Question for Eastern Catholics

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followingtheway

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I’m a Western Latin Rite Roman Catholic. If I get married, then become an Eastern Catholic, can I become a Eastern Catholic Priest?
 
This question has come up in several threads in this forum. One is [thread=486177]here[/thread] and it would be worth a look.
 
Not an Eastern Catholic, but I know enough to know this:

It is up to God, and the Bishop. If God wants you to be ordained, you will be; and if you are to be, the Bishop will make it happen. If not, than God will not have you ordained.

I’m sure others will give you all the technical stuff that fills in the gaps 🙂
 
I do know a Latin Catholic who switched rites and is now a Byzantine Catholic priest. He did not switch for those reasons, but because he felt at home in the Eastern rite. He did consider getting married while in seminary but decided against it.

One famous example is Eddie Doherty, husband of Catherine de Hueck Doherty, (founders of Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario), who was raised Irish Catholic. He switched from Latin Rite to Melkite and was ordained at age 78. He had two previous wives that died before he married Catherine. His bio can be found HERE followed by a nice article by Melkite Archbishop JOSPEH (Raya) about Eddie’s priesthood.

So, theoretically and historically it is possible. But to change rites just so you can be a married priest is dishonest. It’s not like going from a Polish Catholic parish to an Irish Catholic parish. It’s a different way of thinking with different disciplines. I know “dual rite” Latin priests that help out Eastern Mission parishes, and though they mean well, many are just “playin’ Byzantine”.
 
MisterCorduroy said:
I know “dual rite” Latin priests that help out Eastern Mission parishes, and though they mean well, many are just “playin’ Byzantine”.
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That is a blatant insult to the myriad bi-ritual Latin clergy who have devoted much time and effort to learn our liturgical praxis and who have served our Churches with devotion for many years, often while continuing to fulfill the responsibilities of serving their own Latin parishes. There are a significant number of Eastern and Oriental Catholic parishes that survived through the years only because of the loving pastoral care afforded them by bi-ritual clergy when there were no priests of their own Church available to serve them.
 
followingtheway said:
I’m a Western Latin Rite Roman Catholic. If I get married, then become an Eastern Catholic, can I become a Eastern Catholic Priest?
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In the U.S., you’d actually have a much better chance if you became a married priest or minister in another Christian church, then converted to Catholicism. 😉
 
theistgal said:
In the U.S., you’d actually have a much better chance if you became a married priest or minister in another Christian church, then converted to Catholicism. 😉
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But Eastern Catholic Priests can marry, and why would I want to the leave the One True Church?
 
As has been said many a time and oft

EASTERN CATHOLIC PRIESTS CAN’T MARRY

They have to be married** BEFORE** Ordination

Once ordained the priest remains in the same state he was before his Ordination , celibate or married .
 
The_Idiot said:
As has been said many a time and oft

EASTERN CATHOLIC PRIESTS CAN’T MARRY

They have to be married** BEFORE** Ordination

Once ordained the priest remains in the same state he was before his Ordination , celibate or married .
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I think he means that.
 
followingtheway said:
But Eastern Catholic Priests can marry, and why would I want to the leave the One True Church?
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No, both in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, Eastern Catholic priests cannot marry.

However, in the EO and (some of the) EC churches, married men can be ordained as priests.

Hence we are spared the vision of priests signing up for online dating services. 👍
 
My apologies to all the decent bi-ritual Latin priests who have given their time and effort to support Eastern Catholic parishes. I previously made a comment that some “play Byzantine” and this came across as an insult.

The problem with forums is that it is easy to say things the wrong way. I know what I meant, but the reader doesn’t know what is behind the words on the screen. Here’s what I meant:

Being Byzantine Catholic, Melkite, Ukrainian Catholic, Maronite, etc. is a lifestyle. Your daily prayer life is different. You say the Jesus Prayer with a prayer rope rather than a Rosary. Novenas and Adoration are replaced with Akathists and icons. Your theology is more existential than scholastic.

