Pope Francis open to having some married men become priests

[ToeInTheWater]

So I read the actual article and nowhere does it state that Pope Francis has actually committed to opening up the Latin Rite priesthood to married men, only to considering the possibility. (I also recall him considering the possibility of deaconesses but last I checked no deaconesses have actually been ordained, and it seems most likely they will not be.)

What he actually said was:

In an interview with Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper published this week, the pope said the church should study whether so-called “viri probati” – or married men of proven faith – could be ordained as an answer to the shortage of priests around the world. He called it an “enormous problem” that must be resolved.

“We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities,” he was quoted as saying.

That seems to be more like using married priests to fill gaps that are otherwise impossible to fill, not opening up the Latin rite priesthood for all married men.

Note that while CAFers in the US tend to view the Church with very US-centric way, the Pope’s concerns seems to be more about countries that have a priest shortage that is literally hundreds of times as worse as the US situation is.

The “viri probati” proposal has been around for decades, but it has drawn fresh attention under history’s first Latin American pope thanks in part to his appreciation of the challenges facing the church in places like Brazil, a huge Catholic country with an acute shortage of priests.

Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, a longtime friend of Francis and former head of the Vatican’s office for clergy, is reportedly pressing to allow viri probati in the Amazon, where the church counts around one priest for every 10,000 Catholics.

I think this is one pitfall we can fall into on CAF, of evaluating Pope Francis only for how his actions affect the Church in the US, not the Church in other parts of the world.

And as others have mentioned, this would not affect the priests in religious communities, who have always been celibate, in the East as well as the West. So it’s not like he’s stating “priestly celibacy is an old-fashioned idea, all priests should marry”. So I doubt that married priests will be “the norm” in the Catholic Church, anymore than allowing Anglicans and other married converts to become priests did.

 

[pianistclare]

The pastor of my former parish said that allowing married priests is a slap in the face to him and all the other men who would have loved to get married and have a pile of kids…but they responded to the unmistakable call to give up such for love of Christ and to be a visible sign of Christ’s presence in the world.
Said if that were the case, he’d leave.
No kidding. He said it would have been all for nothing.
Said every single day is a renewed commitment. One that he feels is distinct, and that he happily makes for Christ.

 

[Irishmom2]

The pastor of my former parish said that allowing married priests is a slap in the face to him and all the other men who would have loved to get married and have a pile of kids…but they responded to the unmistakable call to give up such for love of Christ and to be a visible sign of Christ’s presence int he world.
Said if that were the case, he’d leave.
No kidding. He said it would have been all for nothing.
Said every single day is a renewed commitment. One that he feels i distinct, and that he happily makes for Christ.

He sounds like a very dedicated priest. May God bless him.

 

[RosalieM]

The pastor of my former parish said that allowing married priests is a slap in the face to him and all the other men who would have loved to get married and have a pile of kids…but they responded to the unmistakable call to give up such for love of Christ and to be a visible sign of Christ’s presence in the world.
Said if that were the case, he’d leave.
No kidding. He said it would have been all for nothing.
Said every single day is a renewed commitment. One that he feels is distinct, and that he happily makes for Christ.

Thank you for this comment. I was saddened when I saw the news banner. My immediate thought was that priests are “in persona Christi”. It felt like a slight as your pastor expressed. I love Pope Francis and hope this isn’t pursued.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

The pastor of my former parish said that allowing married priests is a slap in the face to him and all the other men who would have loved to get married and have a pile of kids…but they responded to the unmistakable call to give up such for love of Christ and to be a visible sign of Christ’s presence in the world.
Said if that were the case, he’d leave.
No kidding. He said it would have been all for nothing.
Said every single day is a renewed commitment. One that he feels is distinct, and that he happily makes for Christ.

Does he feels this way about the allowance for married priests in the Anglican Ordinariate?

