Whoever asks about the changes and continuities in 'being Catholic' on the level of semantics, practices and emotions in the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s, cannot avoid to scrutinize the group of priests: from 'witnesses of faith' to 'therapists' and 'crisis managers' - the range of possible images of the catholic priest, produced from inside and outside the church, expanded enormously in these years. These changes, their dynamics and consequences will be examined in two sub-projects: 'Priestly Image and Priestly Formation' (TP 1) have changed since the 1960s both due to new theological impulses from Vatican II and in response to the much-discussed contemporary 'crisis of priesthood’. In addition, new forms of self-organization of the clergy have dynamized these processes of change. In particular, the 'Priest and Solidarity Groups' (TP 2) served as 'forums of church self-reflection and clerical criticism'. With the analysis of images of the catholic priest, the associated priestly habitus and the navigation of feeling practiced in this context (William Reddy), the project follows the research group's three-step approach of semantics, practices and emotions and promises substantial insights into the change in the social role of the Catholic priest after the 'farewell from the Hochwürden'.