Migration and Integration of Foreign Priests. Aspirations, Religiosity, and Tensions in the Narratives of Foreign Priests in Italy

Angela Delli Paoli; Giuseppe Masullo

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.19.4.04

Authors

Angela Delli Paoli University of Salerno, Italy
Giuseppe Masullo University of Salerno, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.19.4.04

Keywords:

International Migration, Foreign Priests, Catholicism, Italy, Religiosity, Integration

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the individual factors sustaining the migratory flow of Catholic priests to Italy. Priests’ migration cannot be seen as the mere result of lack of vocations and shortage of priests in the host country since their agency, belief, aspirations, and motivations affect their religious identity and, consequently, their integration and participation in the host country. Drawing on qualitative research, this paper collects the voices and the narratives of selected international priests living in Italy. Priests’ interviews led to broad-range questions about the nature of migration decisions and their integration into the host society and churches that originate from differences in religiosity, vocations, and missions. That resulted in a typology of 4 types of migrant priests: careerist priests, highly educated and integrated into the host country, driven by career and salary aspiration, and showing a highly politicized vision of religion; servant priests, with a strong missionary impulse to serve the Church as a universal institution transcending abstract and real boarders; evangelist priests who feel the moral obligation to evangelize secularized countries to bring them back to the origins of Catholicism; rebel priests who feel second-class priests, discriminated both within and outside the Church, in a country where they were forced to move, for this reason questioning their sense of clear vocational directions.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Angela Delli Paoli, University of Salerno, Italy

Angela Delli Paoli is a Researcher (tenure-track) in the Department of Humanities, Philosophy, and Education (University of Salerno), where she teaches Sociology and Social Research Methods and coordinates the International Lab for Innovative Social Research (ILIS). She was a visiting researcher at the London Business School (UK), a visiting professor at the University of Finance and Administration of Prague, and a visiting lecturer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. From 2010 to 2017, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Sociology (University of Salerno). She participated as a senior researcher and expert evaluator in several European (Horizon 2020 interim evaluation, Eurofound expert groups), national, and regional expert groups. She also acts as an independent evaluator for the European Commission General Directorate for Research and Innovation and the European Commission Research Executive Agency (REA). Her research interests are qualitative and quantitative social research methods. She has authored monographic studies, several essays, book chapters, and articles published in national and international academic journals on digital social research, digital ethnography, migration, and non-normative identities.
Giuseppe Masullo, University of Salerno, Italy

Giuseppe Masullo is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Department of Humanities, Philosophy, and Education (University of Salerno), where he teaches Sociology and Sociology of Gender and directs the International Lab for Innovative Social Research (ILIS), an interdisciplinary center promoting theoretical, epistemological, and methodological advances in the field of social sciences through constant dialogue with national and international scholars. His main topics of scientific interest are non-normative identities, gender, sexuality, health, and disease. His research interests focus on different targets, particularly vulnerable and stigmatized populations such as young people, migrants, and LGBTQ+, through an intersectional approach. His recent area of research includes digital society and its theoretical and methodological effects.

References

Ahanotu, Leonard U. 2019. “Navigating between Cultures: Cross-Cultural Challenges of Nigerian Catholic Priests Working in the United States.” Missiology: An International Review 47(3):315-335. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0091829619858597

Archer, Margaret S. 1982. “Morphogenesis versus Structuration: On Combining Structure and Action.” British Journal of Sociology 33(4):455-483. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/589357

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. “Genesis and Structure of the Religious Field.” Comparative Social Research 13(1):1-44.

Carling, Jørgen and Kerilyn Schewel. 2018. “Revisiting Aspiration and Ability in International Migration.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44(6):945-963. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1384146

Ciarrocchi, Joseph W. and Robert J. Wicks. 2000. Psychotherapy with Priests, Protestant Clergy, and Catholic Religious: A Practical Guide. Madison, CT: Psychosocial Press.

Cipriani, Roberto. 2020. L’incerta fede. Un’indagine quanti-qualitativa in Italia [The Uncertain Faith. A Quantitative-Qualitative Inquiry in Italy]. Milano: FrancoAngeli. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3280/Book_1043_108

Collins, Francis L. 2018. “Desire as a Theory for Migration Studies: Temporality, Assemblage, and Becoming in the Narratives of Migrants.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44(6):964-980. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1384147

Elliker, Florian. 2022. “Unexplored Realities in Qualitative Research.” Qualitative Sociology Review 18(4):6-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.18.4.01

Gallagher, Kerry and Marta Trzebiatowska. 2017. “Becoming a ‘Real’ Catholic: Polish Migrants and Lived Religiosity in the UK and Ireland.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 32(3):431-445. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2017.1362883

Glaser, Barney G. 1978. Theoretical Sensitivity: Advances in the Methodology of Grounded Theory. San Francisco, CA: University of California Press.

