Do you think priests should be allowed to marry?

[Madaglan]

Is castration a sin? If not, then its better for priests to volunteer for castration as part of their vows. Its gonna help them a lot in their career.

I think castration is condemned by the canons of the Church–under self-mutilation.

 

[allhers]

the brain is affected by external factors. especially by hormones coming from the testicles.

why is it a sin? did not jesus imply that its better to cut out a body part that leads you to sin?

That point was made to show how serious sin is, never did Jesus want anyone to literally cut off their own body parts.

 

[impalass]

NO. Dont allow priests to marry. So that that the priesthood would be more attractive to religious gay catholics. I’d really like to see what a gay Pope is like.

I am sure we have had a few gay popes. Not that there is anything wrong with that. A great number of priests are gay, many are obvious, we have all seen them, some are closet. They have sexual thoughts desires just like the rest of us. Some are hetrosexual some are homosexual.

Yes priests should have the option to marry. I am a voice that represents the feelings of most USA catholics.

 

[AgnosTheist]

^ deleted that post.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

{{Nope. Not one, ever. And this is because}}

{I}n Jewish law, Jewish men MUST marry and have children. If they do not, they are considered only half a man. Incidentally, this was yet another reason why the Jewish people rejected Jesus as a messiah…because he never married.

The Church is the “spouse” of the Priest. Is not, or “was not” (as I don’t THINK there are presently any Jewish Priests), the Jewish Priest merely the servant of “the Church”?

How does this make it “OK” for some rites of the Church (Catholic) to have humanly-married Priests? My “guess” is for the same reason that concubinage/polygamy and various other “allowances” were made in the Old Testament for human weaknesses so as to not “overburden” the people during their “further education” toward perfection as the People of God.

I find this a “weak” argument, and would LOVE to know of a better one. Please help!

Our belief in this stems from ancient Jewish teaching which held that when God removed a rib from Adam to make Eve, it was to show that man is incomplete without a wife.

And so throughout their lives, Jewish men and Jewish women must seek out their bashert, which means their “destined one”. Because the two must become one again, as they were before Adam was put to sleep to create Eve.

This is beautiful and appropriate for pre-Christian times. And certainly beautiful and appropriate for those in present times without the benefit of Jesus.

But I’m more interested in a better explanation than the one I gave above. If you could please assist me in that, I’d be more than appreciative! Thanks again!

 

[distracted]

Poll after poll has shown that a very large number of catholic priests favor an option to marry. More then half of all catholics in the USA believe priests should have the option to marry. Its very obvious the catholic church is out of touch with its laity and its priests.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that… I would say, instead, that the hierarchy have their reasons that maybe the laity don’t understand… I have to admit i don’t understand. but i have to accept the Church as it is… She is either the Church Christ established or She is not… I know that She is… True, the people in the Church are far from perfect or even very godly sometimes… but i trust the official teahcings of the Church… (key word: official… I don’t trust some people’s interpretations/applications thereof…)…

Should all of these priests be excommunicated for their honesty.

They are not excommunicated for their opinions… feelings…

The church keeps the devout in line with FEAR/GUILT and the possibility of committing a sin.

You must not be Catholic - or if so, you don’t know certain things abou tthe Church… As one saint said once “The Church is Christ”… (with imperfect people thrown into the mix )…

 The catholic church says men will receive a calling from god  to become a priest.  If a married man got a calling from god the catholic church would trump god and say "no your not, we make the rules"....!

The Church hierarchy do not make rules against the rules of God… the pope is prevented, by God Himself, from doing that… History of the popes is interesting… There was this one pope who was getting ready to publish a heretical bible… Cardinals, bishops, etc… opposed him but he didn’t listen… He ended up dying b4 he could do it… There are other such stories… of how “fate” intervened to keep a pope from teaching error… Jesus promised that owuld not not happen (St. Matt 16:18)… The gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church… He never promised they would not prevail against individuals… I trust my Church… though i have to say, it is not always easy…
What religion are you??

 

[AgnosTheist]

Our belief in this stems from ancient Jewish teaching which held that when God removed a rib from Adam to make Eve, it was to show that man is incomplete without a wife.

Also works well for non-catholic christians.

