Married priest is first in Seattle Archdiocese

[CHRISTINE77]

Seems as though there are more married Catholic Priests than I thought

BELLINGHAM – The day after his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Tom McMichael stood in front of the altar at Assumption Church after Sunday Mass, while members of the congregation raised both hands in a gesture of welcome and blessing.

The welcoming of a new priest is a special moment for any church, but this moment may have been more special than most: At McMichael’s side was Karin McMichael, his wife of 23 years.

McMichael, 48, is the first married priest in the Archdiocese of Seattle, which includes all of Western Washington. He and his wife have two sons, aged 19 and 21. McMichael expects to be working at Assumption part time at least until this summer, while also celebrating weekend Masses at Skagit County churches.

The Jan. 11 event was no surprise to the parish. McMichael had been on the church staff as a seminarian and deacon for several months, the culmination of a process that began in November 2005. That was when McMichael informed his congregation at Lynden’s Hope Lutheran Church that he was resigning to become a Catholic.

McMichael took that step with no assurance that he would be able to continue the religious vocation he loved.

“Perhaps the most difficult part of this was giving that up, and not being sure if I would be able to continue,” he said. “There was no guarantee that this door would open.”

While priestly celibacy remains the rule in the Roman Catholic Church, there are exceptions. In the 1950s, McMichael said, the Roman church allowed some married Lutheran pastors in Germany to be ordained after conversion. And some small Eastern-rite churches that accept the authority of the pope have a long tradition of married priests.

link: seattlepi.com/local/396880_priest21.html

 

[daeve]

An interesting little coincidence is that my parish had a married priest (former Episcopalean) too, and the parish is named Assumption. He’s since moved on to a different parish.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

An interesting little coincidence is that my parish had a married priest (former Episcopalean) too, and the parish is named Assumption. He’s since moved on to a different parish.

I guess I’m just ignorant. I never knew such a thing existed in the Catholic Church. What next?

 

[Brendan]

I guess I’m just ignorant. I never knew such a thing existed in the Catholic Church. What next?

As the article said, there has been a pastorial provision for quite awhile on this.

And the Eastern Catholic Churches have had married clergy for millenia.

There is nothing in Church doctrine that prohibits a married man from being ordained ( one who is ordained cannot enter into marriage though.)

St. Patrick’s father, for example, was a Deacon, and his grandfather was a priest.

Priestly celebacy exists because generally, those are the optimal canidates for Holy Orders, as they can devote more time to ministry. St. Paul mentions this in 1 Cor 7

But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife

St. Paul states it as the ideal, what we should ‘shoot for’, so to speak, but not as an absolute requirement.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

As the article said, there has been a pastorial provision for quite awhile on this.

And the Eastern Catholic Churches have had married clergy for millenia.

There is nothing in Church doctrine that prohibits a married man from being ordained ( one who is ordained cannot enter into marriage though.)

St. Patrick’s father, for example, was a Deacon, and his grandfather was a priest.

Priestly celebacy exists because generally, those are the optimal canidates for Holy Orders, as they can devote more time to ministry. St. Paul mentions this in 1 Cor 7

St. Paul states it as the ideal, what we should ‘shoot for’, so to speak, but not as an absolute requirement.

Well, thanks for enlightening me. I had no idea.

 

[JReducation]

I guess I’m just ignorant. I never knew such a thing existed in the Catholic Church. What next?

The Catholic Church has always had both celibate and married priests. What may be confusing to many people is that we often forget that there are Eastern Churches that are Catholic. When we think of Eastern Churches we tend to think of the Orthodox Churches. These are only some of the Eastern Churches. Many of them are in full communion with Rome and have never left. They have never had mandatory celibacy. Mandatory celibacy is a discipline for the Roman Church. In the Eastern Churches only bishops must be celibate. Obviously those who are religious are also celibate. The East does not have active religious congregations of priests, as we have in the west. They only have religious orders, no congregations. These orders are monastic. Some of these monks are engaged in active ministry. Obviously, they must be celibate, because they are religious.

That being said, married men have always been allowed to become secular deacons or secular priests in the East. In the West, we have allowed married men to be ordianed deacons after Vatican II. Prior to Vatican II only a few Lutheran ministers who converted were allowed to be ordained. Now it is more common. But it still remains an exception. The rule still is that only celibate men may be ordained priests, secular or religious.

