Preists/ Marriage

[angeeeee101]

Why can’t preists get married, but deacons can? Or even after their resign from being a preist, can they get married?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Why can’t preists get married, but deacons can? Or even after their resign from being a preist, can they get married?

Actually, neither priests nor deacons can get married AFTER they are ordained. However, a married man can be ordained as a permanent deacon. At this time, in the Latin church, married men cannot be ordained as priests (with very rare exceptions). And since I said there are exceptions I will add that this is a discipline of the Church and could possibly be changed someday.

Priests also can’t resign from being priests. Holy Orders is a sacrament that permanently marks someone so the saying is “once a priest, always a priest.” (Similarly, once someone is baptized they cannot be unbaptized – it’s permanent.) Sometimes for various reasons a priest may be returned to the lay state and if he had been given the proper dispensation he could marry. However, he would no longer function as a priest.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Why can’t preists get married, but deacons can? Or even after their resign from being a preist, can they get married?

Neither a Priest or Deacon or Bishop for that matter can enter a Marriage after they have been Ordained and are in the Clerical state. A Married Man can be Ordained a Deacon with his wifes permission, and technically a Married man could possibly be Ordained to the priesthood.

A man who has been removed from the Clerical state, although technically still Ordained can ask permission of the Pope to enter Marriage and the Pope could grant him a dispensation to allow him to, however Benedict has indicated he is not inclined to do so.

 

[angeeeee101]

o okay, because I always wondered why some deacons are marrried but no priests are. Like I’ve heard priests are married to the Church

 

[DavidFilmer]

I always wondered why some deacons are marrried but no priests are.

Priests in churches which are part of the Eastern Rites can be married (same restrictions as Latin Rite deacons - they must marry before Ordination, and they could not remarry if their wife died).

Also, a handful of Latin Rite priests are married. It’s possible for a priest of another faith (such as Anglican/Episcopal) to convert to the Catholic Church and be a Catholic priest. It’s rare, but one such priest is assigned to a parish here in Portland.

 

[Christy_Beth]

I can’t remember the exact denomination, but if a married minister converts to Catholicism, along with his family, he can apply to the priesthood. I once read a book written by a woman who told the story of being a wife to such a man. It wasn’t easy, but what is these days?

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I can’t remember the exact denomination, but if a married minister converts to Catholicism, along with his family, he can apply to the priesthood. I once read a book written by a woman who told the story of being a wife to such a man. It wasn’t easy, but what is these days?

Actually Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopal ministers have studied and been Ordained by special dispensation as Married Catholic Priests.

 

[Crimson_Seraph]

Personally, I’ve always thought it better if celibacy was left as a choice, not as something mandatory for the priesthood.

 

[DavidFilmer]

Personally, I’ve always thought it better if celibacy was left as a choice, not as something mandatory for the priesthood.

And that’s fine, and for some time that’s how it was (and how it may be again someday).

St. Paul neatly sums up the Catholic position:

Now in regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy … An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided.

1Cor 7:25,33
​

Just as St. Paul claims no commandment from the Lord, neither does the Catholic Church impose priestly celibacy as a Doctrine. But, as St. Paul notes, the unmarried man does not have the distractions of a wife and family.

Having grown up in the household of an Episcopal priest, I know of the wisdom with which Paul speaks, and agree with the Catholic Church’s decision to “raise the bar” in this regard. Nobody has a “right” to Ordination, and the Church is correct in Her judgment to ordain only those priests whom She feels can devote themselves entirely to the ministry of their “flock,” without the conflicts that a wife and family present.