Bishops having families?

[metal_kid43]

Greetings,
I was just randomly skimming through my bible the other day and came across an interesting passage in****1 Timothy 3:2-7 where it talks about bishops (my bible uses that word explicitly) having but one wife and even having children. Obviously, our bishops today can’t marry, so, I’m wondering what this passage means by the word bishops.
Much thanks!
Kevin
(please excuse the bold font, as I copied and pasted)
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[FuzzyBunny116]

Greetings,
I was just randomly skimming through my bible the other day and came across an interesting passage in****1 Timothy 3:2-7 where it talks about bishops (my bible uses that word explicitly) having but one wife and even having children. Obviously, our bishops today can’t marry, so, I’m wondering what this passage means by the word bishops.
Much thanks!
Kevin
(please excuse the bold font, as I copied and pasted)

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It says bishops, it means bishops .

Priestly celibacy was common, but not imposed on Western Christianity until the 11th century, if I remember correctly. It is based off St. Paul’s own recommendation of celibacy (he tells us a married man worries how to please his wife, an unmarried, God) and Our Lord Himself.

 

[HailMary]

Bishops today, at least in the Latin rite, are not allowed to be married because this is a pastoral decision; meaning its not infallible. For the greater part of the Christianity, bishops and priests could get married

In the Chaldean rite, which I am a member, Priests can be married and become a priest.

 

[RPConover]

As a matter of discipline Catholic and Orthodox bishops cannot be married, although Orthodox and Eastern Catholic priests may be.

 

[metal_kid43]

I suppose this raises another question that I have had on my heart for a while…If the very word Catholic mean universal, then why the need for all the different “rites”. Are all of these rites in communion with Rome? One of the reasons that I love the church so much is that I thought it had been undivided for 2000 years, but what’s with all of these different rites?
Thanks for the quick responses!!!
Kevin

 

[HailMary]

One in faith, different in custom.

That is effectively what a “rite” is:

“A rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony, culture and circumstances of history of a distinct people, by which its own manner of living the faith is manifested in each Church Sui Juris. “( can.28.1/Eastern Code)

 

[dal11]

For the greater part of the Christianity, bishops and priests could get married…This statement isn’t exactly right. Bishop and priest could never marry from day one, even in the eastern rite. If you were already married then you could become a priest.

 

[Vincent]

I was just randomly skimming through my bible the other day and came across an interesting passage in1 Timothy 3:2-7 where it talks about bishops (my bible uses that word explicitly) having but one wife and even having children.

A possible interpretation is that candidates for the episcopacy cannot have married more than once. This would have excluded men who remarried after the death of the wife, for example.

One explanation for this interpretation is that clerics were expected to choose chastity in continence from the time of ordination. A married candidate would therefore no longer have conjugal relations with his wife after he received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

Thus, this interpretation of 1 Timothy 3:2ff suggests that by not having married more than once, the married candidate has shown his receptivity to the life of continence that was expected of the clergy.

More discussion of this interpretation can be found in an archived lecture (Windows Media Player or RealPlayer) here: Clerical Celibacy

 

[RPConover]

A married candidate would therefore no longer have conjugal relations with his wife after he received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

So when did it come about that Eastern priests do have sexual relations with their wives? They do…

I don’t believe those stories about the married man ordained to the priesthood abstaining from relations with his wife. I think people are shocked to learn that even Latin priests were allowed to marry prior to ordination at one time…

 

[Vincent]

So when did it come about that Eastern priests do have sexual relations with their wives? They do…

One theory is that a significant change to the discipline was introduced at the Council in Trullo in 691.

I don’t believe those stories about the married man ordained to the priesthood abstaining from relations with his wife.

1. The local council of Elvira (sometime in the 4th century) stated that,

**We decree that all bishops, priests and deacons in the service of the ministry are entirely forbidden to have conjugal relations with their wives and to beget children; should anyone do so, let him be excluded from the honour of the clergy **(“Priestly Celibacy in Patristics and in the History of the Church”).

So at least historically, it can be shown that there was legislation on clerical continence. Whether it was enforced (or ignored) is another story.

I think people are shocked to learn that even Latin priests were allowed to marry prior to ordination at one time…

Of course, before ordination such men weren’t priests (or deacons) yet.

 

[1ke]

I suppose this raises another question that I have had on my heart for a while…If the very word Catholic mean universal, then why the need for all the different “rites”.

The Church is universal. One faith, one doctrine.

The Eastern Rites have different canon law and their Liturgy developed out of ancient traditions in their geographic and cultural areas just as the Latin Rite liturgy developed out of the culture of part of Europe.

We have traditions and customs here in the US that are not practiced elsewhere. It has nothing to do with doctrine or theology, merely with how different peoples express their spirituality, faith, and devotions.

Are all of these rites in communion with Rome?

All Eastern Rite Catholic churches are in communion with Rome.

The Orthodox churches are not in communion with Rome, having gone into schism long ago. They retain valid Holy Orders and Sacraments.

One of the reasons that I love the church so much is that I thought it had been undivided for 2000 years, but what’s with all of these different rites?

The Catholic Church remains the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church founded by Christ. Many have left her, but she remains undivided. The Rites are not divisions.