Priest wants to be called by his first name

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LittleFlower378

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Sometimes I visit our old parish for mass, my wife and kids goes there more often than me, and there is a new priest there who tells the congregation that they should address him by his first name and not Father. Should one continue to use Father or do as the priest asks? I believe and tell my kids to address him as Father out of respect, but it is causing confusion in my family because there is an in law that keeps telling my kids to address him as his first name.
 
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That sounds weird. I would call him Father. Keep telling your kids that too.
 
I have certainly met Catholic priests and male and female religious (including a cardinal and a prior) who request to be addressed by their first name. Likewise with Anglican and Baptist clergy. I would respect their preference by addressing them in the manner they prefer.
 
I simply could not address a priest by his first name, alone, unless he was a relative, or perhaps a childhood chum, and then only in private.

I could say “Father Joseph, or even Father Joe”, if he prefers to not be called by his surname (and I have known a few who prefer this). First name alone doesn’t work for me.
 
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But it isn’t about what is comfortable for you. It is about what the individual has requested. I think in this case, the proper thing to do is to overcome your discomfort with it.
 
That would be like calling my mom or dad by their first name. Or a grandparent. It’s weird and something I never heard of before. I wonder if there is an established protocol for addressing the clergy, and how they should request being addressed.
 
What if your name was Robert. But you liked people to call you Bob. But this one friend of yours refused and would only call you Robert. That would be pretty disrespectful, wouldn’t you say?
 
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Apples and oranges. We’re talking about a title and not a name alone.
 
If he has such an aversion to being called father, perhaps he’s in the wrong line of work, because at the end of the day, that’s what he is. Plain and simple.
 
So that leads, also, to some awkward moments that buck protocol and tradition. Things like:

“Bless me Tim, for I have sinned. . .”
 
So if Jesus would ask you to simply call him “Jesus”, you would not do as he asks?
 
Just call him what he prefers. Just because he is a priest doesn’t mean he isn’t also a normal guy. It must be kind of lonely being a priest and being g “set apart”. People look at you different and talk to you different…
 
Fr Joe, Fr Leo, Fr John, three priest in my life who wanted to be called by their first name,

Best priest I’ve ever knew.

Jim
 
But you prefaced all of them with “Fr”. This is exactly what I am saying. Apparently the priest the OP is talking about just wants to be addressed as, say, Joe. Not Fr. Joe.
 
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Yeah, but sometimes when they were in my house, it was just Leo or Joe

It was their request

We were friends, not just parishioners and priests

Jim
 
If addressing someone on a first-name basis is too familiar for you, then tell them that. It’s not all about their preference, especially with official positions of authority. [Also your in-law should not be contradicting you as the parent, that must be really annoying.]
 
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