It occurs to me from watching shows like “The Journey Home” that many of the converts from other Christian traditions are former pastors, who admit that the prospect of losing their livelihoods by converting was an obstacle to conversion. It seems many such converts wind up becoming lay apologists, but not all are up to that. Being a minister and being an apologist are two different things. Certainly, many priests can be wonderful pastors to Catholics, but not skillful apologists for the faith. (Indeed, one could even state that Pope Francis himself is not.)

Although I certainly find the priest-apologists on CA to do so. Same with Fr. Trugilio of EWTN, known to make appearances on CAL as well, though I’m not sure he actually considers himself an apologist.)

In any case, I doubt Pope Francis wants to make married priests the norm in the Latin Rite. But he would not be the first to make exceptions, if he does. But he is not definitely stating plans on doing so. I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing actually changes at the end, same for the deaconess idea.

 

[ctb95]

I am perfectly happy with married priests, just as long as it doesn’t undermine the value of celibacy.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

I am perfectly happy with married priests, just as long as it doesn’t undermine the value of celibacy.

Since even the Eastern rites and Orthodoxy does not allow married priests to become bishops, I doubt that even if Pope Francis allows more married priests he would allow them to become bishops, either. So there would still be an idea that celibacy is a higher calling.

I also doubt he would change the discipline that once a man is ordained a priest, he cannot marry unless he is laicized. I’ve heard many priestly candidates in the Orthodox defer marriage to until just before ordination, and some still decide to forego marriage even if they are not part of a religious order.

 

[Sarcelle]

I don’t know if you would find a whole lot of Deacons who would do this. My understanding is that the calling of a Permanent Deacon is different from the calling of a Priest. Although a Priest does become a transitional deacon for a year, I don’t think you can compare the two deaconates or say necessarily that being a Permanent Deacon prepares you for the Priesthood.

I know of one deacon who was ordained so this not an impossibility.

 

[Sarcelle]

The pastor of my former parish said that allowing married priests is a slap in the face to him and all the other men who would have loved to get married and have a pile of kids…but they responded to the unmistakable call to give up such for love of Christ and to be a visible sign of Christ’s presence in the world.
Said if that were the case, he’d leave.
No kidding. He said it would have been all for nothing.
Said every single day is a renewed commitment. One that he feels is distinct, and that he happily makes for Christ.

I empathize with your priest. I really do. After all the sacrifice and service, his reward will be great in Heaven.

However, clerical celibacy is not a dogma but a discipline.

 

[pianistclare]

Does he feels this way about the allowance for married priests in the Anglican Ordinariate?

**He has never spoken about anything any other priesthood than in Catholicism. Not sure why his thoughts on another faith would have an impact on ours. **

It occurs to me from watching shows like “The Journey Home” that many of the converts from other Christian traditions are former pastors, who admit that the prospect of losing their livelihoods by converting was an obstacle to conversion. It seems many such converts wind up becoming lay apologists, but not all are up to that. Being a minister and being an apologist are two different things. Certainly, many priests can be wonderful pastors to Catholics, but not skillful apologists for the faith. (Indeed, one could even state that Pope Francis himself is not.)

Although I certainly find the priest-apologists on CA to do so. Same with Fr. Trugilio of EWTN, known to make appearances on CAL as well, though I’m not sure he actually considers himself an apologist.)

In any case, I doubt Pope Francis wants to make married priests the norm in the Latin Rite. ** Agreed.** But he would not be the first to make exceptions, if he does. But he is not definitely stating plans on doing so. I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing actually changes at the end, same for the deaconess idea.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Since even the Eastern rites and Orthodoxy does not allow married priests to become bishops, I doubt that even if Pope Francis allows more married priests he would allow them to become bishops, either. So there would still be an idea that celibacy is a higher calling.

I also doubt he would change the discipline that once a man is ordained a priest, he cannot marry unless he is laicized. I’ve heard many priestly candidates in the Orthodox defer marriage to until just before ordination, and some still decide to forego marriage even if they are not part of a religious order.

Most likely that would be a decision for the future papacies.

 

[SteveLy]

Just for informations’ sake, the Anglican Ordinariate also has celibate Priests as well.

