Priests and marriage confusion!

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Why can Eastern Rite priest be married when they join the priesthood, but the United States priests are not allowed? My husband is Mormon and we were listening to Catholic Answers Live and the question about this came up, and he freaked out and thinks we change our laws in order to have more people become Catholic. I explained to him that it is not doctine or dogma that a priest must not be married, but he still isn’t accepting that. He wants to know why a priest from the US can not be married when he joins the priesthood. If anyone can help me with this I would love you for it…LOL I just do not like the idea that he thinks he found a loop hole for the Catholic church changing things, when he didn’t.
 
LAMBOFGODGIRLY said:
Why can Eastern Rite priest be married when they join the priesthood, but the United States priests are not allowed? My husband is Mormon and we were listening to Catholic Answers Live and the question about this came up, and he freaked out and thinks we change our laws in order to have more people become Catholic. I explained to him that it is not doctine or dogma that a priest must not be married, but he still isn’t accepting that. He wants to know why a priest from the US can not be married when he joins the priesthood. If anyone can help me with this I would love you for it…LOL I just do not like the idea that he thinks he found a loop hole for the Catholic church changing things, when he didn’t.
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It’s not just the US…it is the discipline set forth for the whole Latin Rite.
 
OK, here we go. The Catholic Church is made up of 23 churches. The Latin Rite (or western) is the largest and the one most people in the US think of when you say “Catholic”. The other 22 are eastern rite churches.

Priestly celibacy has always been a *discipline *in the Church, meaning that it is a rule that can be changed.

In the Eastern Rite, their rule or discipline for clergy is that a married man may be ordained through the sacrament of Holy Orders and therefore stays married once ordained. An Eastern Rite ordained priest, however, may not be married once they have been ordained (I am 99 44/100% sure on this). Eastern Rite Bishops may not be married men. This is their discipline.

In the Western Rite, which includes not only the US but the rest of the world, married men may not be ordained to the priesthood nor may they marry once they are ordained. It follows then that Western Rite Bishops are never married men. This has been the rule worldwide in the Western Church for centuries.

Based on this you would think therefore, that you will never see a married western rite priest, but there is one caveat. In very special and limited circumstances, the Pope has allowed married clergy from separated communities (i.e. the Anglican Church) to come into the Church and be ordained. He can allow this because (1) He is the Pope and as Vicar of Christ exercises complete authority within the Church and (2) It is a discipline (which can be changed) and not a doctrine (which cannot be changed).

Hope that helps.

P.S. - we don’t change our laws in order to have more people become Catholic. More people become Catholic because they recognize it as the true Church.
 
I think what the OP was asking was why Eastern Rite priests in the US were not allowed to be married.

My understanding is that the Eastern Rite & Latin Rite in the US entered into an agreement whereby the Eastern Rite wouldn’t ordain married men IN THE US. I believe is was so Latin Rite men wouldn’t transfer to the Eastern Rite in order to be allowed to marry and still be ordained – and in all charity, perhaps to prevent causing confusion in the faithful who were not used to the Eastern Rite and its disciplinary differences. As I understand it, this is changing.
 
BTW, there are married Latin Rite priests in the US, approx 100 of them. They are converts - soon there may be more!
 
The reasoning for the discipline (not doctrine) of a celibate priesthood at least partly comes from 1 Corinthians 7:32-34,

“I should like you to be free of anxieties. 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.”

Celibacy was never a doctrinal requirement, merely advice from an apostle. A celibate priest can focus more on God and the parish he serves. But Paul never went so far as to say that this command came from God. It was only Paul’s advice.

From my understanding, the has been open to celibacy while allowing married men to serve. It was in the early centuries that the Latin Rite imposed celibacy on its members.

So really, the Church has allowed for diversity in a matter that is open to diversity. Doctrine never changed.
 
TheDoctor said:
OK, here we go. The Catholic Church is made up of 23 churches. The Latin Rite (or western) is the largest and the one most people in the US think of when you say “Catholic”. The other 22 are eastern rite churches.

Priestly celibacy has always been a *discipline *in the Church, meaning that it is a rule that can be changed.

In the Eastern Rite, their rule or discipline for clergy is that a married man may be ordained through the sacrament of Holy Orders and therefore stays married once ordained. An Eastern Rite ordained priest, however, may not be married once they have been ordained (I am 99 44/100% sure on this). Eastern Rite Bishops may not be married men. This is their discipline.

In the Western Rite, which includes not only the US but the rest of the world, married men may not be ordained to the priesthood nor may they marry once they are ordained. It follows then that Western Rite Bishops are never married men. This has been the rule worldwide in the Western Church for centuries.

