I could write a book on trying to find a good spiritual director. I have had good ones and excellent ones. But, in England there is a twofold problem. The first is that priests are surprised when one asked them to consider this. They are not in the same frame of mind as many American priests who have been trained in various types of spirituality and know that there are people in the parish who want direction. In Great Britain and Ireland, this apparently does not happen. Parishioners I have discussed this problem with have not even heard of a lay person having a spiritual director. In my mind, if a Catholic layperson is in any type of ministry, such as being an RCIA director, or a teaching of religion, that person must have a director, or, at least, a regular confessor.
Secondly, the older priests, who should be excellent in spiritual direction tend to be the more liberal generation, some of which do not have a clue about the spiritual life of perfection. Some of the older priest deny venial sins, which is a detriment to following the life of perfection. Without a sense of sin, the life of virtue and the stages of the mystical life. The younger priests, fifty and under, are much better, have better training in these things...To be continue...