Married clergy existed in the Roman Church for the first 1,000 years of the Church’s history. Even during the Middle Ages there were a few pockets in Europe where there were married men ordained to the priesthood. But by that time, these were remnants of days gone by.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[rlg94086]

The Catholic Church has always had both celibate and married priests. What may be confusing to many people is that we often forget that there are Eastern Churches that are Catholic. When we think of Eastern Churches we tend to think of the Orthodox Churches. These are only some of the Eastern Churches. Many of them are in full communion with Rome and have never left. They have never had mandatory celibacy. Mandatory celibacy is a discipline for the Roman Church. In the Eastern Churches only bishops must be celibate. Obviously those who are religious are also celibate. The East does not have active religious congregations of priests, as we have in the west. They only have religious orders, no congregations. These orders are monastic. Some of these monks are engaged in active ministry. Obviously, they must be celibate, because they are religious.

That being said, married men have always been allowed to become secular deacons or secular priests in the East. In the West, we have allowed married men to be ordianed deacons after Vatican II. Prior to Vatican II only a few Lutheran ministers who converted were allowed to be ordained. Now it is more common. But it still remains an exception. The rule still is that only celibate men may be ordained priests, secular or religious.

Married clergy existed in the Roman Church for the first 1,000 years of the Church’s history. Even during the Middle Ages there were a few pockets in Europe where there were married men ordained to the priesthood. But by that time, these were remnants of days gone by.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Hi Brother,

Just for clarity, it’s not just Lutherans either. This priest in the article is apparently the first married priest convert in our Archdiocese, but I met a priest from the Portland Archdiocese (just across the river from me) who was a Presbyterian minister.

 

[JReducation]

Hi Brother,

Just for clarity, it’s not just Lutherans either. This priest in the article is apparently the first married priest convert in our Archdiocese, but I met a priest from the Portland Archdiocese (just across the river from me) who was a Presbyterian minister.

You’re 100% right. I mentioned the Lutherans, because the pastoral provision was first used with a group of Lutherans by Pope Pius XII. He’s considered the “father of the pastoral provision”. Pope John Paul II applied it to several other groups and Pope Benedict is now applying it to the Anglicans. It has been used with many other converts too.

It must be remembered, that this is a pastoral provision, not the rule of law for the Roman Church. It is the rule of law for the Eastern Churches.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[manualman]

The general logic behing the pastoral provision is that humans quite simply grow closer to God at an irregular pace. There are those men of faith who, through no fault of their own, discovered that they had a vocation to minister to God’s people BEFORE they came to recognize the Catholic Church as THE one, holy, catholic and apostolic church launched by Jesus himself. In their previous eclessial communities, they married in accordance with the rules they lived under at the time. The bishops have discerned that such cases are totally different than that of someone with the benefit of the full catholic faith who gets married and THEN decides maybe he should be a priest. Sorry, man, you had your chance and made your choice. Converts who previously made a good faith committment to being clergy are just different.

 

[brotherhrolf]

We have two in our diocese - one was Episcopalian, the other Lutheran.

 

[countertenor]

Hi Brother,

Just for clarity, it’s not just Lutherans either. This priest in the article is apparently the first married priest convert in our Archdiocese, but I met a priest from the Portland Archdiocese (just across the river from me) who was a Presbyterian minister.

That’s Father Slider at St. Agatha’s. He’s was my pastor when I lived in Portland. He’s wonderful!

 

[jc-servant]

There are quite a few married priests in the N. Texas area in both the Dallas and Ft. Worth dioceses. We have a parish where the priest and people converted from Anglican and there are a number of parishes that are not Roman but definitely Catholic in our area also. I love to see how beautifully diverse our universal church can be even in one metro area.

 

[rlg94086]

That’s Father Slider at St. Agatha’s. He’s was my pastor when I lived in Portland. He’s wonderful!

I only met him once, but I’ve heard wonderful things from parishioners there. I am a convert from the Presbyterian church, as well. I asked him if he was influenced at all by Scott Hahn’s work (another former Presbyterian minister), but Fr. Slider said that prayer/contemplation had more to do with his conversion. I found that really interesting at the time, because my spiritual maturity was not quite there yet (more analytical than prayerful). Now, it makes a lot of sense!