 

[J_Peterson]

I understand the allowing of former Anglican clergy who become Catholic to also, after a period of prayer, study, and discernment, become Catholic priests, but if it should become the norm that Catholic priests can be married, the church should probably be prepared to deal with divorced priests. I know of divorced, and sometimes remarried, protestant clergy. How about a dating priest? Perhaps we should be praying more for priests vocations.

Married men will be able to become ordained but men that are ordained would not be able to get married. If a priest gets divorced he wouldn’t be able to ever get married again so it’s not much of a problem and you wouldn’t have priests dating. As it stands right now, a deacon who’s wife dies must remain celibate for life or leave the deaconate.

That’s my understanding as to how it would work anyway.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Can a divorced, remarried, man who’s wife is a deaconess, and uses birth control for Zika be a priest?
It might be worth discussing.

 

[commenter]

I agree with the posters who emphasize the diaconate is a ministry unto itself, so likely only a few deacons might be interested. But keep in mind there is also a deacon shortage. In my diocese they are valuable, but stretched out thin. It will take a few years, in which we lose the ministry of a deacon while at seminary but don’t yet have the ministry of the priest. I know he has already had some of the theological preparation, but there would be other things.

Priestly seminary is predicated on seminarians living there, with no family obligations during the course of study, so a deacon’s prep to priesthood may take a little longer.

 

[stinkcat_14]

Can a divorced, remarried, man who’s wife is a deaconess, and uses birth control for Zika be a priest?
It might be worth discussing.

Obviously, whether married men are allowed to be ordained is a matter of discipline for the Church. Married men have been ordained since at least Pope John Paul II, albeit under limited circumstances. If the current pope wants to expand possibilities for married men to be ordained, that is something for him to decide. Now, we certainly have had priests who are sinners, that is nothing new.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

He has never spoken about anything any other priesthood than in Catholicism. Not sure why his thoughts on another faith would have an impact on ours.

Sorry for the confusion, when I was referring to the Anglican Ordinariate, I was referring to Catholic Anglican Use “parishes” that joined the Catholic Church as whole parishes, complete with priest, and many of those formerly Anglican married clergymen are now ordained Catholic married priests. I believe there are also formerly Anglican married Catholic priests outside the Anglican Use parishes.

So, exceptions have already been made for extraordinary situations, and this was made by Pope Benedict XVI, not known as a “liberal” at all.

I think it is one thing to carve out some exceptions for situations such as a whole Anglican parish wanting to convert to the Catholic Church, or perhaps a country with an extreme priest shortage, and quite another to make “married priests the norm” in the Catholic Latin Rite.

 

[commenter]

Married men will be able to become ordained but men that are ordained would not be able to get married. If a priest gets divorced he wouldn’t be able to ever get married again so it’s not much of a problem and you wouldn’t have priests dating. As it stands right now, a deacon who’s wife dies must remain celibate for life or leave the deaconate.

That’s my understanding as to how it would work anyway.

Wikipedia: “If a married deacon is widowed, he must maintain the celibate state. Under some very rare circumstances, however, deacons who have been widowed can receive permission to remarry. This is most commonly done when the deacon is left as a single father”.

I wonder how common this actually is? Note the exemption seems to be granted based on the needs of his (young) children, for a mother.

 

[pianistclare]

Wikipedia: “If a married deacon is widowed, he must maintain the celibate state. Under some very rare circumstances, however, deacons who have been widowed can receive permission to remarry. This is most commonly done when the deacon is left as a single father”.

I wonder how common this actually is? Note the exemption seems to be granted based on the needs of his (young) children, for a mother.

Around here? Not ever.
Most of the people applying to the permanent deaconate that have children are denied. Told to wait until retirement or children out of the house.

 

[Sarcelle]

Can a divorced, remarried, man who’s wife is a deaconess, and uses birth control for Zika be a priest?
It might be worth discussing.

No it’s not worth discussing.

Women cannot be ordained and therefore cannot be deaconesses since the office of deacon is an ordained position.

Are you deliberately trolling?