ONE priest said he learnt more about God from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings than the Catholic Church. Another compared the fervour of World Youth Day to the Hitler Youth.

And a 47-year-old, whose only ambition had been to be a priest, said: ''Given the state of the church today, I look forward to the night when I go to sleep and just don't wake up again."

Such were the varied, often frank and sometimes bleak views of Australia's Catholic clergy revealed in an anonymous survey.
The Charles Sturt University academics Chris McGillion and John O'Carroll approached 1550 active and 160 retired priests for their views on their lives and their church, and 542 took part in the written survey.

The results, plus 50 face-to-face interviews, were the basis of their book Our Fathers, which revealed that many thought the Vatican was out of touch, bishops were bad managers and the future of the church was a cause of great concern.

''You've got a very representative group of mainstream priests responding,'' said Mr McGillion, a former Herald journalist.

What emerged was a priesthood in a professional crisis, rather than a vocational one, he said. 

While 90.2 per cent said their lives as priests had been fulfilling, 47.4 per cent found the workload ''excessive'' and 54.3 per cent thought they had too little say in the life of the church.

Only 35.4 per cent thought bishops were doing a good job, with one saying their performance was ''between poor and mediocre''. 

But 43 per cent did not feel nurtured by their bishop while 41.5 per cent did.

Almost 65 per cent did not think Rome understood the challenges facing priests and 70.1 per cent thought it often failed to understand the nature of the Australian church.

This schism was reflected in the respondents' views on church teachings. Only 19.2 per cent thought it sinful for married couples to use birth control.

Almost 70 per cent thought abortion was always a sin but only 40.2 per cent said the same of sex before marriage. 

More than 70 per cent thought celibacy for priests should be optional and several priests made ''no secret of the fact they were in long-term committed relationships with women''.

Lay involvement was seen as the church's greatest internal challenge, with many acutely aware of - and affected by - dwindling attendances.

The general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Father Brian Lucas, would not comment on the survey, saying he had not seen the book.

A spokeswoman for the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, was given a copy this week but would not comment yet.