Ronaul A. Sarno, S.J.
Resolving ldenlity Con{licls in the Conlemporary World
Many a contemporary priest find8 his own "crisis of faith" the wellspring of almost all his difficulties.
"The crisis in self-identity" is a key term in the vocabulary in psychosexual maturity. Psychologists use it to refer to a teenager passing from aider adolescence into adulthood. The term describes a positive period in the teenager's development. The youngster realizes that saon he will leave the world of play-love (dating) and enter the world of real love (marriage). ¡He understands also that saon he will leave the world of playwork (studies) and enter the world of real work (jobs). At this realization he doubts himself because he fears that at this new stage he will not be able to be true to himself. He fears that a family or a company can become an external system of such power that it can threaten to disintegrate his internai essential personality. This "crisis" is nonnally followed by a "self-indentity resolution." By this resolution, the teenager slowly learns that his cssential personality will develop rather than deteriorate in 99