Religiosity, Spirituality, and the Private Life of Married Clergy: Generational Cohorts and Geographic Regional Comparisons of Deacons

A category of Roman Catholic clergy increasing in number over the past several decades is the ordained permanent deacon (Ditewig, 2004; Ditewig & Tkacik, 2010; Keating, 2006), unpaid ministers publically reading Holy Scripture, baptizing members into the Church, witnessing over weddings, wake services, and funerals, blessing people, objects, and places, and distributing Holy Communion. The permanent deacon is a ministry of charity focusing on social justice, charity, and the communal needs of others (Ferrari, 2013, 2014). The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) reported that 46% of the total global number of deacons was found in the U.S. and Canada (Weaver, 2010), yielding in 2012 an estimated 17,325 ordained Catholic deacons. Because of information training, different but related cohorts of permanent deacons emerged. In the present study, these cohorts were designated from self-reported year of ordination by participants and labeled Cohort #1 (1971 to 1983), Cohort # 2 (1984 to 2004), and Cohort # 3 (2005 to the present). The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reported 177 dioceses established diaconate formation programs (CARA, 2013) across 13 different geographic regions for the U.S. and Canada. Seven regions were assessed in the current study, yielding a median number of 231 participating deacons per region (range = 106-271). Final comparison groups, then, were three generation cohorts by seven geographic regions.Only a few studies examined the characteristics of Catholic deacons. In an unpublished dissertation, Kobal (2005) interviewed five Pennsylvania deacons who felt their local laity understood the clerical role of a deacon. Gamino, Sewell, Mason, and Crostley (2007) examined archival records on psychological screening measures for 139 Texas men either selected or not as "aspirants" (men entering their first year of diaconal studies). Selected candidates were mature men, successful in careers and marriage, free of disabling neurosis, addictions, anger, and interpersonal problems, and possessed solid ego strength. However, in a conference presentation of 17 Oklahoma men entering the diaconate, Ashworth and Dilks (2012) found deacons were rigid and moralistic with perfectionistic tendencies. These studies provided very limited information from small sample sizes of men who applied or were just selected to be deacons and who resided in select geographic U.S. regions.Ferrari and colleagues (2015; Ferrari & Vaclavik, 2016) reported no significant differences across generational cohort or geographic regions on self-reported personality traits (using the HEXACO model), yet on a honesty-humility dimension, deacons scored much higher than previously published mean scores for a male community sample (Ferrari, 2015). In terms of parish leadership, deacons were not significantly different on servant and transformational leadership styles, regardless of generation or geography (Ferrari & Vaclavik, 2016). More specifically, the present cross-sectional, exploratory study focused on religious attitudes, spiritual beliefs, and behavioral work-ministry practices by Catholic deacons, controlling for potentially social desirable responding. No expected significant differences were hypothesized for cohort generations or regional geography by deacons on religious commitment and spiritual transcendence beliefs. However, Hall (1997) reviewed research on clergy work-stress and found assessments of clergy spirituality relating to religious functioning and pastoral duties were lacking. Golden, Piedmont, Ciarrocchi, and Rodgerson (2004; Piedmont, 2001) reported behavioral components of work-related stress among clergy. Deacons, with their personal life commitments (e.g., marriage, family, employment) and parish duties (unpaid and seemingly growing), may experience stress with conflicting work and ministry life responsibilities. These behavioral work-related stressors may be independent of the strong sense of spirituality and faith among deacons (Ditewig, 2004; Ferrari, 2014a). …