No, it wasn’t. They treated their *offices *as an inheritance, for example making their children bishops of territories.The point was to show that inheritance of church property to children of clergy, was a reality.
They have no standing, so they can go after it all they want, the will come away empty handed.If you think lawyers would not attempt to go after Church property, in a divorce case,( should they ever allow married priest,) I think you’re living in a dream world.
That quote from St. Paul refers to BAPTISM: that Baptism incorporates the individual person, male or female, into the paschal Mystery and into the Body of Christ. It does NOT mean that the distinction between male and female established within Creation is obliterated on the natural level (and therefore on the level of natural symbol!), but that this distinction does not exclude any man or woman from salvation. The Sacrament of Holy Orders, however, is not established for everyone, but only for SOME, and is for the purpose of bringing to the Bride of Christ, the Church, a continuation of the definite God-Man Jesus’ sacrificial offering, forgiveness of sins, ruling the people, teaching them.The priest in question is fully within his rights to suggest that discussion of the need to continue the discipline of celebacy be resumed. As it is not a necessary element of the priestly function, it is up for debate. As for the idea that women cannot be ordained, it is contrary to the scripture that says that we are no longer to make distinctions between slave and free, Jew or Greek, male or female (Rabbi Paul to the Church at Galatia). All of the hierarchy’s arguments to the contrary notwithstanding, the Church cannot go against scripture.
Matthew
Can’t happen. God will ordain females as priests when he ordains males as mothers.Then he proceeded to give what he thought should happen or ideas to solve this problem, things that he would like to see discussed again; … women becoming priests, …
After conversion they realize that there is a problem, yet can still be ordained?On behalf of the married men of the catholic church, I disagree.
Anglican ministers know of no problem with a married priesthood. Thus, early in life and with no formation of their conscience to the contrary, they perceive a vocational call to BOTH marriage and holy orders. Later in life, they have a conversion to catholicism and THEN realize that there is a problem.
What you say is very true. Married people are the first to praise the value of celibacy, they value it, and believe it is a treasure.I agree with Matt about the celibacy issue. Celibacy is a grace. Fr. Corapi called it a “gift” from God and went on in his preaching to ask why should we (priests) want to throw a gift back in God’s face. I believe that celibacy, for those meant to live it, is a great blessing. I wish there were more positive things being said about it, rather than it being presented as a deprivation.
In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, priestly celibacy is a discipline, not doctrine.Either its theologically wrong for married men to become priest, or its not.
This article uses the analogy of a married priest, as the ministry stands, which of course is for celibate priest.In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, priestly celibacy is a discipline, not doctrine.
catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0545.html
Think about the practical consequences of the Church lifting this discipline. Think about your own parish rectory – and about your own pastor being married. He’s scheduled to celebrate the 7 a.m. mass. Because he tries to be a faithful Catholic husband, he and his wife have been fruitful and multiplied – so they and their seven kids are squeezed into the 3-bedroom rectory, paid for by the parish, because after all, the parish cannot afford to pay much of a salary to any priest. At 6 a.m. the priest’s infant and 3-year-old have raging fevers and must be brought to the E.R. – how can the priest be expected to fully separate himself from his family obligations to participate in his parish obligations within the hour? As a parent, shouldn’t he abandon the 350 people coming to that mass, so he can help his wife care for his children? But what of the needs of the parishioners? Then that afternoon – his 8-year-old has some friends over – and they hit a baseball into the church’s 150-year-old stained glass window. The pastor can’t afford to repair this – so the parish must assume the expense of repairs. And the next day – the 16-year-old son is hanging out with his friends, and without permission, drives his friend’s car, sideswipes a parked car, and incurs a few thousand dollars in damages to both cars. So the owners of those cars sue – and the teen’s dad, the pastor, is held liable – but doesn’t have the cash to pay because of his low salary – so either the parish must help pay, or the pastor needs to resign from priestly duties to take on a job that will pay more. Etcetera.
Absolutely agree. The problem is really that we have a generation or two of people who don’t know how to make a commitment to anything–job, family, nothing really. Life long commitments to something through good and bad are rarer and rarer. I see the saddest sign of it in people who divorce after 20-30 or so years of marriage. That is not caused by a sudden realization that one spouse is abusive. That is caused by a couple deciding that they each need to ‘do their own thing’. That the struggles and tribulations that they have borne so far are just not worth it anymore. Instead of perservering and finishing the race to the end, we are willing to risk eternity for “fun” and “freedom” here on earth.I find it amusing to hear people proclaim celibacy to be the reason for the priestly vocations crisis. Open those eyes folks. We don’t have just a PRIESTLY vocations crisis, we have a TOTAL vocations crisis. Vocations to sacramental marriage have been at LEAST as hard hit as those accepting the religious vocation. Ever notice the divorce rate and the huge mushroom in decrees of nullity granted in the last 100 years? What we have is a civilizational crisis of faith that is affecting us all, not just a mere priest shortage.