Can a married Prot. convert layman be ordained as a priest?

[Deacon_s_Son]

I am aware that, with a special dispensation, some married Prot. ministers who reconcile with the Catholic Church may be ordained as Catholic priests. I also know that (with the possile exception of Anglican/Episcopalian minister converts who, I believe, are “conditionally” ordained by the Catholic Church) the ordinations of Protestant (i.e. Methodist, Presbyterian et al) ministers are not even recognized by the Church so before their ordination into the Catholic priesthood they are, in effect, considered to be ecclesiastical laymen. With this in mind, is it not possible (or at least feasible) for a layman who, with his wife, is reconciled to the Catholic Church from a Baptist and Presbyterian background to be ordained into the Roman Church under the same dispensation that Protestant ministers receive (assuming, of course, that the man receives the dispensation and is truly called to the priesthood, etc.)?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

[vern_humphrey]

I wouldn’t want to give you a straight no, but it would be possible for such a person to be ordained as a deacon. We have married deacons in the Catholic Church.

 

[cameron_lansing]

As far as I know, this hasn’t happened, and I easily could be wrong.

The context of the pastoral provision is found in the 1967 encyclical of Paul VI, on the Celibacy of the Priest (vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_24061967_sacerdotalis_en.html).

In n. 42, he wrote of “married sacred ministers of Churches or other Christian communities separated from the Catholic communion.” So there does seem to be some recognition of a distinction between those “ordained” in their own denominations and those who are not.

The 1993 Ecumenical Directory also distinguishes between ministers and delegates of these other communities as well as between clergy and people in them.

This distinction seems to direct the operating framework of the provision to the present, at least to the best of my limited knowledge. Someone else may know better though.

There is a summary of the provision’s development at stmarythevirgin.org/jackbarker.htm

 

[kaygee]

You’d be wise to hook up with the Coming Home network – they have tons of experience in this! chnetwork.org/

 

[geezerbob]

I think someone here at CAF recently posted about knowing of a married minister from a denomination other than Anglican who was ordained a priest.