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What does a catholic priest do?

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
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Catholic priest responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real catholic priest resumes:

  • 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.

Catholic priest skills and personality traits

We calculated that 60% of Catholic Priests are proficient in Pastoral Care, Pastoral Ministry, and Public Speaking.

We break down the percentage of Catholic Priests that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Pastoral Care, 60%

    Provide pastoral care to diverse population in three parishes.

  • Pastoral Ministry, 15%

    Initiated new ministries to homeless in Mexico and Veterans in Inland Empire Region -Participated in pastoral ministry to all ages and backgrounds

  • Public Speaking, 10%

    Lead and motivated community on multiple levels via public speaking.

  • Spiritual Support, 8%

    Provided spiritual support and guidance to hospital staff as requested.

  • Bishops, 3%

    Master of Ceremonies for Archbishop McCarrick and auxiliary Bishops for confirmation and other ceremonies.

  • Parishes, 2%

    Participated in all phases of parish life in assignments in inner city, suburban, and rural parishes.

Common skills that a catholic priest uses to do their job include "pastoral care," "pastoral ministry," and "public speaking." You can find details on the most important catholic priest responsibilities below.

All catholic priest skills

The three companies that hire the most catholic priests are:

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Compare different catholic priests

Catholic priest vs. Worship leader

If we compare the average catholic priest annual salary with that of a worship leader, we find that worship leaders typically earn a $10,035 higher salary than catholic priests make annually.Even though catholic priests and worship leaders are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require pastoral care, public speaking, and god in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, catholic priest responsibilities require skills like "apc," "pastoral ministry," "spiritual support," and "compassion." Meanwhile a typical worship leader has skills in areas such as "bible studies," "set list," "sound equipment," and "powerpoint." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

The education levels that worship leaders earn slightly differ from catholic priests. In particular, worship leaders are 23.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a catholic priest. Additionally, they're 3.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Catholic priest vs. Elder

Elder positions earn lower pay than catholic priest roles. They earn a $5,223 lower salary than catholic priests per year.A few skills overlap for catholic priests and elders. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "pastoral care," "god," and "jan."

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that catholic priest responsibilities requires skills like "apc," "pastoral ministry," "public speaking," and "spiritual support." But an elder might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "vital signs," "blood pressure," "caregiver," and "home maintenance."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Elders tend to reach lower levels of education than catholic priests. In fact, they're 22.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Catholic priest vs. Rabbi

On average, rabbis earn lower salaries than catholic priests, with a $2,987 difference per year.By looking over several catholic priests and rabbis resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "pastoral care," "spiritual support," and "god." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, catholic priests are more likely to have skills like "apc," "pastoral ministry," "public speaking," and "compassion." But a rabbi is more likely to have skills like "life cycle events," "hillel," "outreach program," and "adult education classes."

When it comes to education, rabbis tend to earn similar degree levels compared to catholic priests. In fact, they're 4.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Catholic priest vs. Hospital chaplain

Hospital chaplains tend to earn a higher pay than catholic priests by an average of $11,995 per year.According to resumes from catholic priests and hospital chaplains, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "pastoral care," "spiritual support," and "compassion. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between catholic priests and hospital chaplains, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a catholic priest might have more use for skills like "apc," "pastoral ministry," "public speaking," and "bishops." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of hospital chaplains require skills like "patients," "clinical pastoral," "spiritual care," and "patient care. "

In general, hospital chaplains hold higher degree levels compared to catholic priests. Hospital chaplains are 6.0% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of catholic priest

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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