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I was previously aware of a few things pertaining to Eastern Catholicism, one of them being that most of the Eastern rites allow for married priests, although most bishops have a monastic background and all of them are celibate. I also knew that since the early part of the 20th century, there were certain countries made up of immigrants wherein the less-recent immigrants (primarily Catholics of the Latin Rite) sought to restrict and generally meddle in the priesthood details of the more-recent immigrants (specifically Eastern Catholics). I was aware of the fact that some of the previously-adhered-to restrictions are no longer enforced, for example a married priest from another country is now permitted to take his family with him to a Catholic parish in the United States and continue here as he was there. But what I did not know…
What I did not know is that Eastern Catholics still cannot freely ordain married priests in the United States in a way that is unrestricted. True, they technically can ordain married priests, but only if they get special permission, only very recently, and so far only for a handful of the Eastern rites. This came to my attention when I found out that on February 27 of this very year, 2014, Fr. Wissam Akiki became the first Maronite Catholic to be ordained as a married Catholic priest in the United States since the initial restrictions began in the 1930s. ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/first-married-man-ordained-priest-us-maronite-catholic-church
This current practice has a number of effects. First, if you’re wondering (as I am) where an Eastern Catholic would find formal training specific to his unique needs as a married priest, that’s not likely to happen in the United States. It’s a good thing that Akiki got some of his education in Lebanon. Second, since there are so few married Catholic priests being ordained in the US on a case-by-case basis, this undercuts any possibility of systematic, far-reaching education for women who might want to know how to go about being the wife of a Catholic priest. Traditionally (for example, back in Lebanon) it’s been especially common for the daughters or granddaughters of married priests to wind up marrying a priest, but it also helps if there is some formal training and education aside from growing up next to personal experience. It also helps if there is more than just a handful of married priests with families to look at. Third, since there are so few married priests being ordained in the United States, there’s no real reason to construct the necessary training apparatus that’s necessary in order to give married priests and their wives the best possible preparation for doing their jobs well. This is detrimental to the quality of the married priesthood and besides that, the interference that continues at this very late date adds up to an effect whereby the entirety of the priest-training apparatus that exists and is used in these emigrant-sending countries is not completely duplicated in the United States. It unnecessarily amplifies the “us/them” mentality when it comes to immigrants and natives- or, more appropriately, immigrants and less recent immigrants.
So this is one of the things that will continue to be on the plate of Pope Francis for the foreseeable future. He will continue to field requests for special permission to ordain married priests in the United States, and he will also field requests for these Eastern churches to freely ordain married priests without needing to ask permission. For the record, Australia has already rectified this problem- in Australia, which is also very much a country of immigrants, Eastern Catholics are free to ordain as many married priests as they choose without needing to ask permission on a case-by-case basis and it has been this way in Australia for about 20 years now.
In the United States of America, on the other hand, Eastern Catholics can technically ordain married priests here- but they still cannot do so freely, and again, only a handful of rites have begun to obtain permission to ordain even a handful of married priests. In the case of the Maronites, so far it’s just one.
I really thought this was taken care of already. I assumed that the situation in the US was already the way it is in Australia. So let me ask you guys two questions. Question one- is this a surprise to you as well, did you also think that the US was already a bit further ahead of the curve? And question two- given the chance to voice your own personal opinion (which I gladly offer you right now), do you think that Pope Francis should allow Eastern Catholics in the United States to freely ordain married bishops without restrictions and without needing to ask permission? Or do you have some kind of reason to think that shouldn’t happen, as it already has in Australia?
Actually, I think I will turn this into a poll for that second question.
What I did not know is that Eastern Catholics still cannot freely ordain married priests in the United States in a way that is unrestricted. True, they technically can ordain married priests, but only if they get special permission, only very recently, and so far only for a handful of the Eastern rites. This came to my attention when I found out that on February 27 of this very year, 2014, Fr. Wissam Akiki became the first Maronite Catholic to be ordained as a married Catholic priest in the United States since the initial restrictions began in the 1930s. ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/first-married-man-ordained-priest-us-maronite-catholic-church
This current practice has a number of effects. First, if you’re wondering (as I am) where an Eastern Catholic would find formal training specific to his unique needs as a married priest, that’s not likely to happen in the United States. It’s a good thing that Akiki got some of his education in Lebanon. Second, since there are so few married Catholic priests being ordained in the US on a case-by-case basis, this undercuts any possibility of systematic, far-reaching education for women who might want to know how to go about being the wife of a Catholic priest. Traditionally (for example, back in Lebanon) it’s been especially common for the daughters or granddaughters of married priests to wind up marrying a priest, but it also helps if there is some formal training and education aside from growing up next to personal experience. It also helps if there is more than just a handful of married priests with families to look at. Third, since there are so few married priests being ordained in the United States, there’s no real reason to construct the necessary training apparatus that’s necessary in order to give married priests and their wives the best possible preparation for doing their jobs well. This is detrimental to the quality of the married priesthood and besides that, the interference that continues at this very late date adds up to an effect whereby the entirety of the priest-training apparatus that exists and is used in these emigrant-sending countries is not completely duplicated in the United States. It unnecessarily amplifies the “us/them” mentality when it comes to immigrants and natives- or, more appropriately, immigrants and less recent immigrants.
So this is one of the things that will continue to be on the plate of Pope Francis for the foreseeable future. He will continue to field requests for special permission to ordain married priests in the United States, and he will also field requests for these Eastern churches to freely ordain married priests without needing to ask permission. For the record, Australia has already rectified this problem- in Australia, which is also very much a country of immigrants, Eastern Catholics are free to ordain as many married priests as they choose without needing to ask permission on a case-by-case basis and it has been this way in Australia for about 20 years now.
In the United States of America, on the other hand, Eastern Catholics can technically ordain married priests here- but they still cannot do so freely, and again, only a handful of rites have begun to obtain permission to ordain even a handful of married priests. In the case of the Maronites, so far it’s just one.
I really thought this was taken care of already. I assumed that the situation in the US was already the way it is in Australia. So let me ask you guys two questions. Question one- is this a surprise to you as well, did you also think that the US was already a bit further ahead of the curve? And question two- given the chance to voice your own personal opinion (which I gladly offer you right now), do you think that Pope Francis should allow Eastern Catholics in the United States to freely ordain married bishops without restrictions and without needing to ask permission? Or do you have some kind of reason to think that shouldn’t happen, as it already has in Australia?
Actually, I think I will turn this into a poll for that second question.
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