Catholic priest vs chaplain

The differences between catholic priests and chaplains can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a catholic priest and a chaplain. Additionally, a chaplain has an average salary of $46,392, which is higher than the $37,428 average annual salary of a catholic priest.

The top three skills for a catholic priest include pastoral care, pastoral ministry and public speaking. The most important skills for a chaplain are patients, social work, and clinical pastoral.

Catholic priest vs chaplain overview

	Catholic Priest	Chaplain
Yearly salary	$37,428	$46,392
Hourly rate	$17.99	$22.30
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	100	2,600
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	4	4

Catholic priest vs chaplain salary

Catholic priests and chaplains have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Catholic Priest	Chaplain
Average salary	$37,428	$46,392
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $57,000	Between $25,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	Dublin, CA	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Baptist Health South Florida	UofL Hospital
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between catholic priest and chaplain education

There are a few differences between a catholic priest and a chaplain in terms of educational background:

	Catholic Priest	Chaplain
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Theology	Theology
Most common college	Boston College	Emory University

Catholic priest vs chaplain demographics

Here are the differences between catholic priests' and chaplains' demographics:

	Catholic Priest	Chaplain
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 97.1% Female, 2.9%	Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 6.6% White, 68.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between catholic priest and chaplain duties and responsibilities

Catholic priest example responsibilities.

Lead the largest VBS program and confirmation class ever, with aggressive marketing, recruiting, and coaching.
Perform other various functions as needed including communication with church leadership to ensure efficient operations for church outreach activities.
Perform other various functions as needed including communication with church leadership to ensure efficient operations for church outreach activities.

Chaplain example responsibilities.

Provide full pastoral ministry, visitation and counseling to inmates and incarcerate patients.
Participate as members of a psychiatric or rehabilitation team in staff conferences concerning patients and inmates.
Perform functions in field and combat environments, combat lifesaver tasks and apply communication skills in crisis/potential suicide intervention.
Visit patients/families identify as appropriate for pastoral services and provide direct spiritual counseling, prayer, and ministry as appropriate.
Certify in ASIST (suicideprevention )
Participate in bi-weekly IDG meetings as part of IDG team.

Catholic priest vs chaplain skills

Common catholic priest skills

Pastoral Care, 60%
Pastoral Ministry, 15%
Public Speaking, 10%
Spiritual Support, 8%
Bishops, 3%
Parishes, 2%

Common chaplain skills

Patients, 21%
Social Work, 11%
Clinical Pastoral, 10%
Spiritual Care, 8%
Pastoral Care, 7%
Patient Care, 5%