Compassion Fatigue in Catholic Lay Volunteers

Abstract

Catholic lay volunteers—single or married members of the Catholic Church—volunteer their time to facilitate the ministries of the Catholic Church. They offer their invaluable efforts to support the Catholic Church by taking on roles including but not limited to mentoring, education, or administration. Like paraprofessionals in service-oriented professions, Catholic lay volunteers bridge the gap between the larger community and the ordained clergy who minister to the Catholic Church full time. This dissertation sought to understand how Catholic lay volunteers may experience compassion fatigue and moral distress similar to paraprofessionals in service-oriented professions. Through eight in-depth interviews, this dissertation examines the experiences of compassion fatigue, the risk factors and protective factors in developing compassion fatigue, and the prevalence of moral distress among Catholic lay volunteers. Because the definition of compassion fatigue is not standardized, this dissertation aims to solidify a working definition of compassion fatigue for this population. Participants include Catholic lay volunteers in varied roles and positions in the Catholic Church. Although not all research participants explicitly disclosed experiences of compassion fatigue and moral distress, the findings provide useful information on what positively and negatively impacts Catholic lay volunteers’ experience. The results of this dissertation support the need for social support, boundary development, authority support, meaning making, and psychoeducation as protective factors that contribute to the overall well-being and positive experience of Catholic lay volunteers. Recommendations are made for the development and sustainment of volunteer positions in the Catholic Church.