"Psychology and the Priesthood" Conference

From January 17^th to the 19^th, Dr. Paul Vitz presented a series of nine talks about various psychological issues and their relation to the priesthood to seminarians and priests living in the tri-state area of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Dr. Vitz received his Ph.D in Psychology from Stanford University in 1962.  After graduation, he was a professor of Psychology for many years at New York University where is now professor emeritus. Currently he is the Professor/Senior Scholar at the Institute for Psychological Sciences (IPS) in Arlington, Va. He has published over 100 essays and articles and his numerous book titles include: Psychology as religion: The cult of self-worship; Modern art and modern science; Sigmund Freud’s Christian Unconscious; Defending the family: A sourcebook; and Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism.

The presentations at the conference were as follows:

Psychology Past and Present, Psychology of Atheism, Importance of Fathers and Priests as Substitute Fathers, Psychology of Hatred, Psychology of Forgiveness, The Dangers of Priestly Narcissism, Chastity and Virtue, and Practical Psychological Issues.

The link between psychology and the priesthood is a relatively new, but very important field of research.  We thank God that so many priests and seminarians were able to take advantage of this conference presented by one of the foremost experts on the subject in this country.