According to a study from The Catholic Project, a project of The Catholic University of America, not a single priest ordained since 2020 has described himself as “very progressive.” In fact, nearly all of them say they're politically moderate or conservative.
Of the 3,500 priests ordained since 2020, more than 80% describe themselves as theologically conservative or very conservative.
Austin Ruse of C-Fam, the Center for Family and Human Rights, says the survey suggests the hippie priests are aging out and dying off.
“And this was a problem, I think, of the Baby Boomers,” he advises.
Going back to the 1960s, Ruse says, conservative-leaning priests had to hide their conservative orthodoxy from their liberal and illicit leadership at the Vatican. Those powerful priests and bishops, famously nicknamed the “Lavender Mafia” for their homosexual lifestyle, controlled the seminaries and vital church offices for generations.
“I don't think that's the case anymore,” he says.
Ruse, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, credits the Church’s progress against progressivism to Pope John Paul II, who became pope in 1978. The well-respected head of the Catholic Church led it until his death, at age 84, in 2005.
Even though the data on new priests is promising for Catholic doctrine, Ruse says the jury is still out if the conservatives will, for example, become more vocal on abortion and take a public pro-life stance.
“Will these young guys get more politically involved? You know, I don't know,” he says.
