A Cohort of Married Roman Catholic Priests, and More Are on the Way

[mark_a]

I was writing tongue in cheek.

It’s refreshing to see the RCC willing to flex this little bit on a tradition that St Peter would have balked at.

Wasn’t Peter silent on the issue? Paul surely wasn’t.

Folks always presume that allowing a married priesthood will solve the vocations shortage, but the vocations shortage is a commitment problem, it mirrors our society.

Due to our beliefs about contraception, married Catholic priests would not have your protestant pastors’ standard 2.2 kids, they’d have many more.

 

[Hesychios]

My bother in Christ, may you please elaborate on the “typical” Roman Catholic Church? Are you referring to dynamics or financial?

Thanks

I will speak of the RC territorial parishes in the USA, I shouldn’t generalize about places I have never been to, like Mozambique or Croatia , and any missions, personal parishes or traditionalist parishes might be a bit different.

I definitely mean financially. I’d say 90 to 95% of the RC parishes in the USA can easily afford to care for married priests and their families without them requiring an outside source of income.

About the dynamics, I can’t make any generalizations but I can say is that there is a lot of flexibility and openness in Roman Catholicism, and if one considers all of the more recent changes one will see that they are usually pretty well accepted after the initial surprise.

 

[rinnie]

The idea that a celibate priest is undivided is a myth. Aren’t we all divided, no matter whether single or married? Aren’t we are always having to choose between conflicting obligations- our obligation to work, to make time for ourselves, to make time to help others, to make time for our extended families, neighbors, friends, hobbies, care for home, laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc?

Is a usa president with a family necessarily any less committed to his job than a single president? Isn’t it possible that a celibate priest with no family could be just as divided between his ministry and his desire for eating out, vacations, hobbies, special interests, friends, booze, gambling, as he could be divided by a spouse? Might a devoted spouse possibly bring him closer to God and towards greater commitment in his ministry?

A research study -Swensen, Don. 1998. “Religious differences between married and celibate clergy,” Sociology of Religion. 59, 1 (spring)- found no differences in devotion to ministry between married protestant ministers and celibate catholic priests.

Actually its not a myth, its the word of God. 1 Cor 7:33

 

[FAB]

A Cohort of Married Roman Catholic Priests, and More Are on the Way
Link: nytimes.com/2012/01/07/us/married-roman-catholic-priests-are-testing-a-tradition.html?pagewanted=all

This New York Times article raises many questions about Catholic Priests and marriage–especially in light of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (usordinariate.org/), through which married Episcopal Priests can enter the Catholic Church and continue to be Priests.

Does this open the door a bit wider for the option of marriage for all Catholic Priests?

What say you?
Anna

Remember the issue of preist being married is a diplinary level of teaching, it can be changed tomorrow with a stroke of a pen by the Holy Father.
Weather it will ever be done is a better question. There was a time after the Second Vatican Council that it would be allowed. The conservatist of JPII prevented it and Benidict isn’t likely to change the policy either, but future popes might very well decide for the benifit of the Church, married preist are desirable. I’m certain many eyes are looking a the Episcapal Preist as a test.

 

[Nicea325]

I will speak of the RC territorial parishes in the USA, I shouldn’t generalize about places I have never been to, like Mozambique or Croatia , and any missions, personal parishes or traditionalist parishes might be a bit different.

I definitely mean financially. **I’d say 90 to 95% of the RC parishes in the USA **can easily afford to care for married priests and their families without them requiring an outside source of income.

About the dynamics, I can’t make any generalizations but I can say is that there is a lot of flexibility and openness in Roman Catholicism, and if one considers all of the more recent changes one will see that they are usually pretty well accepted after the initial surprise.

I would have to say your figures of 90%-95% probably is correct-at one point in time,but not currently. Many parishes and Dioceses are under furloughs where they cannot even pay lay employees,so I do not understand how they could pay married priests higher salaries to support families?

 

[ConstantineTG]

I will bet you that the Priests are paid a scale based on the fact that they live in the Rectory and dont have to support a family.

Priests are paid based on many things according to the work they do. I think if they are a parish pastor, then they get paid a certain amount. Then if they do other work for other parishes (like say Masses there) or other work for the diocese, then they get paid extra accordingly, assuming the work is not part of their regular duties already.

Our priest who’s married is getting paid less than priests who are celibate in the RC archdiocese in our area. But one thing to consider is that the RC archdiocese has considerably more resources than the Ukrainian Church here in Canada.

 

[ConstantineTG]

I don’t know why people are asserting a married priest should be paid more. A married man should know how much a priest is paid and it should be part of his discernment. Its certainly not a job you do for the money. So if he thinks he cannot support a family based on the salary that is paid for a priest, then he probably shouldn’t be one. If a celibate man forgoes marriage for the priesthood, a married man should forgo riches for his family and live on a simple lifestyle.

 

[Hesychios]

I would have to say your figures of 90%-95% probably is correct-at one point in time,but not currently. Many parishes and Dioceses are under furloughs where they cannot even pay lay employees,so I do not understand how they could pay married priests higher salaries to support families?

When I see the parish properties sold to pay the debts I will take that claim seriously.

Actually, this is an old argument, but parishes have added many married people to the payroll over time. Teachers for one thing, but parish administrators too (when there are not enough priests), the community will always adjust and find the money for what is important.

The fact is most RC parishes are fairly large by design, and priests are central to the purpose of the parish while representing a small proportion of the costs. In fact, the actual cost of priests in the parish has gone down over the years because there are a lot fewer of them doing much more work each.

Byzantine Catholic parishes of just 400 members are supporting priests with families. The diocese of Parma in 2003 had 12,000 members supporting an astounding 38 priests and a bishop! (I knew some of them, and the bishop.) That entire diocese had about the same population as three average sized Roman Catholic parishes in the Chicago suburbs.

Any parish of average size (3500 members) that claims a parish their size cannot afford to support four married priests with families deserves to close, and probably eventually will.

 

[Nicea325]

When I see the parish properties sold to pay the debts I will take that claim seriously.

Actually, this is an old argument, but parishes have added many married people to the payroll over time. Teachers for one thing, but parish administrators too (when there are not enough priests), the community will always adjust and find the money for what is important.

The fact is most RC parishes are fairly large by design, and priests are central to the purpose of the parish while representing a small proportion of the costs. In fact, the actual cost of priests in the parish has gone down over the years because there are a lot fewer of them doing much more work each.

Byzantine Catholic parishes of just 400 members are supporting priests with families. The diocese of Parma in 2003 had 12,000 members supporting an astounding 38 priests and a bishop! (I knew some of them, and the bishop.) That entire diocese had about the same population as three average sized Roman Catholic parishes in the Chicago suburbs.

Any parish of average size (3500 members) that claims a parish their size cannot afford to support four married priests with families deserves to close, and probably eventually will.

Yes you present a good argument,however you forget one small thing: Depends WHO is managing the money of the local parish. I am sorry,but some parishes lack the proper educated people to be “business” folks-if you know what I mean? How many priests or lay folks do you think have experience in the secular world using a their Business degree or MBA? I bet it is very few.