I thought married men can be ordained however ordained men cannot marry. If I am correct, this is also true with the Orthodox Christians.
All priests are allowed to be in Love with one woman. Her name is Mary.
Thank you for this clarification. When it was said as Tradition I was even more confused since as I understand it, Catholics view the Holy Scripture, the Tradition, and the Magisterium as equals. If this was simply part of Tradition, then the parts of the church practicing marriage would be in fact violating.
As to the weight given each, it is best to view them as totally dependent upon one another. As it is with the Trinity, you cannot completely separate one from the other. The example of the three-legged stool is often given. There is no “most important” leg, as the stool will fall if any one of the three legs is removed.
Does anyone use a three-legged stool anymore?
A 1,976 year old one, yes! It has held up amazingly well.Does anyone use a three-legged stool anymore?
Because the priests used to own the real estate and property of their churches, and their sons always inherited the office of priest along with the property. If you offended the family of a priest, they could hold a grudge for generations.
Cute and concise, but no, this is not the reason most priests are required to be celibate. No one can “inherit” the priesthood.
Because most Protestant congregations want their ministers to be married instead of single. I’m not saying that’s a good reason - it’s just a practical one. Even in my tradition where bishops appoint clergy instead of churches hiring them, churches still tend to tell their bishops, “Send us a married minister with a family.”
You check the history.
That raskal Alexandar…
I have, in fact, done so. The fact that some people may have abused the authority of their office in the middle ages has nothing to do with priesthood being able to be inherited. Nor did celibacy did arise from inheritance rights or simony or any other similar type of abuse. Read Ambrose and Jerome.
How did the embarassed pope declare this rule of celibacy for priests. Did he simply not mention the scandal?
When did you stop beating your wife? Your loaded question contains no facts. Celibacy as a practice or rule did not derive from any scandal, and was not the product of any pope, much less one with something to be embarrassed about. Wikipedia is your friend, sometimes.
I’m sure that’s the case. A married man is seen in protestant circles as more stable and “settled down” whereas a young handsome minister fresh out of seminary may be seen as a bit of a risque proposition. I’ve also heard it said that married clergy would be more relevant to assisting troubled marriages in their congregation, having some common frame of reference from which to counsel and advise. I’m not entirely sure if this is good reasoning either, but it certainly is a common explanation from those who want a married minister. I’m not saying it’s good or bad to have married clergy. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both. If the Church tomorrow said that the vow of celibacy was no longer mandatory, something very beautiful would be lost to the Western Church, but it would not be a doctrinal issue for me.
Thanks for the perspective, Reverend. I come from a UMC background, and can say with confidence that many UMC pastor’s wives have expressed sadness at being constantly uprooted by their bishop. (For those in the thread that don’t know, while UMC pastors are allowed to be married, they may be transferred to another church within the bishop’s jurisdiction at any time). Makes you wonder if the Catholic Church is not on to something when it takes seriously the conflict between having two spouses, the Church and an earthly spouse. Not saying this is an issue with you and your wife, Rev., just that I sympathize with UMC pastor’s wives who do experience the tumult of never establishing a life, simply because their husband happens to be good at what he does.
The flaw with this line of thought is that families only married within status. In other words, the offspring of married clergy would have married other offspring of clergy. To marry below station was to write oneself out and to marry above would not occur.
Well someone danced around this without explaining it the way you did, so thank you. The only problem I can find with the comparison would be a priest who leaves the priesthood to marry. Now he is committing adultery.