More than 80% of Catholic priests in the United States are flourishing, according to a study released by The Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America on Oct. 14, 2025. The priests also report high confidence in Pope Leo XIV and slightly higher confidence in their own bishops since they were first surveyed three years ago.
Stephen White, The Catholic Project’s executive director, said the survey, which was conducted by Gallup between May 12 and June 20, 2025, also asked priests about their pastoral priorities and views on the Synod on Synodality, a worldwide process of consultation within the Catholic Church.
“American priests are flourishing, and their confidence in bishops has slightly improved since 2022,” said White. “They are a bit skeptical of the usefulness of the Synod on Synodality but are quite synodal in practice.”
White adds: “Their highest pastoral priorities are ministering to young people and to married couples and families, and evangelization.”
These priorities were followed by poverty, pro-life, and immigration and refugees.
Mental Health of Priests is Good, but There are Concerning Signs
The National Catholic Priest Study found most priests do not exhibit symptoms of burnout, although a significant number show at least some symptoms.
Priests ordained in the last 25 years were more likely to feel overwhelmed. Forty-five percent said they felt they are “expected to do too many things that go beyond my calling as a priest.”
The authors of “Morale, Leadership, and Pastoral Priorities: Highlights from the 2025 National Study of Catholic Priests” wrote that the generational difference “points to growing concerns about sustainability in ministry, especially as parish demands increase. It may also point to generational understandings regarding what a priest’s calling means.”
Priests Are Growing in Confidence in Their Bishop
More than seven in 10 priests said they felt their bishop cared about them, and 52% of diocesan priests expressed confidence in their bishops – a 5% improvement in just three years.
A number of respondents are in a diocese with a new bishop, which may have impacted some of the responses.
Eighty-six percent of the priest-respondents have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Pope Leo XIV.
Concerns about priest wellness and the priest-bishop relationship from the first study in 2022 spurred some dioceses to take action.
“Some bishops have used our data to go beyond simple discussion and have implemented changes such as additional in-house research, initiatives to address priests' wellness, and deficiencies in diocesan organizational structures,” said Brandon Vaidyanathan, lead researcher for the study and a professor of sociology at Catholic University.
Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha, SDV, has contributed a chapter about the changes made in that diocese for the forthcoming book, Rebuilding Trust: Clergy Morale in the Wake of the Abuse Crisis (CUA Press, 2025).
Pastoral Priorities: Young People, Marriage, Evangelization
Ninety-four percent of the priests who were surveyed said youth and young adult ministry, family formation and marriage preparation, and evangelization are priorities for the Church in the United States.
These were followed by poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity; pro-life issues; and immigration and refugee assistance.
However, the study did find the importance of priorities by generation varied.
Synod on Synodality
The Catholic Project had organized listening sessions on campus for the Synod on Synodality and was interested in what priests thought about the synodal process. It turns out their attitudes toward the Synod on Synodality are divided, although 42% did respond that it was not helpful for their ministry. Two-thirds of parish priests said their parishes participated.
The majority of priests also reported that they involve lay people in consultation and ministry already.
“American priests, though tepid on ‘synodality’ in theory, are actually quite adept at it in practice,” said White. “American priests, by and large, regularly consult the laity or at least they report that they do.”
Politics or Gospel?
Younger priests were more likely to self-identify as “conservative” or “very conservative” than longer-serving priests, but Vaidyanathan said, “The picture of the American presbyterate is more complicated than simply a growing cohort of conservatives.” He added: “While more young priests are identifying as conservatives, they are not uniform in their views on the political situation in the United States.”
The authors wrote, “The nuanced responses indicate that there is concern among priests of all political leanings, and that these concerns appear to be driven by something other than mere partisan preference.”
White said the hope for this report “is to better understand American priests — the challenges and opportunities they face — so that the whole Church can benefit from a stronger presbyterate. There are a lot of stereotypes about priests, and this data helps clear some of those away.”
