Ordination of a married man to the priesthood

[Benay]

Well the discernment process is a private process. I do not think you are really asking to know what is going on in these private discernment process though.
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Actually, no. You have gone beyond my question which is a question about the rules in Catholicism, not the discernment process itself. IMO that is off-topic in this thread. But thanks anyway.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Actually, no. You have gone beyond my question which is a question about the rules in Catholicism, not the discernment process itself. IMO that is off-topic in this thread. But thanks anyway.

I am sorry but I got the impression that you were starting to stray into the area of the discernment process when you asked why some non-catholic ministers are ordained to the priesthood and others are not.

 

[Benay]

I am sorry but I got the impression that you were starting to stray into the area of the discernment process when you asked why some non-catholic ministers are ordained to the priesthood and others are not.

I was wondering why exceptions to the rules are made for some and not for others.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I was wondering why exceptions to the rules are made for some and not for others.

That is a part of the discernment.

As for why no such exceptions are made for Roman Catholics it is because it is the system within they are raised and educated.

 

[SonCatcher]

The reason why I asked the original question, on page 1, was that I had watched the Journey Home program and heard this priest’s conversions story. Marcus Grodi has had many former Protestant clergy on his program, including Marcus himsell, who have not received orders. Married men with children who have struggled to find a job and a way to support themselves after converting to Catholicism. Never once was it mentioned that there might be a possibility for them to be ordained to the priesthood or if they had even thought about it. They did talk about how difficult it was for them to become “laity” and sit in the pews after having been a successful pastor.

For example, Scott Hahn? He was a married Presbyterian pastor before coming into the Catholic Church. I suspect that they discerned that their callings as Protestant pastors were different than that of the Catholic priesthood. Catholic priests dedicate themselves to the sacraments and to prayer. Protestant pastors may more likely feel called to teach and evangelize. Such a call is fitting to all Christians, not just priests.

 

[MaryHelene]

Our parish has a married priest. He has three grown children. He was a formal Episcopal pastor. He’s wonderful, gives the best homilies - but there is something different about him and the celibate priests we’ve had in the past and that I’ve known. Still, he’s a welcome add to the parish. Actually, he’s the only vocation we’ve had to the priesthood in 20 years of the church being around (and he’s got to be close to 70.)