Eastern prelate: Latin Rite should consider married priests

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Since he is clergy, I’ll respect the bishop’s comments. I still respect the long-standing tradition of the celibate priesthood in the Latin Rite. I’ve studied enough history to know it’s served the Church well over the centuries. Why change things now? The priest shortage? Would it be right to give in to the world’s pressure to solve a problem that it caused with the environment it created (which makes it difficult for people to hear and follow God’s call to the priesthood)? Caving into the culture will not solve the priest shortage, because following Christ is counter-cultural. Materialism

I love the celibate priesthood. Aside from the practical benefits of it, the celibate priesthood is an extremely visible example of people denying themselves to follow Christ- and with the materialism our world faces today, I believe the world needs that example- and not just in a select few places- we need it everywhere.

People often confuse materialism with consumerism. Consumerism is an obsession with acquiring wealth or material possessions. Materialism is a philosophy that states that physical matter is all there is (New Advent gives a much better explanation than I am able to give).
 
We already allow married priests in rare circumstances. I think that is enough. Celibate priests are able to do more for the Church because they don’t have to worry about immediate family members such as a wife and children.
 
Holly3278 said:
We already allow married priests in rare circumstances. I think that is enough. Celibate priests are able to do more for the Church because they don’t have to worry about immediate family members such as a wife and children.
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I suppose it all depends on how one defines “doing more.”

My son’s godfather’s dad is a married priest. He is the head priest of his area, with several priests under him in other parishes. He runs a large parish himself, he has established several mission parishes, he leads religious ed classes, bible studies, divine praises, travels to conferences, serves as a speaker, serves his parishioners in the sacraments, drops what he’s doing at home in case of all emergencies, has served as a chaplain, does all the house blessings, does missionary work in other countries during his “vacation” Oh yeah and he holds down another job in social work, to further the cause of social justice and help people with disabilities…yeah all the while he still has to do all the other office type work that a celibate latin rite priest has to do.

All the while his family totally deservers the family of the year award. I’ve never seen a more loving christian family, living up to what we are all called by Christ. His wife is there all the time working along side him in the parish in every way possible, which is basically everything but the sacraments. So unlike a celibate priest who goes out to work for Christ on his own, you have two people going out to work for Christ…and when all the kids are home, you have 5 people going out to work for Christ…and when their spouses are there that’s two more people…and then the grandkid, and so it continues. Both his sons are now deacons, one is married, the other is not and both are exploring a call to the priesthood through their bishop (and not in order to take over their father’s position).
 
Holly3278 said:
We already allow married priests in rare circumstances. I think that is enough. Celibate priests are able to do more for the Church because they don’t have to worry about immediate family members such as a wife and children.
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I just wish there were more exceptions. For example, ordaining someone as a deacon (and they are married) and then after X amount of time they have proven their worth and then (with the Bishop’s approval) can discern a call to the priesthood. They could keep the same duties they had as a deacon, but also be able to celebrate Mass when needed. Again, this is an off-the-top-of-my-head example of an exception. I’m sure there’s problems with the idea, but I’d love to see that or something like it considered.
 
The problems inherent in clerical marriage would drastically alter the Catholic Church.
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Allowing priests to marry sounds simple and it might solve priest shortage if the fallen away were welcomed back. But the problems inherent in clerical marriage would drastically alter the Catholic Church as it did when Protestantism reintroduced clerical marriage five centuries ago. There is today in many Catholic parishes a trend towards “protestantizing” the liturgy, to place more emphasis on preaching and less emphasis on pious practice and the sacraments. I see this trend being accelerated if priests are allowed to marry. The Holy Father insists on priestly celibacy against enormous pressure. He knows that the “cure” of a married priesthood in the Western Church would be worse than the ills it is supposed to heal.
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catholicmatters.com/clermary.htm
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And who has ultimate priority…GOD or family?
 
Ironic that an Archbishop from a church with a reputation for purging itself of just about anything that originated in the Latin Church, should suggest that that same Latin Church should now adopt traditions from the East. Then again, this isn’t the first time a high ranking Melkite has made such a suggestion.
 
A celibate clergy is preferred, why aspire for less than the ideal?
 
It may come that the Latin rite will open its doors for a married priesthood. Then Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches both have a celibate and married priesthhod and it has worked well for them for the last 2000 years. The celibate option in the Catholic or Latin rite is only policy and not dogma. There is always the possibility for change since the priesthood in the Catholic Church has been celibate through its policy and policies can change. In the Eastern Church the candidate is offered 2 options. Once he chooses celibacy he must adhere to it. The same if he chooses to marry. Then can he be ordained. Once ordained the celibate priest cannot then choose to marry. But the married priest must be married before ordination. In both cases the candidate is allowed to choose. But he cannot choose after he is ordained. The Latin rite has no options therefore the candidate has no other choice but to accept the choice made for him. For some this is difficult. I hope and I am hopeful the Catholic Church may include married priests into its order but allowing a seperate order within the Church. The Catholics may some day start a new order by allowing married men to enter the priesthood. This will not change the celibacy that has already been intact for there will always be men who will choose celibacy. But we are in the 21st Century and there may by better demands to have more priests. The celibate priest can work with the married priests together. Married priests do have their problems but so do the celibates. Together they can work to better form their parishes. The Eastern Church can be of great benefit and help in this matter because this setup has worked well for them. The demands of the priesthood needs to be addressed particularly in the West because we are facing terrible times and are in terrible times. Having a different new order of married priests will allow the Church to function better as we are getting on early into the 21st century. As communication between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Church is increasing so better is the understanding of each Church needs to be properly addessed. Both Churches need to understand each other to be respectful of each other and to learn from each other. We are now in the beginning stages of this relationship and growing closer hopefully to mutual respect and belonging. And then hopefully into full communion.
 
1holycatholic said:
Since married priests have to abstain from marital relations before celebrating the Eucharist, daily mass would be a huge problem for married priests. That’s why the Eastern Catholic Churches which permit the ordination of married men don’t celebrate the divine liturgy daily.

I’m not sure how the handful of married Latin rite priests deal with this issue.
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Daily celebration of the Eucharist was a development in the West. It particularly became the norm amongst the Franks in the 7th century. The Eastern Catholic Churches, like the Orthodox Churches, have married men as priests because that has been the tradition amongst the Easterners since early times. Historically, the Eastern churches celebrated the Divine Liturgy on important feast days (as well as on Sundays).

Even if there were a married priesthood within the Latin Church, there also would remain a celibate priesthood (of religious, monks, etc.) They would be able to offer daily Mass without any conflict.

Also, there already are married Latin priests (generally converts from Protestant churches). Do they offer daily Mass? If yes, then there really is nothing barring other married priests from offering daily Mass.
 
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