Do priests have a sort of sixth sense? / extra sensory perception?

[aspirant]

Can most priests read the person from the outside?

I think gifts such as Padre Pio’s are probably extremely rare.

Much more common would be this:

Priest, however, do develop an expertise on these matters, due to their pastoral ministry

Most priest, however, develop a sort of professional sense about the people they’re dealing with after they’ve been doing their job for a while. In the same way that a mechanic can hear the way an engine sounds and sometimes diagnose the problem with no more information, a priest can sometimes give someone a once-over and give an educated, pastoral guess at what’s bothering them…

“Once you’ve been doing this for a while, you kind of get a feel for what’s troubling who,”.

But I can tell you from personal experience that a priest’s read of a situation may sometimes be quite wrong. They haven’t got ESP.

 

[TiggerS]

Our priests may seem to have a sixth sense, or insight, into some matters, but not necessarily in all matters. Doubtless training and experience may bring about insight. In other words, our priests do not have a sixth sense per se operating in all circumstances.

Of course, since all things are possible to God, a priest could be granted this gift, but this would be unusual and rare rather than the norm in the priesthood.