Glaser, Barney G. and Anselm L. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-196807000-00014

Hoge, Dean R. 2002. The First Five Years of the Priesthood: A Study of Newly Ordained Catholic Priests. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

Hoge, Dean R. and Aniedi Okure. 2006. International Priests in America: Challenges and Opportunities. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

Isacco, Antony et al. 2014. “A Qualitative Study of Mental Health Help-Seeking among Catholic Priests.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 17:741-757. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2014.910759

Kim, Hun. 2011. “Migrant Workers and ‘Reverse Mission’ in the West.” Pp. 146-152 in Korean Diaspora and Christian Mission, edited by S. H. Kim and M. Wunsuk. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1ddcp6s.16

Knox, Sarah, Stephen G. Virginia, and John P. Lombardo. 2002. “Depression and Anxiety in Roman Catholic Secular Clergy.” Pastoral Psychology 50:345-358. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014461603872

Lawson, Victoria A. 2000. “Arguments within Geographies of Movement: The Theoretical Potential of Migrants’ Stories.” Progress in Human Geography 24(2):173-189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1191/030913200672491184

Lecchini, Laura and Odo Barsotti. 1999. Migrazioni dei preti dalla Polonia all’Italia [Migrations of Priests from Poland to Italy]. Report presented at the European Population Conference “Unity in Diversity.”

Lévinas, Emmanuel. 1990. Ethique et Infini [Ethics and Infinity]. Paris: Fayard.

Massey, Douglas S. et al. 1993. “Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal.” Population and Development Review 19(3):431-466. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2938462

Meyer, Frank. 2018. “Navigating Aspirations and Expectations: Adolescents’ Considerations of Outmigration from Rural Eastern Germany.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44(6):1032-1049. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1384163

Morier-Genoud, Eric. 2018. “‘Reverse Mission’: A Critical Approach for a Problematic Subject.” Pp. 169-188 in Bringing Back the Social into the Sociology of Religion. Critical Approaches, edited by V. Altglas and M. Wood. Leiden: Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004368798_009

Neuman, W. Lawrence. 2006. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Boston: Pearson Education.

Nkulu Kabamba, Olivier. 2017. Les prêtres africains citoyens européens: L’Église catholique d’Europe à l’heure du multiculturalisme sacerdotal. Questions [African Priests Who Are European Citizens: The Catholic Church in Europe at a Time of Priestly Multiculturalism. Questions]. Paris: L’Harmattan.

Pietkiewicz, Igor. 2015. “Reaching a Decision to Change Vocation: A Qualitative Study of Former Priests’ Experiences.” International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance 16:379-404. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-015-9318-2

Pietkiewicz, Igor and Dawid Bachryj. 2014. “Help-Seeking Attitudes and Coping Strategies among Roman Catholic Secular Clergy.” Psychology of Religion & Spirituality 8(1):13-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000019

Rey, Terry. 2007. Bourdieu on Religion: Imposing Faith and Legitimacy. London: Equinox.

Ricœur, Paul. 2013. Cinq études herméneutiques [Five Hermeneutical Studies]. Geneva: Labor et Fides.

Rossetti, Stephen J. and Colin J. Rhoades. 2013. “Burnout in Catholic Clergy: A Predictive Model Using Psychological and Spiritual Variables.” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 5:335-341. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033639

Scheibelhofer, Elisabeth. 2018. “Shifting Migration Aspirations in Second Modernity.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44(6):999-1014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1384151

Silverman, David. 2010. Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Silverman, David. 2015. Interpreting Qualitative Data. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Silvey, Rachel. 2004. “Power, Difference, and Mobility: Feminist Advances in Migration Studies.” Progress in Human Geography 28(4):490-506. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1191/0309132504ph490oa

Thomson, Steve. 1997. “Adaptive Sampling in Behavioural Surveys.” NIDA Research Monograph 167:296-319.

Trzebiatowska, Marta. 2010. “The Advent of the ‘EasyJet Priest’: Dilemmas of Polish Catholic Integration in the UK.” Sociology 44(6):1055-1072. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038510381618

Virginia, Stephen G. 1998. “Burnout and Depression among Roman Catholic Secular, Religious, and Monastic Clergy.” Pastoral Psychology 47:49-67. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022944830045