text: #1. Bill, it's important to understand that the Catholic Church for more than a thousand years has defined the priesthood in terms of monasticism, not ministry, and only agreed to a transition at Vatican II, without universal success. The role of a priest was not to minister to the people, but to be a holy man, capable of living apart from society, bound by vows that separated him from others, rather than uniting them in a common struggle. Good priests appeared at the altar on schedule, performed the prescribed rituals, and disappeared into the rectory as soon at the rites were over. 
  Vatican II declared that priests were ordained to the ministerial priesthood and called for them to go out into the world and meet the people where they were, which caused problems at several levels. First, the men who were suddenly sent out into the world were ill-prepared for the journey. Second, Catholic parishes were so large and ministerial needs so great, they couldn't meet expectations.