For Priests to know concretely that they are heard and respected by their ecclesiastical superiors is absolutely essential. I am confident that such good will and pastoral care will pay dividends in the private life and public performance of Priests.

Why do I call Moral Injury a “Mortal Wound” to the Modern Priesthood? I say this because even the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Objective metrics will surely emerge in the future, but I predict they will primarily manifest in increasing rates of depression and substance abuse. We will see increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, and other serious medical conditions which are at least in part caused by chronic stress. I will even make bold to claim that 80% of cases where psychological intervention is necessary are in fact situations where Moral Injury has been inflicted. Forced psychological care and a ham-handed, risk-adverse approach to the health of individual Priests and presbyterates are a desperate and futile attempt to stop a rot which is slowly eating away at the roots of their mental stability. A good seminary formation can prepare a candidate for most conceivable stressors in Priestly life. But no amount of theological or pastoral formation can prepare a man for a lifetime of Moral Injury. Moreover, nothing short sincere work in restoring the trust of Priests in the institutional Church will suffice for the healing desperately needed.

I call on Priests worldwide, readers included, to look objectively and respectfully at the problem of moral injury in the Church. Priests who are angry and cynical do not make desirable or effective leaders. The New Evangelization, if it is to truly happen, must begin in the heart of the Priesthood, with a renewal in our common commitment to the human and theological principles which constitute our modus operandi as intended by Christ. Even in the blogosphere and on social media, we ought not express surprise at the rage and radical distrust which people express, when we ourselves cannot exorcise the demons which inhabit our chanceries and rectories.

Let me conclude by stating an additional truism, well known by spiritual masters and psychologists alike: love cannot grow where there is no trust. Is it any coincidence that the quintessentially modern devotion to the Divine Mercy thrives on the prayer, “Jesus, I trust in you”? Trust is the fertile soil which alone can provide the nourishment for stable, healthy relationships. Bishops, Priests and people together must make working on trust a key part of their daily apostolate. Priests must be able to say to their Bishop, “I trust you”. Priests must be able to say to one another, “I trust you”. People must be able to say to us, “I trust you”. If we cannot draw on deep wells of trust in our dealings with one another, no amount of bureaucratic structure can make up for the lack. Trust is the cement that binds human hearts to one another, and human hearts to Divine Providence. A Church without trust does not resemble a fertile field ripe for missionary endeavor, but a toxic, irradiated landscape in which no living thing can grow.