Why Are So Many Young Priests Leaving Ministry?

When Toby — not his real name — approached the altar during his ordination Mass roughly a decade ago, he was understandably nervous — perhaps much more so than the average ordinand.
Despite growing up Catholic, loving his faith, and enjoying constant encouragement throughout his seminary experience, Toby had nevertheless been harboring serious doubts about whether he could truly say “Yes” to priesthood. But he says expectations from family, supporters and the seminary itself created a situation where he felt it impossible to step back from ordination.
Though he immediately felt deeply insecure in the priesthood, Toby, on the advice of an older priest, decided to take his best swing at parish ministry.
“By Christmas, I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown,” Toby recalled.
“I was trying to do something wholeheartedly and properly and conscientiously, and my heart wasn’t there. Especially, saying Mass became very painful. It was this experience of this chasm between what I was doing …