This article investigates contemporary understandings of the ethics of care. While the ethics of care is predominantly known as showing empathy and support to others, analysing the complex relationship between institutional and personal values of clerical leaders and the congregation in the Roman Catholic Church in England reveals very different understandings. The sociological and psychological concepts of authority, pastoral care and identity are used to analyse the role of a female youth work leader in a Roman Catholic parish who is exposed to different (conservative and liberal) leadership approaches. She explains how her views on care, gender and participation differ from those of three clerical leaders and powerfully illustrates the resulting conflicts between the priests but also towards the congregation. This story shows that individual agency influences strong conservative institutional values and that leadership in faith-based organisations needs to embrace the complex interplay between institutional and personal dynamics.

本文研究当代对护理伦理的理解。尽管护理伦理主要被称为对他人表示同情和支持，但分析牧师领导者的制度和个人价值观与英格兰罗马天主教会的会众之间的复杂关系显示出截然不同的理解。权威，教牧关怀和身份认同的社会学和心理学概念被用来分析一位罗马天主教教区的女性青年工作领导者的角色，该领导者面临着不同的（保守和自由主义）领导方式。她解释了自己在照护，性别和参与方面的看法与三位牧师领袖的看法有何不同，并有力地说明了牧师之间以及与会众之间由此产生的冲突。