 

[distracted]

I am sure we have had a few gay popes. Not that there is anything wrong with that. A great number of priests are gay,

a great number?? Like waht percentage?? If you say this, you must have some kind of way to verify… right? I do not believe a huge percentage are gay… but i do think it takes a man who is very “different” to want to become a priest… (whatever tht means…I know)…

many are obvious, we have all seen them, some are closet. They have sexual thoughts desires just like the rest of us

and hopefully, like SOME ofthe rest of us, they suppress those feelings/thoughts… but as stated, i think / feel that to suppress those feelings forever (the normal, heterosexual ones, that is) is un-natural… and NOT always such a good thing… But then, as also previously stated, i may HAVE to suppress them because so far, i have not found Mr. Right… or if i have, he has yet to be cooperative… So, OK, i hav no choice… but if a priest is given a choice, meaning he meets Miss Perfect… he should be allowed to marry her without a big, long, drawn out “red tape” kind of thing from the Church…

Yes priests should have the option to marry. I am a voice that represents the feelings of most USA catholics.

I am not sure you represent most USA Catholics… and if you did, i wouldn’t be so proud of such a thing… I am not all that impressed with US Catholicism… far too liberal…
I don’t consider myself liberal one bit… I may be wrong in what i have said on this subject… Like i said, i trust the pope and my Church … They know things i don’t… about Jesus… and salvation, etc…
I just feel strongly that priests should not be ostracized or whatever if they want to marry, esp the ones who have served for many many yrs… It is a known fact that married men live longer… Doesn’t that say something about the un-healthy-ness of living alone??
Of course, the odd thing is that married women do not live as long as single ones… but oh well… I sometimes think i am being led in that direction nonetheless…
Anway, thanks for the comments…

 

[Cantaloupe]

Being a priest, is just like a man having a wife. For a priest, the church as the whole is just like the wife that must be taken care of, even to the point of surrendering his life. So, a priest who has a wife, is just like a man having 2/more wives.

If you ever been in Indonesia, where a parish with 2 or 3 priests has to serve 13.000 church member, you will understand how busy they are taking care so many aspects of church life. You know, being a priest is not the same as just delivering the mass and giving sermons. In fact, delivering a mass for a priest is only a small part of his duty. If a priest has a wife, will he take care more of his wife and children than the church matters?

Ordaining more priest? Being a priest is a call of duty, not just a profession that a man can easily chose. The education for being a priest is longer than the other profession, say an accountant, perhaps. It is exactly as Jesus has said. The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.

Well said!! That is something I wanted to say, and was writing, but you said it!!

 

[Yerusalyim]

Why do people keep asking this question! No,no,no. Its been no for the pope, and he has stated that it will “never” happen. This question goes along with women-priests.

No, this question is NOTHING like that of female ordination. The Church has no power to ordain females…this is DOCTRINE. The Church can, however, allow married men to be ordained (as in many rites of the Catholic Church) and could even allow currently celibate priests to Marry. One is an issue of doctrine, the other of discipline.

I think the Church would be more diverse if it allowed married men of the Latin rite to be ordained, HOWEVER, this is not a solution to the priest shortage.

 

[Yerusalyim]

I don’t care if a large group of priests want to marry. They must follow Jesus Christ who was not married. That’s it. Over. Done.

Except that Christ NEVER order this, blessed marriage, and chose MARRIED MEN as his Apostles…Peter was married…the presumption is the other disciples were as well (Paul mentions this) and Paul himself was probably married. MOREOVER, the scriptures instruction for presbyters and bishops mention them being married…so this is not some mandate from God on high, it’s a matter of internal Church discipline which has NEVER been universal in the Church…or even in the Latin Rite.

Got a verse for that? We know for sure that St. Paul was single - he tells us so - he was a Pharisee. If there were some law that all Jewish men must marry, then how could St. Paul have been accepted as a Pharisee, as a single man? Yet, he was.

The command was given, BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY" the Jews take this quite seriously and there must be a special reason to NOT marry.
Paul was not necessarily single…probably NOT single. He might have been a widower. In those days one requirement for Rabbinic Ordination was MARRIAGE…Paul studied to become a rabbi rather than earning the title honorifically as it was given to Jesus. The presumption then, is that he was either married, or widowed…

 

[adstrinity]

Lets not forget the protestant faith outnumbers catholics over 2 to 1 in the USA.

Be that as it may, the Catholic faith outnumbers the Protestant faiths 100% to none in Heaven.

Just because you cannot believe that the vast majority of Catholics do not advocate married priests or that people lived over 500 years in the Old Testament, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by CatsAndDogs
Quote:
Our belief in this stems from ancient Jewish teaching which held that when God removed a rib from Adam to make Eve, it was to show that man is incomplete without a wife.

