Pope Could Soon Say ‘I Do’ to Married Priests–and Open a Schism

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Are you saying Peter left his wife? like separated/divorced his wife? Of course he was always with Jesus and devoted the remainder of his life to the apostolate, but did Jesus Himself not preach against divorce?
The point I am trying to make is Peter remained married to his wife, who remained in his house in Bethsheida while he was devoted to the apostolate. It was a sacrifice they both made and understood, but they were not separated.
 
Leferdion said:
Are you saying Peter left his wife? like separated/divorced his wife? Of course he was always with Jesus and devoted the remainder of his life to the apostolate, but did Jesus Himself not preach against divorce?
The point I am trying to make is Peter remained married to his wife, who remained in his house in Bethsheida while he was devoted to the apostolate. It was a sacrifice they both made and understood, but they were not separated.
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No, Peter didn’t get a divorce, or a separation. Peter left everything to follow Christ. His wife traveled with him on the apostolate (1 Cor. 9:5) As the Church grew in numbers it also grew with different responsibilities, thus the apostles gathered to discuss better ways to spread the gospel, and designated different tasks among the disciples in order for the Twelve to devote themselves 100% to the ministry of the gospel (Acts 6:1-7).

The rule of celibacy for priests developed later in the Church and it totallt]y freed a man from family stresses and responsibilities in order to devote themselves 100% to the ministry of the gospel, undivided and free to serve the Lord, as Paul explained in 1 Cor. 7:33-34.

Christ Himself spoke about those who make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, thus celibacy is a very good thing to practice in the service of the gospel. Nobody is forced to be celibate, in fact the priesthood is a 7 year discernment process. If only those getting married would discern their vocation to the married state in the sacrament of holy matrimony, maybe then there wouldn’t be so much divorce, and instead couples would better fulfill their vocation to be open to life for the sake of the kingdom of a God.
 
Do you think priests should remain celibate or be allowed to marry? I think they should remain celibate.
 
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They represent Jesus in their ministry. Jesus was not married. Beside that the responsibility of a family in this day and age of over worked pastors, I think as a practical point they should remain celibate. Could you imagine a sunday mass being cancelled because the priest was in the hospital taking care of a sick wife or child. There are probably a million more practical reasons why priests should remain celibate.
 
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Do you have any proof to back up your opinion? Most of what I’ve read points in the opposite direction.
 
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amazingcatholic said:
Do you think priests should remain celibate or be allowed to marry?
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Priests have never been “allowed to marry” even in the Churches that currently have married clergy.

For those Churches that have married clergy, it is married men who can be ordained, not ordained men who can marry.
 
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The places you cite are their priests married? It kind of proves my point.
 
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Priestly celibacy is not a doctrine, it is a discipline, but I would add that it is so deeply embedded in the history, tradition, and spirituality of the Roman/Latin Church — the “DNA of the Church”, you could say — it is almost impossible to imagine the Roman/Latin Church without it. So I would almost have to conclude that it is “a little more than a discipline, but not quite a doctrine”.

It does introduce an element of “putting your money where your mouth is”, “having skin in the game”, or whatever other metaphor you might wish to use. Celibacy requires taking something that is a major part of the life and being of any normal, heterosexual male, and offering it as a sacrifice. That’s powerful.

I will just add that if married priests ever became a common phenomenon in the Roman Church, the faithful would have to increase their Sunday offerings considerably, to offset the cost of paying each married priest a living wage suitable to support a family. Various benefits would have to be offered — family health insurance, either parsonages for individual families or housing assistance, etc. Free or reduced tuition at diocesan colleges for dependents of priests would be nice. People would have to get used to making larger donations on Sundays. Not sure how that would go over.
 
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The attack on celibacy is ill advised.

None of the crises in the church are caused by celibacy.

It will fix nothing. It will help nothing.
 
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This is simply not true. You can actually look to traditional rites and communities and see that they are churning out priests at a far greater number.
 
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In the Latin Church, yes.

As I’ve posted ad nauseam - if the Latin Church wants married priests, then adopt in toto ALL the rules & regulations which Eastern Catholic married priests must follow. Otherwise, DON’T do it!!!
 
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ConcernedConvert said:
This is simply not true. You can actually look to traditional rites and communities and see that they are churning out priests at a far greater number.
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How true. Where you find the TLM, you will find vocations. It’s just a fact.
Margaret_Ann said:
if the Latin Church wants married priests, then adopt in toto ALL the rules & regulations which Eastern Catholic married priests must follow. Otherwise, DON’T do it!!!
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Just a bullet summary, what are some of those rules and regulations? Not being able to remarry if the priest’s wife dies, that I know about. The others?
 
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Celibate, of course. The end of priestly celibacy will be the end of the Catholic priesthood. And that’s not because priesthood is inherently incompatible with love of woman, romance, and sexual intimacy. The problem doesn’t lie in those areas. Rather, the problem is that under the circumstances of the modern world, being a family man requires constant compromise and entails endless practical distractions. It is these compromises and distractions that sabotage dedication to one’s priestly role, and the only adequate protection from that is celibacy.
 
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I heard an interview with a Catholic army chaplain. He commented on how even non-catholics preferred to meet and discuss issues with him. He would ask why do you come to tell me all of this. He was told it was bc he wasn’t married. BC he gave all to God. There is truth there.
But i also think priests in collars aNd nuns in habits are a witness. We see a nun in a habit and its like wow. She has given her whole life to God. Not that nuns in habits dont do the same. But seeing them out and about is a holy witness.
 
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The man who wants to be a priest must first obtain the free consent of his wife. If she says NO, that’s the end of it. If she says yes, then he goes to the seminary and she receives special formation.

The priest and his wife must be continent, i.e. no marital relations, on the night before he offers the Divine Liturgy. So if he has Liturgy every day they have to abstain from marital relations that week.

Actually, they should be continent throughout their lives after he is ordained a priest.

There’s others too but that’s what I remember.
 
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Actually, they should be continent throughout their lives after he is ordained a priest.

Are you saying that they cannot have children after ordination?
 
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Simple! Ask a celibate priest.

No one who rails against celibacy ever seems to do that simple thing.
 
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amazingcatholic said:
Do you think priests should remain celibate or be allowed to marry?
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I think it is a moot point what we think, and I even think it is a moot point what most celibate priests think. In some parts of world I think you have no other choice than to allow married men to become priests. Honestly, the Amazon is the tip of the Iceberg. Either there is a radical change in the nature of Catholic priesthood or the Catholic church will lose entire countries. Europe will be next. For example in Ireland there were 600 seminarians in the 1960s. Recently there were 25. There is a similar situation in Germany. We are faced with a stark choice of radically changing the nature of the priesthood or writing off parts of Europe.


https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...-priest-ordinations-plummets-to-new-low-96548

FYI: Like I have said in many posts, I believe there should be far more opportunities for married men to be ordained as priests. I also think celibacy should always have a place. Celibacy is a beautiful and blessed tradition.
 
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amazingcatholic said:
Do you think priests should remain celibate or be allowed to marry? I think they should remain celibate.
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I have no views on this one way or another. The Church already has married priests so allowing those in South America or even globally make no difference to me.
Also, celibacy is not a doctrine. It is a discipline which can be changed at any time.
 
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