International Priest Helpline | World Society.net

24th September 2007
It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden death of Countess Maria Hubert von Staufer.
***R I P Maria***

Catholic Priests' Helpline

Welcome to the first confidential counselling site dedicated to the service of Roman Catholic priests.

If you need advice, help or just an empathic ear, this is the place for you. The service is voluntary, and confidential, and served by experienced and qualified counsellors.

The service originally found a home on the site at www.marriedpriests.org where it is still to be found. However, many canonical priests did not find us there, so I have created a new portal.

We are a group of counsellors who wish to lend assistance to our brother priests, whether canonical or otherwise, who would like some help. Priest counselling addresses the nature of Vocation, and comes from a spiritual viewpoint, something which is not part of the normal counselling training.

Let me give you some examples...

A priest who is suffering stress management deficiency might be told by a counsellor to 'let go' and 'change the job'. Easy if you are an office executive, you can become a shopkeeper if you so wish. Even easy if you are a doctor in a big hospital , you can look for a placement in a small town practice.. But a priest? Even if he asks his bishop to move him, in this day and age of so few vocations, the Bishop probably has no-one to replace him with. How does he cope? We can help him.
A priest who is feeling betrayed and let down seeks counselling, maybe he wants to leave, maybe he wants to find a solution. A regular counsellor, if he has not already suggested leaving the 'job', might go for anger therapy. Let the anger out and let it go. One priest reacted to this by being angry with himself, his Bishop, the Pope, the Church and finally with God - he was on the way to losing his faith even before he came to us. That priest is now on a short leave of absence and feeling at peace with the Church! We offer ongoing support.
A priest who is feeling ill and does not know why. He has no company except the parishioners. They invite him out to eat with them, 'have this special rich meal, father; here is a drink to see you home father; have a cigar father, go on, only one….' After years of this lifestyle, together with rushing around from one task to another, not giving himself time to digest his meals, he will be a classic victim for heart disease, stroke, ulcers, liver and kidney trouble. And who will tell him? We will.
An elderly priest is being retired from the parish he has served for thirty years. He is heartbroken. Of course, this is akin to bereavement and loss. He needs help to cope, but standard counselling does not quite hit the mark in understanding this man's vocation. We do.

These are just some of the many problems which we deal with every day. A problem shared is a problem halved.

And for those with vocational and relationship problems, marriage problems, depression, problems with alcohol, drugs, sexual problems. We have qualified counsellors and therapists for everyone. Please do not suffer alone. We are here to help you.

Meet the Counsellors

Click on the link above to view details of our counsellors and choose the one you feel you can talk to. You can always change if you do not get along with that person.

Problems we can help with

Click on the link above to get help with any of the following:

Vocational
Relationships
Stress Management
Health and Lifestyle
Depression
Alcohol and Substance Abuse
Canon Law

Sexual Problems
Homosexuality
Paedophilia
Pastoral
Loneliness
Theological & Dogma
Church Teaching

Vocational / Relationship Problems

Family problems
Bringing up a Priest's child
Priest Fathers (canonical)

Wives and partners of priests
Women in relationships with priests
Finding a job

You may choose the portal you wish to use. You may decide to contact Maria direct via confidential e-mail or you may wish to follow this link to Meet the Counsellors where you can read the CV of each available counsellor and choose your own. Or you may e-mail Maria at her gmail address.

Links to Helpful Sites

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External Links: Problems we can help with | Meet the Counselors | Married Priests' Page | More Counselors Wanted