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Tim_Kirchoff
Guest
Well, priestly celibacy is a discipline, not a doctrine.
Yet, if we are to reexamine this discipline and decide whether celibacy remains more advantageous than the alternative, we must do it for the right reasons.
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Cluny
Guest
There are three married Eastern Catholic priests, and one who is a widower but ordained while his wife was alive, in my city.
Our priest works VERY hard to take care of his flock, and I’m glad he has someone at home to look after him!
Our priest works VERY hard to take care of his flock, and I’m glad he has someone at home to look after him!
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wany
Guest
Cardinal Egan and others who think that if the Church allowed priests to marry would help the Church are mistaken. Often it is human nature to think the grass is greener on the other side. Marriage is a special vocation too, with it’s own unique challenges. I don’t see how one can be married and be a priest devoted to Christ and His Church. It’s like trying to serve two masters. Also, anyone who has respect for the dignity, and responsibilities involved in marriage and family life would see that to be a devoted husband and father one cannot also devote one’s self to full time priestly life. The two just don’t mix. Also, if a priest marries and has children, his wife better have a great job that pays lots of money and provides good medical coverage for their family. I can’t see the Church being able to afford it.
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marchoi
Guest
Cardinal Egan does not think that the priestly celibacy is something that needs to be changed. In a follow-up interview with one of the Catholic XM radio stations, he stated that the question came at the end of an interview, with about 90 seconds left. Obviously the discipline of priestly celibacy isn’t something that can be fully explained in 90 seconds… Further, the quote attributed to Cardinal Egan is in no way wrong - priestly celibacy is a discipline and not a doctrine, and therefore discussion of it is perfectly legitimate, only the Church has a certain stand.
My favorite part of the follow-up interview went something like this: “The NY Times, knowing fully well that they were misrepresenting my words, still chose to print it. And they put up a really nice picture of me. In the past, they’d catch me in the middle of a cough, or with hair in my face. Maybe if I said that God doesn’t exist, I’d look like Brad Pitt in the next picture!”
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
This is a common mistake. When the Church speaks about the secular priestly celibacy as being a discipline commonly think that the opposite side of the argument is to allow priests to marry. That is not so.
The opposite is allowing the ordination of married men to the priesthood. Holy Orders is an impediment to marriage. The Church can never allow priests to marry but it can ordain married men to the priesthood.
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jimcav
Guest
Whew! I’m really glad that the Cardinal made himself clear on the subject.Cardinal Egan does not think that the priestly celibacy is something that needs to be changed. In a follow-up interview with one of the Catholic XM radio stations, he stated that the question came at the end of an interview, with about 90 seconds left. Obviously the discipline of priestly celibacy isn’t something that can be fully explained in 90 seconds… Further, the quote attributed to Cardinal Egan is in no way wrong - priestly celibacy is a discipline and not a doctrine, and therefore discussion of it is perfectly legitimate, only the Church has a certain stand.
My favorite part of the follow-up interview went something like this: “The NY Times, knowing fully well that they were misrepresenting my words, still chose to print it. And they put up a really nice picture of me. In the past, they’d catch me in the middle of a cough, or with hair in my face. Maybe if I said that God doesn’t exist, I’d look like Brad Pitt in the next picture!”
One thing I knew about the good Cardinal was that he is no closet liberal! It’s also nice to hear him use his good sense of humor, something he is not very well known for. His show on XM is very entertaining. I only wish he had showed that side of himself more often to us New Yorkers in his time here…
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barb_finnegan
Guest
I totally agree with you-ending mandatory celibacy for priests would be a big mistake! What wife and kiddies would want to move every six to twelve years? Why do people think that marriage would solve everything? I think it would only complicate matters!
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Mattapoisett64
Guest
I am also not saying that “marriage would solve everything,” but there are tens of thousands of military wives who support their husbands and who move - with their children - at frequencies far greater than “every six to twelve years.” The same holds true of families where the breadwinner is employed by a large corporation, and where the employee is subject to national or international transfers with some degree of frequency. Plus, by definition a priest’s transfer would be within the diocese in which he is incardinated, and that’s a far smaller area for relocation than the examples I cited above. No, marriage wouldn’t solve everything, but I don’t think occasional family relocation is a significant limiting issue given the opportunities to reflect on this possibility during the lengthy formation process.
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CapIV
Guest
Cardinal Egan did not say that the rules on celibacy ought to be changed, he simply said that it could be open to discussion. This shouldn’t strike anyone as surprising since celibacy is not a doctrine or dogma.
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
And there does need to be discussion before we can even determine if the discipline in the Latin Church can or should be changed.
There are many issues that people who seem to be for the change in this discipline have yet to address.
Those are housing of the priest and his family, rectories are set for single priests, yes they can be modified but that may cost. Also what about housing of married seminarians? and will there been an expectation of classes for the seminarians wife?
Also what about compensation for married priests? It might need to be more than for a single priest, also what about insurance and education costs for the priest’s family?
What about the parishes that married priests would be assigned to? They would need to be the bigger ones to support the priest and his family, so what about the perceived “discrimination” to the single priests when they do not get assigned to the bigger more affluent parishes because those parishes are needed for the married priests?
There is a lot that needs to be discussed.
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Doc2be
Guest
I agree…I also think that there is a huge difference in allowing Catholic Men to marry and then be ordained and welcoming protestant ministers into the Catholic Faith to be ordained. I feel Catholics understand the needed sacrifice of celibacy to fully devote one’s life to the Lord and His flock. Protestants do not agree with that…and that makes those cases of ordination different, we can’t dissolve their marriage because it was made before God and we are not more powerful than God.
Another thing is to think about possible scandal. What happens if a Priest’s marriage does not work out? What happens if a priest were to fill for divorce? I feel many people would find this reason to leave the Church. “Oh well if the priest can’t do it then there must be something wrong.” I just see so many more problems with married priests than otherwise. The Church is no dummy…the discipline has existed for 2 millennium for a reason.
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Friar_David_O.Carm
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Are aware that this is only the discipline in the Latin Church? There are many of the Eastern Catholic Churches that have always ordained married men to the priesthood.
Also, this discipline has not “existed for 2 millennium” as it was not mandated in the Latin Church until sometime around the fourth century and, as I said, there are other Churches (fully Catholic) that have never had this discipline.
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