The Pope and the Problem of Careerism

Well up on the list of things Pope Francis abhors is religious careerism. "Careerism is leprosy. Leprosy! Please, no careerism," he exclaimed in a talk last June to young priests in training for the Vatican diplomatic service. It's a theme he sounds often and with deep conviction.

As well he might. But the problem is more complex than at first might appear. Indeed, there's another side to this particular coin, one I'll get to in a minute. But first, careerism.

Anthony Trollope understood it extremely well. Trollope, who lived from 1815 to 1882, was one of that gifted group of British Victorian novelists whose ranks included such as Dickens, Thackeray, and George Eliot.

Among the works of this prodigiously prolific writer is a series of four novels known collectively as the Barsetshire Chronicles. They depict clerical life in rural England during the middle years of the 19th century, painting a portrait that's often funny, sometimes sad, and always deeply human, with clerical careerism never far from the surface.

The best known of these books is the second, Barchester Towers. At the center of the story is the memorable figure of the Rev. Mr. Obediah Slope, a young Anglican clergyman who is the very embodiment of religious careerism. Of him Trollope writes: "Though he can stoop to fawn, and stoop low indeed, if need be, he has still within him the power to assume the tyrant; and with the power, he has certainly the wish."  (more...)

The Pope and the Problem of Careerism

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