This is beautiful and appropriate for pre-Christian times. And certainly beautiful and appropriate for those in present times without the benefit of Jesus.

Also works well for non-catholic christians.

Perhaps I should further clarify the group I was talking about! Thanks for the hint that I didn’t quite cover my bases.

The clarification is:
"And certainly beautiful and appropriate for those in present times without the benefit of (the fullness of) Jesus.

Ooooooo… that’s very “provocative”, don’tcha think!?

 

[Yerusalyim]

NO, because Jesus never Married and they are in Persona Christi, (the person of Christ). Jesus never Married (irregardless of what some might think.)
Now, I understand that there are very rare, and certain cases where a man is already Married and converts, he is not to leave his wife to become a Priest if he is called to the Priesthood, but…
like I said, those cases are very rare. I actually have a question about that too, if anyone knows, are they called to celibacy then also?? (I mean, I am sure that if they are then their wife would be in total agreement, but I don’t know and seriously was wondering, are they?)

So Peter shouldn’t have been a priest? The hundreds or thousands of priests that were married up to the time that this became the discipline of the Latin Rite shouldn’t have been priests or didn’t serve in the person of Christ? The thousands of Catholic priests that do not belong to the Latin Rite whom are married do not serve in the person of Christ?

Please, have strong faith in your belief…believe celibacy makes a better priest…but don’t argue from ignorance that insults the thousands of married priests…including the first pope.

 

[AgnosTheist]

Be that as it may, the Catholic faith outnumbers the Protestant faiths 100% to none in Heaven.

technically what you said means that protestant faith in heaven is from none to at least 50%.

 

[Yerusalyim]

You say "Every priest I know has a will and none of them are trying to leave Parish assets to their heirs!.. I would say you are not being truthful with your story here…and you call yourself a catholic. Name the priests that you say you know have told you they are not leaving their assets to their heirs. Quit making stuff up. You know its a sin to lie. Waiting for your answer please name the priests that told you this personal information…just as I thought…A LIE!! and I thought all catholics were honest…I guess not!

No one is making things up. Property ownership and inheritance wasn’t as cut and dried back in the day as it is now…especially with regards to Church property. Some priests did transfer property to their heirs. Read a bit of history.

 

[AgnosTheist]

The clarification is:
"And certainly beautiful and appropriate for those in present times without the benefit of (the fullness of) Jesus.

Are you saying that the idea that “women are the fulfillment of men” isnt beautiful & appropriate for catholics (fullness of jesus)?

 

[impalass]

Be that as it may, the Catholic faith outnumbers the Protestant faiths 100% to none in Heaven.

Just because you cannot believe that the vast majority of Catholics do not advocate married priests or that people lived over 500 years in the Old Testament, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

You say the catholic faith outnumbers the protestant faith 100% to none in heaven.  Are you kidding me.   The catholic church teaches that we go to purgatory before judgement day.   A holding tank for heaven/hell according to the church.  Not my belief.  The church use to tell people that there was a place called limbo for unbaptized babies.  This pope now says it isn't so.  I feel sorry for all the popes/cardinals/bishops/priests/laity that were taught this fallacy for centuries.  I was taught this by priests/nuns and my mother back in the 50s.

Yes priests should have the option to marry. It works very well in the protestant faith. If they have a big wedding so what, are they suppose to be different then you and me? Yes I know the church isn’t a democracy, its no different then the teacher in the classroom, however when you have the majority of catholics who don’t follow many of the teachings of the church, something is wrong. A church divided.

 

[impalass]

No one is making things up. Property ownership and inheritance wasn’t as cut and dried back in the day as it is now…especially with regards to Church property. Some priests did transfer property to their heirs. Read a bit of history.

Yes priests should be allowed to marry. I don’t care where a priests assets go. If he had a wife hopefully to her and the children. In the USA parish priest receives a base salary of about $18,000 a year. free room and board and all the wine they can drink…worth about $15,000+, a car allowance, dental plan, health care plan, a pension, many $$ $$ stipends (weddings/funerals) Because they don’t have a family this compensation is quite sufficient for a man not married such as a priest.

 

[Cathdefender]

Almost covered the cost of the new roof you say…OR a small amount of the financial awards towards one of the young boys sexually molested by a catholic priest. Off topic: Currently just under $2 BILLION has been paid out by the over 180 dioceses in the USA for sexual abuse by so called holy fathers of the church. 6 dioceses in the USA have recently filed for bankruptcy…and the end is still not in sight. Disgusting!

Get your facts straight sir before you open mouth insert foot.