 

[m134e5]

I guess I’m just ignorant. I never knew such a thing existed in the Catholic Church. What next?

I’m surprised…the media just LOVES to talk about married priests every time they can find them. There have been provisions that have allowed certain married men to become priests for awhile now- it’s not that new. Also, other rites of the Church have had married priests, as far as I know, for as long as they’ve been around. I suppose it is too boring to write about the celibate priests who do everything good priests have traditionally done, that the world cannot imagine anyone doing willingly- being celibate, making their ministry more than just a job, going the extra mile for God’s glory and to bring others to Him- rather than for their own glory or comfort. People don’t generally write, or want to read about those kinds of priests. I’m not sure why. Personally, I find those types of stories to be the most interesting.

 

[JReducation]

I’m surprised…the media just LOVES to talk about married priests every time they can find them. There have been provisions that have allowed certain married men to become priests for awhile now- it’s not that new. Also, other rites of the Church have had married priests, as far as I know, for as long as they’ve been around. I suppose it is too boring to write about the celibate priests who do everything good priests have traditionally done, that the world cannot imagine anyone doing willingly- being celibate, making their ministry more than just a job, going the extra mile for God’s glory and to bring others to Him- rather than for their own glory or comfort. People don’t generally write, or want to read about those kinds of priests. I’m not sure why. Personally, I find those types of stories to be the most interesting.

There are two issues. The one is ignorance and the other is money.

On the first issue, most Roman Catholics still believe that we are the only Catholics around. When you tell a Roman Catholic that the Roman Church is a rite within the larger Catholic Church or as I often try to explain it, a branch, of the Catholic Church, some people think that you’re talking about the Orthodox. Therefore, most Roman Catholics do not know that we have always had a married clergy in the Catholic Church that dates back to the time of the apostles. Even though celibacy also dates back to the Apostles, they celibate cerics were in the minority until the end of the first millenium of the Western Church. In fact, all of the Catholic Churches have celibate clerics. But in the Roman Church celibacy was imposed as a discipline on the secular clergy. Whereas the Vatican never imposed celibacy on the secular clergy in the Eastern Churches. In the Eastern Churches, the only clerics who are celibate are those who are religious, not the secular clerics. Therefore, most of their bishops are religious. They have very few diocesan priests who are celibate.

The second reason that we don’t read much about this is what has already been said. The media will not print what does not sell or what does not promote its agenda. It’s agenda has to do with money and power.

But unless Catholics become more educated about their own Church, the media will always have the upper hand.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[graceandglory]

I guess I’m just ignorant. I never knew such a thing existed in the Catholic Church. What next?

It is not against church law.
There is a married priest in the Archdiocese of Portland.

If an ordained protestant minister is a convert to Catholicism, he may become a Catholic priest. “remain in the state in which you were called.” is the biblical expression.

Imagine if a protestant minister converts to Catholicism, and along with him his whole protestant congregation. …

 

[graceandglory]

That’s Father Slider at St. Agatha’s. He’s was my pastor when I lived in Portland. He’s wonderful!

I knew he was at St. Agatha’s. I have never been. I have only heard good things about him. This is good to hear!

 

[rlg94086]

It is not against church law.
There is a married priest in the Archdiocese of Portland.

If an ordained protestant minister is a convert to Catholicism, he may become a Catholic priest. “remain in the state in which you were called.” is the biblical expression.

Imagine if a protestant minister converts to Catholicism, and along with him his whole protestant congregation. …

Just to clarify, “may” is the correct word. Special dispensation is required (from the Vatican, I think), so it is not an automatic. I believe it may also be limited to ministers from certain trinitarian faiths (e.g. Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian - not meant to be a definitive list).

 

[graceandglory]

**Just to clarify, “may” is the correct word. Special dispensation is required (from the Vatican, I think), so it is not an automatic. ** I believe it may also be limited to ministers from certain trinitarian faiths (e.g. Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian - not meant to be a definitive list).

Which is why I chose that word.

 

[rlg94086]

Which is why I chose that word.

Yes, I know. I was clarifying for others, so they didn’t get the impression that they “may” become Catholic priests at their own discretion.