When priests of the diocese gathered for their study days in mid-October, the focus was on what’s most on their minds the past several months—the scandal of clergy sexual misconduct.

Some of the lingering questions for priests include whether they’ve lost their nerve in the moral leadership that their ministry demands and how they can recover their identity and sense of mission, according to Father Brendan O’Sullivan, pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Sacramento.

Sulpician Father Melvin Blanchette, a licensed psychologist who spoke at the gathering, said his aim was to offer the priests insights from theology, spirituality and psychology, and practical advice on how they can face the difficulties the scandal has posed to their lives and ministries.

Despite “a lot of negative publicity,” the priesthood is “still doing very well,” Father Blanchette said in an interview at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights.

“In terms of the scandals, we have been broken, but we can become strong,” he said. “The church is going to get through this struggle. It’s a terrible thing that’s happened in the lives of some young people, and I think we are in universal agreement to do everything we can to help those who have been abused and victimized, but at the same time we’re going to acknowledge the importance of priesthood. Priests should hold their heads high and be proud of who they are.”

The annual three-day gathering was initially set to focus on Vatican II’s document on communication and its implications for homilies, religious education and collaborative ministry.

But in the circumstances, “it seemed more appropriate and pressing to tackle the situation that afflicts us,” said Father Brendan O’Sullivan, pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Sacramento, who coordinated the study days as director of continuing education for priests.

Priests had dialogued about the crisis of clergy sexual abuse when they gathered before the Chrism Mass in March. But they “needed another opportunity as a presbyterate to deal with feelings of shame, blame, anger and disillusionment,” Father O’Sullivan said.

“Earlier on, there was an implication that this problem was not as major as the press was making it out to be at the time,” he noted. “We’ve learned that the problem is a major embarrassment to all of us and to the church, and one has to really agree to that reality before we can move on.”

Priests needed to “take a hold of the problem, talk about it, and respond honestly to what it has done to us,” he said. “Unless you do that, you’re not going to be able to move on and to ensure that through our best efforts anything like this will never happen again.”

Some of the lingering questions for priests include whether they have lost their nerve in the moral leadership that their ministry demands and how they can recover their identity and sense of mission, Father O’Sullivan said.

Father Tim Nondorf, parochial vicar of St. Philomene Parish in Sacramento, who was ordained a priest in 1999, said clergy – no matter what age – felt the need at the study days “to pray about what’s happened, pray for our brothers who have sinned, slipped or fallen away, and pray and support each other.”

The crisis of clergy sexual abuse “has isolated a lot of priests and I include myself in that,” he said. “Everyone knows about it and no one wants to talk about it, but the concern is there. As a group talking about it we could say we’re not alone and we’re going to get through this together.”

Father Blanchette, who directs the Vatican II Institute in Menlo Park, which provides for the ongoing education of priests, said a challenge of the study days was to speak about the sex abuse scandal and related issues to priests whose ages span four time periods: the “World War I” generation, born between 1905 and 1925; the “World War II” generation, born between 1925 and 1945; the “Baby Boomers,” born between 1945 and 1965; and the “Gen Xers,” born between 1965 and 1985.

“The whole experience (of the gathering) is for the priests to have a conversation about their lives and to see where their lives might change — that they might live out in life what they believe in their hearts, that they are called to be the living expression of Jesus at this time, which is a tremendous challenge,” Father Blanchette said.

Some priests talked about the toll the sex abuse scandal has taken on their lives and ministries, he said.

“Certainly some of the priests ages 60 to 75 are feeling dispirited because many of their friends either have left the priesthood in some instances, or some have become involved in some of the scandals and have been removed,” he noted. “They feel a very strong attachment to some of these priests, so necessarily they feel rather discouraged.”

But other priests said this is a time for all priests to realize they are called to a higher standard, Father Blanchette said.

“It’s not a question of simply avoiding doing anything that’s wrong; we must even avoid the perception of doing anything wrong,” he said. “In a sense, priests have been singled out — you don’t see too many other religious leaders making the newspapers the way we have in recent months.”

Father Blanchette said he saw no contradiction between advising priests to have many healthy, close friendships and the need for boundaries with all people.

“We’re called to have really good, warm, supporting friendships, but no one of us can take it upon ourselves to cross over certain boundaries of intimacy that are reserved for marital relationships,” he said. “The most effective priests are those engaged in multiple friendships — with other priests, lay people, spiritual directors, single and married adults — a wide variety of people they get involved with in ministry.”

Father Blanchette defended the state of the priesthood today despite the image of dysfuntionality generated by the scandal of clergy sex abuse. He said a recent national study shows that priests express a high level of satisfaction with their lives and very few priests in any age category are “even remotely thinking of leaving the priesthood.” Other professions would be thrilled to have such an overwhelming endorsement from their members, he noted.

“There’s a whole lot that’s great about the priesthood,” he said. “Priests by and large are good people who are striving to be holy and are witnessing and ministering well to people. It’s this witness of ordinary priests — day after day, doing what they do — being present at bedsides when people are dying, administering the sacraments, and preaching the word of God, that is going to hold forth. It’s not going to be the scandals that will prevail.”

By acknowledging the pain of clergy sex abuse and continuing on in their daily ministry, priests can move beyond the current crisis, according to Father O’Sullivan.

“We need to pick up the pieces of ourselves, because there’s work to be done in the ministry that must engage us fully,” he said. “We simply have to move ahead with hope. One can become paralyzed by just brooding on the awful nature of the problem, and our people deserve more. We have to be leaders and move on.”

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