Opinions of selected Filipino teenagers about priests, their priestly ministry, and some implications

• Main Author: Koster, Kenneth
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1978
• Subjects: Priests > Attitudes; Catholic Studies; Religion
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/478
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study gathered the opinions of 300 teenagers (second and fourth year) of Malate Catholic School, Metro Manila as to what they generally think and feel about priests. The descriptive method of research was used in this study. A three-part questionnaire based on one used by Fr. Robert Burke, SSC, for a similar study, supplemented by interviews, was used to gather data needed in the investigation. Statistical treatment used were the frequency percentage distribution, the Coefficient of Contingency and Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance. The conclusions drawn from the study were the following : 1. Regarding the opinions of teenagers of the Malate Catholic School, most priests were holy, happy and friendly. They were looked upon as fathers, who were busy and strict. The respondents went to priests sometimes if they had problems. The priests were considered the most important persons in the town and considered by the majority as friends. Priests were financially average, received a monthly salary and worked harder than the respondents' father or teacher. 2. The roles the teenagers expected of the priests were to administer the sacraments, to work for justice and for peace, to engage in community development and in politics and to manage or head the high school. 3. The eight duties of priests were arranged according to degree of importance in descending order : a. Holy Mass, b. helping the poor and the oppressed, c. giving advice or counsel, d. being kind to people, e. organizing people for parish group activities, f. administering or managing parish group activities, g. visiting the sick, and h. running the school. 4. Of the listed qualities of priests, the following were ranked according to importance : a. holiness, b. ability to preach and spread the Gospel, c. leadership, d. speaking about rights and injustice, and e. getting along with others. 5. There was a relationship between the subjects' and their sex and between their opinions and their age (year) level. 6. Implications of the findings : a. Priests,