Where Two or Three are Gathered: Catholic Seminarians’ Perspectives on Individual Versus Communal Living Arrangements of Diocesan Priests

Abstract

This study addresses the perspectives of Catholic seminarians on a model of diocesan communal living as an alternative to the current more solitary model of diocesan priestly living. An assessment was made of 246 Catholic diocesan seminarians’ attitudes toward communal living in the diocesan priesthood. Seminarians reported high levels of interest in the possibility of communal living after ordination, preference for diocesan communal living, and perceived benefit of life in a priestly community. These positive attitudes toward communal life suggest that seminarians are conscious of a needed restructuring in current priestly living conditions and discern diocesan communal living to be an appealing solution.