A dual-rite Latin priest can serve an Eastern community well, and may even use some Eastern devotions and be enriched by Eastern theology–I’ve met such priests and appreciated them. But they are still Western the rest of the week, and rightly so, since it is their full-time ministry to serve a Latin parish. Spiritual direction can be a challenge, for instance, suggesting that the penitent spend time before the Blessed Sacrament (not an Eastern devotion) rather than making 50 prostrations before an icon of Christ.

That said, let us apply this to the original post. If one is going to change rites, it should be because they want to be a part of that rite, not as the means to an end (married priesthood). What if one becomes Melkite, gets married, applies for priesthood and the Bishop feels you aren’t called. Then what? Go to the Ukrainians and see if they’ll take you?

Many are called, but few are chosen. If you feel called to the priesthood then you should be willing to give up everything. Blessed are those who become celibate for the Kingdom of God! Regardless of rite, East or West, if you are unmarried, you should be willing to sacrifice having a wife to serve the Bride of Christ. A man in an Eastern parish might not recognize his calling until later in life, when he is married and has kids, but if the Church recognizes this, he will become a priest.
 
MisterCorduroy said:
My apologies to all the decent bi-ritual Latin priests who have given their time and effort to support Eastern Catholic parishes. I previously made a comment that some “play Byzantine” and this came across as an insult.

The problem with forums is that it is easy to say things the wrong way. I know what I meant, but the reader doesn’t know what is behind the words on the screen.
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Just for the record, not everyone took that earlier post as an “insult” or anything of the kind. At least i didn’t. Thanks for the clarification, though: it confirms my initial reading. 😃
MisterCorduroy said:
That said, let us apply this to the original post. If one is going to change rites, it should be because they want to be a part of that rite, not as the means to an end (married priesthood). What if one becomes Melkite, gets married, applies for priesthood and the Bishop feels you aren’t called. Then what? Go to the Ukrainians and see if they’ll take you?
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And that’s not to mention that most EC bishops would look askance at someone who transferred Churches then married (or married then transferred Churches), and then raised the matter of priestly ordination. It’s not a “short order” thing, and the bishops are well aware that there are those who, to borrow a cliché, want to have their cake and eat it too.

The general principle in such cases is that a such a person would have to spend some years of discernment before transferring Churches, and then a good number more years of discernment before a bishop would give any serious consideration to the idea of priestly ordination.
 
I have a friend who was raised Latin Catholic and attended seminary, but later discerned that married life was for him. Later in life, after marriage and several kids, he discovered his Ukrainian heritage and switched rites. He immersed himself in his Ukrainian heritage and embraced the Eastern rite. When his sixth child was on the way the Ukrainian vocations director, knowing that he had once felt a call to priesthood and attended seminary, encouraged him to consider becoming a priest. He was ordained two years ago and is serving a mission community now. His “day job” is working for the Latin bishop of Knoxville, who happens to be dual rite Maronite.

So, it can happen, but not because one planned it that way.
 
theistgal said:
No, both in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, Eastern Catholic priests cannot marry.

However, in the EO and (some of the) EC churches, married men can be ordained as priests.

Hence we are spared the vision of priests signing up for online dating services. 👍
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However, the thought of seminarians going on dates, getting romantic and buying flowers is a healthy and refreshing image.

Some young women think of these young men as quite the catch. 🙂
 
As others have said, its possible for married men to be priests in many Eastern Catholic Churches. If you are transferring because you want to be a married priest, then you are transferring for the wrong reason. One should become eastern because they genuinely love the particular Tradition, the ritual, the theology, the spirituality, the lifestyle, and the people of the church one is transferring to. I think a good way to reflect on this is, if you were completely upfront with the Bishop who you want to be received under, do you think he would receive you into his church? Further, after transferring one should consider the full weight of being a priest in that Church.
 
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