An unnamed priest wrote me the following email:
I am a Catholic priest, I came across this page and I am starting to have doubts about my faith. I would like to give up and renounce religion, I would give up the profession of a priest, but it would cause me a lot of problems. If I gave up the priesthood, it would bring me great problems, all the priests and all my acquaintances would ask me what I had gone crazy and it would be very unpleasant for me. If I gave up the priesthood, it would bring me a lot of suffering. I would not be able to find a job easily and I would have a hard time surviving economically. I would also give up my faith, but I am not able to pretend: to be a priest and not believe in the Christian faith. What would you advise me? (we can safely touch each other)
Response from the operator of this page:
Dear (Catholic priest) ********, I understand your difficult situation. Yes, I understand that if you officially renounced the priesthood, it would bring you incredible problems. But I tell you that it is certainly possible to be outwardly a full-fledged Catholic priest and an "unbeliever" with an anti-Christian attitude at the same time.
My advice is as follows: Fulfill all your external priestly duties. However, do not be an actively evangelizing priest who will drive sheep to faith. Do not have suggestive or fanatical sermons that will manipulatively strengthen people to faith. Let your sermons be more on the topic of ethics or stories from personal life than strengthening people in religious dogmas. During confession, do not be the person who drives people to faith, rather just fulfill your duty formally and encourage people to generally ethical behavior rather than strengthening religious dogmas. During confession, be a "liberal" priest and especially do not discourage young people too much from freedom around sexuality – respect their freedom.
As for general communication with priests, even if a priest is overly fanatical, try to talk him out of religious fanaticism in some subtle way. Similarly, overly fanatical believers, such as lay leaders and preachers of Christian communities or animators, try to talk them out of their fanaticism in interpersonal communication in a subtle way. Be an inconspicuous light that shines in such a dark organization as the Catholic Church. Participate in religious events and work as a magician who will prevent manipulation of believers, as described on this link https://filozofia.nett.to/krestanstvo/sk/infiltracia-na-nabozenske-akcie
Don't be sad, but be cheerful – your mission and calling are also nice on the whole – you have "infiltrated" the Catholic Church as a good person and are bringing light there. That is your meaning of life and your mission. Be happy. And be a good "actor" -:).
Do not overwork yourself in evangelism and, if possible, try to prevent and block any evangelistic actions in your parish.