Self-Attributed Importance of Spiritual Practices in Catholic Pastoral Workers and their Association with Life Satisfaction

Although much is known about the frequency of the spiritual activities of pastoral workers, less is known related to how important specific spiritual and existential practices are to pastoral workers personally or existentially. This part of the German Pastoral Ministry Study analyzed (1) which form...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Büssing, Arndt 1962- (Author) ; Frick, Eckhard 1955- (Author) ; Jacobs, Christoph 1958- (Author) ; Baumann, Klaus 1963- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science Business Media B. V. [2017]
In: Pastoral psychology
Year: 2017, Volume: 66, Issue: 3, Pages: 295-310
IxTheo Classification:CB Christian life; spirituality
KDB Roman Catholic Church
RB Church office; congregation
RG Pastoral care
Further subjects:B Gratitude
B Pastoral workers
B Humanistic Psychology
B Priests
B Pastoral Psychology
B Psychosynthesis
B RELIGIOUS psychology
B Life Satisfaction
B Prosocial practices
B spiritual practices
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Although much is known about the frequency of the spiritual activities of pastoral workers, less is known related to how important specific spiritual and existential practices are to pastoral workers personally or existentially. This part of the German Pastoral Ministry Study analyzed (1) which forms of spiritual activities were regarded as important, (2) how the perceived importance of religious practices related to frequency of engagement in spiritual practices, and (3) how these practices contributed to the life satisfaction of ordained priests and of non-ordained pastoral workers. Participants included 1826 Catholic pastoral workers, composed of 65% priests and 35% (non-ordained) pastoral assistants and parish expert workers. Prosocial-Humanistic practices scored highest in importance, followed by Gratitude/Awe, Existentialistic practices, and Religious practices; specific forms of Spiritual Mind-Body practices were not relevant. Differences in the frequency and ascribed importance of spiritual practices between ordained and non-ordained pastoral workers were identified, as well as a surprising lack of connection between religious practices and their proclaimed importance, particularly of Prosocial-Humanistic and Gratitude/Awe practices. These findings may stimulate further research into the underlying causes of these differences between priests and other pastoral workers and between the frequency and importance of spiritual practices in all groups, which in the researchers' opinion indicate challenging inconsistencies with regard to the ideals of religious vocations.
ISSN:1573-6679
Contains:Enthalten in: Pastoral psychology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11089-016-0746-9