Priesthood ... off my chest

[otm]

The Barrister:

Additionally, any one who wants to be a priest and does not want to take a vow of celibacy, and wants the Church to change the rules for them, is acting with the wrong intent in his heart.

I would respectfully disagree that there is “wrong intent”. The other rites allow a married preisthood; it is a rule of the Roman rite that we do not. I would say that he is out of luck. But wrong intent sounds a little too close to either “sinful” or “failing to agree wtih a doctrine”, neither of which it is.

And once you open the “celibacy” door, what then? Can they have multiple sexual partners? Can they divorce and remarry? Can they marry someone who is not Catholic? What if the wife decides to change her religious affiliation? What if the wife decides she wants to raise the kids to be Jewish or Muslim? What if he is assigned by his bishop to go to Juneau and she doesn’t want to live further north than Nashville? What if his wife insists on having an abortion? What if she has an affair?

And our Eastern rite brothers have the same problems, which I would hazard a guess, are minimal or non-existent. We don’t have the rule because it avoids those problems; we have the rule because celibacy is to be highly prized. Please don’t make up straw man arguments to answer a question not asked.

My purpose in wiriting is to state that it is better to promote celibacy as the best option, and make it thus. Many priests would choose it, were they given the choice now. Many who might be priests would also choose it. Right now, it is not a choice.

I don’t think that making celibacy optional, and promoting it as the best option, is opening any doors at all, or bumping up against any tip of the iceburg.

 

[Njames]

Just a little comment from the Bible in 1 Cor 7:32-33

“… He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord - married cares about things of the world - how he may please his wife.”

I understand your logically thoughts that say allow choice (afterall it is the American way), but we have trusted the Holy Spirit to guide the Apostles on down to our Pope/Priests to guide in the the right direction and today they preach the gospel as choose celibacy.

I see purity and love in the way everything is set up now and yes there may be advantages and disadvantages of the other options, but there is not evil or sin in the way it is now, just hard decisions. “the greater the cross the brighter the crown”

 

[Traditionalist]

Personally I have never known a priest who **said ** he wished he were married. That is not to say some may not secretly wish for marriage, but believe most can see the negatives would far outweigh the benefits—practically speaking. I have thought about this often, and cringe every time the thought enters my mind. My imagination just seems to run wild; my view of how life with married priests could look goes something like this.

First I think of his choice of wife.-Can’t you visualize Chatty Cathy’s mutterings?—Gosh was it necessary for him to rob the cradle? Does he have a mom complex? That woman must be at least ten years older than he is! She is too skinny; she is too fat. Is that her natural hair color? Her nose is too big; look at that outfit; how can she afford that jewelry (crystal, car, you fill in the blank).

Next we have the children. Since we know Father and his bride would not use contraceptives, it would seem logical to envision at least 8 or 9 children during their 40-50 years of priesthood/marriage. Where do they live, and where do they attend school? Would we make certain the priests’ salaries are sufficient to afford their family a decent middle class home, Catholic School education, automobiles for the wife and one or two of the children? Are they able to go on vacation every year or two? (Doubtful, last I heard Catholics were the lowest contributors at 1-3%.)

**What about evenings and Saturday afternoons? ** Would we understand when Father must attend a baseball /softball game, PTA meeting, band concert, or swim meet rather than teach Bible Class, prepare couples for marriage, or sit in the box hearing confessions? Picture the uproar the first time we spotted Jr. at the mall drinking a beer, sporting an earring or two, with his pants falling off his hips. Maybe it is Sis we see, and she has just pierced her tongue, spiked her hair, and is checking out the tattoo parlor. No you say a priest would surely have perfect children. Right.

We have not even started on any marital problems, divorces, community property, life estates, retirement accounts, sick kids, nursing homes, pregnant daughters, etc., etc., and my head is throbbing. Sorry, guess I have not envisioned too many positives. Perhaps someone else has played this out mentally with optimistic conclusions. As for myself, I am way too selfish. I want my priest free to anoint my dying family member and bring food for the journey; council my kids, baptize my grandchildren, or lead us on Pilgrimage. Thank you dear priests for your vow of celibacy. Thank you for accepting all of us as your spiritual children.

 

[mikworld]

otm:

I am well aware of the linking and who does it.
I guess I feel that if celibacy is to be held up as a model, then it should pe promoted for all it is worth, and it isn’t promoted when it is the only option. I don’t think celibacy is bad; it is a great witness. I think it woud be a much greater witness when it was chosen, not imposed.
Does that make sense?

Since when was priesthood, or celibacy for that matter, imposed on any Catholic?
If a person is called to the priesthood and they are Roman Catholic, the church outlines the conditions for ordination. This just happens to be a part of a priests life. The more I look at it, the more I realize how much devotion it takes to run a parish as a father. Thats right, a priest father is a father. A priest is married to Jesus, the church. If the norm were for a priest to be married and be a priest at the same time, it would be like having two spouses. While some priests are married, the same principle applies nonetheless.
Then there is the whole marital problems and family thing. You know that whole thing where the bishop tends to move a priest every 5 years? Well think about this: a family is no place to raise under a priest, as children deserve a consistent surrounding throughout their education. My mother was moved a great deal when she was a child, and never even graduated from high school! Just imagine the implications we would be placing on children of priests. Now imagine the poor wives of a priest. I realize this was just mentioned, but it needs to be said again. A priests first duty is his parish. A married mans first duty is his family. Does anyone see a conflict here? It isn’t a matter of difficulty for a priest to live in married life, it’s a matter of impracticality.
God Bless,

Justin

 

[Detroit_Sue]

I really like my friends sentiment. He says he “gave up something beautiful for something even more beautiful.”

 

[Charlemagne]

Ichthus:

The ban on marriage was imposed so ast avoid scandal, as this country’s Catholics are predominatly Latin Rite.

It is a disputed point whether or no they can lawfully ordain married men in the US (in practice the bishop sends the seminarian to his homecountry, he gets ordained there and comes back, when they want to ordain a married priest. So there are married Eastern US priests, just not as common as in other countries). Several bishops have threatened to ordain married men, but Rome has not said that the prohibition is rescinded. Whether such a prohibition is lawful is another issue. The Latin Church cannot just impose itself on the Eastern Churches

If the Eastern Churches submit themselves to the authority of the Pope, then the Latin Church is not imposing itself on them.

 

[go_Leafs_go]

I agree with the above about the impracticality of a priest being married, and all that comes with being married, let alone being a priest. As far as other rites being offended on the celibacy condition…WHO CARES, it’s a condition of ordination, deal with it, otherwise serve the church in another way, run a prayer group, RCIA, etc.