Based on this you would think therefore, that you will never see a married western rite priest, but there is one caveat. In very special and limited circumstances, the Pope has allowed married clergy from separated communities (i.e. the Anglican Church) to come into the Church and be ordained. He can allow this because (1) He is the Pope and as Vicar of Christ exercises complete authority within the Church and (2) It is a discipline (which can be changed) and not a doctrine (which cannot be changed).

Hope that helps.

P.S. - we don’t change our laws in order to have more people become Catholic. More people become Catholic because they recognize it as the true Church.
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Thank you so much! But why do they allow the eastern rite to be married? Why do they not make it the same throughout the entire church? Why do eastern priest get the privilage to be married when they are ordained? Thank you so much!!
 
LAMBOFGODGIRLY said:
But why do they allow the eastern rite to be married?
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Just to be clear. The “they” whom you speak about is the Pope. Today, the Pope could change the rule and never allow a married man to be ordained in the eastern rites or he could allow married men to be ordained in the western one. Why does the Holy See allow it? Without delving into eastern rite history, or which I sadly know not enough of, my best answer is tradition. The Church embraces the traditions of Her many parts and only requires “lock-step” adherence to Her dogma’s/doctrines. There are many examples where you will see differences in disciplines (manner of dispensing communion, liturgy languages, holy days) between the various rites. The eastern churches even have a separate Code Of Canon Law, again because we are talking about rules and not doctrines. Since there is no harm to the faithful in allowing a married clergy in the eastern churches, the Pope allows it.
LAMBOFGODGIRLY said:
Why do they not make it the same throughout the entire church?
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See above. On certain things, we are the same. On others, those which are not doctrines of faith or morals, the Church embraces the diversity of her many equal parts. Not every part of your body is the same yet they all work together to make your body well. Not every part of the Church is the same yet they all work together to form the Body of Christ.
LAMBOFGODGIRLY said:
Why do eastern priest get the privilege to be married when they are ordained?
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I just recalled a priest friend who got asked once about feeling sorry for himself that he was not married. He said he sometimes felt sorry for us because we were. I am not sure every priest would call this a privilege or jump at it if offered. I will tell you that all of the priests I know embrace their celibacy as a gift and would not trade it for a wife. 😃

P.S. - If we are not giving you good enough answers, perhaps you could post your questions in the eastern catholic forum?
 
TheDoctor said:
Just to be clear. The “they” whom you speak about is the Pope. Today, the Pope could change the rule and never allow a married man to be ordained in the eastern rites or he could allow married men to be ordained in the western one. Why does the Holy See allow it? Without delving into eastern rite history, or which I sadly know not enough of, my best answer is tradition. The Church embraces the traditions of Her many parts and only requires “lock-step” adherence to Her dogma’s/doctrines. There are many examples where you will see differences in disciplines (manner of dispensing communion, liturgy languages, holy days) between the various rites. The eastern churches even have a separate Code Of Canon Law, again because we are talking about rules and not doctrines. Since there is no harm to the faithful in allowing a married clergy in the eastern churches, the Pope allows it.

See above. On certain things, we are the same. On others, those which are not doctrines of faith or morals, the Church embraces the diversity of her many equal parts. Not every part of your body is the same yet they all work together to make your body well. Not every part of the Church is the same yet they all work together to form the Body of Christ.

I just recalled a priest friend who got asked once about feeling sorry for himself that he was not married. He said he sometimes felt sorry for us because we were. I am not sure every priest would call this a privilege or jump at it if offered. I will tell you that all of the priests I know embrace their celibacy as a gift and would not trade it for a wife. 😃

P.S. - If we are not giving you good enough answers, perhaps you could post your questions in the eastern catholic forum?
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You were a great help thank you so much! I loved the body analogy! Again, thank you so much!
 
LAMBOFGODGIRLY said:
Thank you so much! But why do they allow the eastern rite to be married? Why do they not make it the same throughout the entire church? Why do eastern priest get the privilage to be married when they are ordained? Thank you so much!!
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Requiring celibacy of the parish clergy is one of the novelties the Latin church introduced after falling away from Orthodoxy.

There are married Eastern Catholic priests in the United States. I know several, myself.
 
bpbasilphx said:
Requiring celibacy of the parish clergy is one of the novelties the Latin church introduced after falling away from Orthodoxy.

There are married Eastern Catholic priests in the United States. I know several, myself.
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I would suggest looking at Brother JR’s short history on the development of celibacy. Celibacy was the norm long before 1054.
 
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