Issue of married Catholic priests gains traction under pope

[MikeInVA]

Many diocese pay priests more than lots of their married parishioners make.

Not in my parish. The real issue for me is how can a married priest be fully available to his family and fully available to the Church? I understand that there are exceptions where it works but I know that I couldn’t do it - I barely have enough time to be with my family!

 

[lilypadrees]

No, it’s because priests aren’t supposed to be married. They’re supposed to be celibate in serving God. A wife and family can distract him from his service to God and his parishioners.

 

[edwest]

That’s right.

 

[QwertyGirl]

Not in my parish. The real issue for me is how can a married priest be fully available to his family and fully available to the Church? I understand that there are exceptions where it works but I know that I couldn’t do it - I barely have enough time to be with my family!

I think they would have to “work” as priests only part-time, and parishes would hope there would be more of them and they would share the load. Actually not a bad concept, as long as there really would be more of them. I think it may be wishful thinking.

 

[TheLittleLady]

However, supporting two or more families would be difficult for all but the most affluent parishes.

 

[QwertyGirl]

True, but I am thinking they will hold regular jobs, maybe 70% of the time.

 

[MikeInVA]

So how much time would a married priest who is working a full time job actually have to give to the Church?

Also, I understand that in the Orthodox rites there is a restriction on the type of job a deacon can take, like work as a policeman where he has to carry a weapon. Assuming the same would hold true for the Catholic Church, that’s a further impediment on the type of person who can become a priest. Not that there are that many married police officers who also want to be priests, but it is a consideration.

 

[13pollitos]

The same can be said for military, Protestant preachers, lawyers, doctors, traveling businessmen, etc. And married priests have the advantage of discerning that together with their spouse of some the same way it is done for deacons and for Eastern Catholic priests. Only men already married can become married deacons and series priests. Once ordained, they must remain unmarried and celibate. The call must be discerned as a family and all must be “all in.” That in itself is an advantage for the wife. She has to be in agreement not just dragged along.

By the way, I am not in favor of a married priesthood. But the arguments against it have never truly resonated with me. Priests make a decent salary in many diocese and military chaplains make full officer pay at whatever rank they are, with full benefits. I know many Protestant Army chaplains and their wives, and they often have larger families. They somehow manage. A Catholic chaplain’s life is not much different. Parish priests don’t have it any “worse,” they just have it different.

 

[QwertyGirl]

I don’t envision them working a full-time job and giving their time to the Church. I imagine they would work a professional job ona part-time basis…teacher, accountant, lawyer, nurse…whatever it may be. Then their time serving the Church would also be on a part-time basis. The hours combined would be equivalent to a full-time job. This way, the parish wouldn’t have to carry a full salary. It would be less expensive, and the priest would be able to support his family from his part-time professional job salary plus the salary paid to him by the Church.

No doubt it would be a radical change to the way things are done now. It wouldn’t be moral to have things set up so the family was put in a position of suffering or not having access to their husband/father. He would still need to be an integral part of his family.

 

[MikeInVA]

The same can be said for military

And the life of military families is a hard one, and much harder today than in the past, with fathers deploying constantly. It isn’t a career for everybody. I think most of those serving make a decision along the way to either put their career first and their families second, or the reverse. You can’t do both equally well.

 

[13pollitos]

My husband is retired Army. I know the life well (25 years). Somehow it seems to work very well for many of us. Including Chaplain’s wives.

 

[Inisfallen]

I was just an hour ago speaking to a happily married Roman Catholic Priest. There is another married priest in my town.

Yes, we had one in my parish for a while. He came over from the Episcopalian Church. Had a wife and two kids. Nice guy.

 

[13pollitos]

I honestly am not for married priests. I feel like a priest should be married to the Church alone. I think a married priest runs the risk of dealing with a wife who decides after two kids that NFP isn’t worth it and opts for something else. Or he has a child that is super rebellious. Or he will take his stress out on his family. Or any number of things can go wrong. It may make his parishioners question his authority if he or his family falls too many times.

But the arguments most people through out there don’t make much sense to to me. They honestly make me think more favorably of a married priesthood. I think at times it is fine to just say, “No, because I said so,” and people just need to accept it. No one has the right to be a priest. It is a priveledge.

 

[Inisfallen]

True, but I am thinking they will hold regular jobs, maybe 70% of the time.

The married priest in my parish was married to a woman who worked on Wall Street, was something like a vice president at an investment bank. Probably made a ton of money.

Problem solved!

But seriously, Protestant churches and Jewish congregations seem to have worked out how to support married ministers and rabbis (my wife’s father was a minister). Surely we can do it too.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I imagine they would work a professional job ona part-time basis

Both married priests (who are close friends) work professional jobs as well and they are empty nesters, so, the children expense is past.

 

[TheLittleLady]

But seriously, Protestant churches and Jewish congregations seem to have worked out how to support married ministers and rabbis (my wife’s father was a minister). Surely we can do it too.

These parishioners/members are far more generous with their support of their congregation. Most Catholics would have a stroke if their priest began speaking about tithing (actually giving 10%) to the Parish!

 

[Hodos]

That would be a blessed thing.

 

[Hodos]

I have difficulty respecting people who can’t set aside their sexual urges to do something else. I suppose that’s my hang-up.

Did you in your vocation? Did God command you to do so?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’ve set aside mine many times in life. I have not been 100 percent successful but I also didn’t demand the church change its rules so I could have the sex I wanted to have.

And yes, God commands that we follow the church’s teachings regarding sex, which means that much of the time if not most of the time, you don’t act on your desires.

I am also not permitted to become a priest, and it’s disheartening to me that those who have what I consider to be a nice opportunity would reject it because they weren’t allowed to also get married.

 

[Hodos]

I’ve set aside mine many times in life. I have not been 100 percent successful but I also didn’t demand the church change its rules so I could have the sex I wanted to have.

And yes, God commands that we follow the church’s teachings regarding sex, which means that much of the time if not most of the time, you don’t act on your desires.

I am also not permitted to become a priest, and it’s disheartening to me that those who have what I consider to be a nice opportunity would reject it because they weren’t allowed to also get married.

First, these are not the teachings of the Church. The teachings of the church is that marriage is a gift of God, that men and women should get married rather than burn with passion if they are unable to faithfully remain celibate, and that a man’s ability to be faithful in his marriage and manage his household is one of the primary means by which we select those who should serve the Church in positions of responsibility. Let us be clear, this is canon law, not Church doctrine. And canon law can and should be changed when it conflicts with scripture.