Priests aging well: The role of gerotranscendence and its relationships with perceived health status, and life satisfaction among Catholic priests

Abstract

Aging in the priesthood presents unique challenges in America. Due to the declining number of priests serving the growing U.S. Catholic population, many older priests delay retirement and continue to work while dealing with various physical, mental, and emotional challenges associated with aging. The present study examined predictors of life satisfaction in aging priests, using a combination of established predictors (age, spiritual transcendence, overall health) and three novel predictors corresponding to the three domains of gerotranscendence (cosmic, coherence, solitude) set out by Tornstam (1989, 2005). Survey data collected from 201 ordained Roman Catholic senior priests (between ages 50–93) revealed high levels of life satisfaction and satisfaction that was positively correlated with age, spiritual transcendence, and self-rated health. In addition, the combination of gerotranscendence predictors explained a statistically significant amount of the variance in life satisfaction, even when controlling for age, spiritual transcendence, and overall health. The coherence domain of gerotranscendence outperformed all other predictors in our model, suggesting that this may be an especially salient predictor of life satisfaction in aging priests. The present study lends support to the application of gerotranscendence when examining the wellbeing of older priests. Interventions aimed at fostering gerotranscendence appear crucial for enhancing priests' life satisfaction throughout their lives.