L
Little_Katie
Guest
wow- just when I think I know all there is to know about the Church, something new surprises me. I never knew that there ‘could’ be a married priest. I thought that ALL valid priests were celibate!!

No stranger than this:This situation that a married former Anglican minister can become a validly ordained Catholic priest can throw up some strange and sad scenarios. Last year I attended a wedding in the UK of one of my godsons - the son of friends I met in my university days. Also attending was another friend from those days,the groom’s godfather. This man was ordained 26 years ago but resigned the ministry after 6 years, not over celibacy although he is now married with four sons. His entire family was with him at the wedding.Several requests to be laicised were refused and his marriage is a civil one only. Neither he nor his wife can receive the sacraments. Nevertheless, they are bringing their sons (ages, 17, 15, 12 and 10) up in the Church and are faithful Catholics in every other respect. They sat just in front of me at the ceremony and I couldn’t help the wave of sadness that washed over me as the four boys received Communion while their parents remained kneeling in the pew.
The bride’s uncle officiated at the marriage. He was a former Anglican minister, married (his wife also converted), and is now an ordained Catholic priest. His wife read at the Mass and his children, two boys and a girl, were the altar servers. Isn’t life strange?
Well Katie, welcome to the club. I knew that there was a policy in our Church since I came upon the organization TAC (Traditional Anglican “catholics”) Small c. is mine. It means simply universal not Holy or Roman. A well kept, if not secret, then hidden agenda. For years until it came on the scene and was enacted.wow- just when I think I know all there is to know about the Church, something new surprises me. I never knew that there ‘could’ be a married priest. I thought that ALL valid priests were celibate!!![]()
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Thank you Aramis, I will go over this and read it and pray on it. This is all I ask. Firm guidance. I will see if it helps. If it is only my confusion then good. I am not looking for a battle with the “faithful” Roman Catholics on this site. I am trying to understand what the Church is thinking.CMP2:
The problem is that most do not understand the canon law meaning of the term ordinary power. It is nothing more than the power the church grants to a bishop of a place by virtue of being the bishop of the place.
Amongst other things:
To Baptise, Confirm, Ordain, absolve, establish houses of religious, establish seminaries, promulgate specific adaptations of the Liturgies as permitted by the original promulgations of those liturgies, to appoint specific priests as pastors, and specific priests as confessors, to acquire and dispose of properties of the church, to issue excommunications, to hold trial of and impose canonical sentence upon those who break canon law.
it helps to actually read the canon law on the pontiff.
it’s here: vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM
Good point Matt, but the groom’s godfather made a choice. It is his and if he is excluded from the Holy Sacraments then so be it. That is one decision I CAN support. Sad but true.No stranger than this:
Matt 20
"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off. (And) he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner,
saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
(Or) am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’
The groom’s godfather came into the vinyard under certain conditions, among them, celibacy. The bride’s uncle came into the vinyard later under differing conditions, including chastity in the married state. it doesn’t seem fair, but that’s up to the landowner to decide. And His decisions are just and merciful, although they are beyond our understanding.
Just for the record, Matt 20 is not my name, it’s the Gospel chapter from which the quote came . . .Good point Matt, but the groom’s godfather made a choice. It is his and if he is excluded from the Holy Sacraments then so be it. That is one decision I CAN support. Sad but true.
I understand the terms used quite completely, quite thoroughly and quite cogently, thank you.You do not appear to understand the terms used. Ordinary power is that of a bishop. Nothing more.
Was someone questioning his jurisdiction?The Pope’s jurisidiction is full and immediate throughout the church. But it is not unlimited.
We were not talking about dogma or doctrine; we were talking about discipline. And there is absolutely NO requirement that he consult with bishops or anyone else. Canon law makes it clear that he is free to exercise his powers at any time. While the Pontiff often does consult with bishops, he is not required to do so. Thankfully he did not so with Summorum Pontificum. :extrahappy:No pope may deny previously defined dogma. No pope changes doctrine without conferring with the bishops (tho this may not be visible to the layman). Disciplines are changed regularly… but every case I’m aware of has included consultation with the bishops… perhaps not all, but at least a relevant body of them.
While the Pontiff often does consult with bishops, he is not required to do so. Thankfully he did not do so with Summorum Pontificum. :extrahappy:
The document is the fruit of much reflection, numerous consultations and prayer.
- Benedict XVI, cover letter for Summorum Pontificum
Wrong again. I know that SP was done after a consultation with at least one of the sacred congregations and discussions with a number of bishops. Not in the format of the synod, but it was not without prior consultation with the bishops. Several have commented upon having been consulted before hand.Thankfully he did not so with Summorum Pontificum. :extrahappy:
No stranger than this:
Matt 20
"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off. (And) he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner,
saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
(Or) am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?'QUOTE]
And amazingly enough, stay married, have children, own property (real as well as personal) and live life. Sometimes, they are (sadly for the Latin Rite) treated with more respect than Roman priests.**I never knew that there ‘could’ be a married priest. I thought that ALL valid priests were celibate!! **
Eastern Catholic Priests are frequently married.