Eastern vs. Western Couldn't you just switch?

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Blind post, my 2 cents. If you are called, the calling will still be there later.
 
No. I don’t believe that this is true. I know of a case where a married Latin Catholic man who converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church and studied in the Eastern Orthodox seminary and then was ordained as an Eastern Orthodox priest. He then converted to Eastern Catholicism and was accepted as an Eastern Catholic priest. So it is not true that he did not have a calling to the priesthood.
Perhaps he would have been allowed to become a married priest anyhow, if he had simply done a canonical transfer without switching communions.
 
No. I don’t believe that this is true. I know of a case where a married Latin Catholic man who converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church and studied in the Eastern Orthodox seminary and then was ordained as an Eastern Orthodox priest. He then converted to Eastern Catholicism and was accepted as an Eastern Catholic priest. So it is not true that he did not have a calling to the priesthood.
And I know of at least one case where a disgruntled (celibate) Latin priest ran to the AOC and was accepted. When the bishop came to realize that this person was trouble, he (the priest) bolted and ran again, this time to one of the Oriental Churches in union with Rome. He was eventually accepted by one particular bishop (who was, to put it bluntly, hoodwinked), but when that bishop passed away, he was dismissed from the diocese. He attempted to find a home elsewhere, but ultimately it ended up that he was given his walking papers.

Due to circumstances which I will not explain here, I knew the man personally, and while I’m not qualified to judge, I’d say there was no “calling” involved in the first place. He was, IMO, a charlatan and an imposter (although one who was validly and licity ordained in the first place) from the get-go.

I bring this up simply to say that a “calling” is not necessarily a clear thing. Unfortunately, it happens regularly (though, fortunately, not frequently) that lemons are accepted for ordination, whether in the Latin Church, one or another of the ECCs/OCCs, or the EO/OO, whether married or celibate.

The married state has little, if anything to do with it. If a married Latin man “jumps ship” and runs to the EO specifically for the purpose of being ordained, and then “jumps ship” again to the equivalent ECC, I’d not give him any laurels. Just as I would not give any laurels to the celibate person in my example above.
 
Good post, malphono. Quite frankly, I’m a bit shocked at how quick some people seem to be to assume/state that somebody or other has-or-doesn’t-have a calling, often for little or no good reason. (And yes, I did qualify that with “seems”, and yes I’m not naming names or posts.)
 
Good post, malphono. Quite frankly, I’m a bit shocked at how quick some people seem to be to assume/state that somebody or other has-or-doesn’t-have a calling, often for little or no good reason. (And yes, I did qualify that with “seems”, and yes I’m not naming names or posts.)
Thanks 😊 😉
 
If both sides… eastern rites and western rites are permitted to be all together one Church couldn’t you just switch sides?

Say you are being called to become a priest, you are a married man. You can’t in the Roman Catholic rite, but couldn’t you just become a member of an eastern rite and go into discernment?

Is this sinful? Is it wrong? What if you are truly being called?

Of course this is hypothetical. So be as abrupt as you wish.
Disclaimer: I haven’t read the rest of this thread, just the OP.

The idea of “just switching”, whether as a sort of loophole to get around celibacy in the Latin Church or for some other reason, seems to be discouraged due to the knowledge and practice (both of which take time) involved in going from one church to another. I would suspect that any Latin who would come into and Eastern or Oriental Church with the idea that he could become a priest there would very quickly find that it is not really a matter of simply putting on some different colored vestments or learning to chant the Sanctus in some funny-talk like Church Slavonic, Malayalam, or Syriac. It is because each church has its own unique spiritual tradition that it lives in that you’re expected to live in it too, whether you think you’ll ultimately become a priest, or a monk, or a layperson, or whatever. A switch in canonical enrollment is probably not best thought of as a means to an end, in the sense of allowing you to do something you can’t do in the Latin Church. In fact, I would worry that if there is any such thing that would drive the Latins out of their Church in order to find refuge in those of another people where the thing is suddenly available, we might not be talking about a situation in which the Latins and the Easterners/Orientals are actually “permitted to be together” after all…or at least not in a way that respects the unique spirituality of all involved.

The bottom line is, if you want to join an Eastern or Oriental Church, than join an Eastern or Oriental Church…but know ahead of time that there is a right way to do it and wrong way to do it. Don’t worry about who should or does or doesn’t have what. The Holy Spirit will sort that out. It’s your job to listen and cooperate.
 
Discussions about whether it is right or not aside: Does this mean that it is possible for married Latin Catholics who become Eastern Catholics to apply to the seminary? Did you ever hear about such case? Anyone who is canonist here? 🙂
I know of a married Eastern Catholic seminarian who was raised Latin Catholic but has ethnic heritage of the particular church he is a member of and has also been a deacon therein for many years.
Good post, malphono. Quite frankly, I’m a bit shocked at how quick some people seem to be to assume/state that somebody or other has-or-doesn’t-have a calling, often for little or no good reason. (And yes, I did qualify that with “seems”, and yes I’m not naming names or posts.)
No, this lady DEFINITELY has a calling.
 
If both sides… eastern rites and western rites are permitted to be all together one Church couldn’t you just switch sides?

Say you are being called to become a priest, you are a married man. You can’t in the Roman Catholic rite, but couldn’t you just become a member of an eastern rite and go into discernment?

Is this sinful? Is it wrong? What if you are truly being called?

Of course this is hypothetical. So be as abrupt as you wish.
Hello SonSearcher.
Please do take note of this: newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02ol.htm

With all these replies, I doubt if you will still see my reply… I believe that this should be OK.👍
  1. Considering the above link, there should be no problem about this.
  2. But you must re-learn Eastern ways of everything… as if you were a 1st grader learning religion… Intellect and patience should be the key.👍
  3. There is no need for re-Baptism, etc… since we carry the same sacraments as they do.
Of course, I based my answer upon the Blessed Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter.
Christ can call anyone at anytime. Of course, in the Western Church this is an exception.
 
I haven’t watched the whole thing, but that got a laugh from me in about 20 seconds (even before the big break-out) b/c she said “Don’t listen to St. Paul”. I’d give her an A for honesty. :yup:
Can someone explain how St Therese is supposed to be involved in their sacrilege?
 
Can someone explain how St Therese is supposed to be involved in their sacrilege?
She wrote a whimsical piece in her “Story of the Soul” about how she wished she could be a priest just long enough to give one particular homily, which she proceeded to write out in her book. (And I dare say more people have read her book than would have heard her homily, had she actually been able to be that hypothetical priest. 👍 )
 
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