Question on current day married Catholic priests

[Smber2c]

A.M.D.G.

So, I know that there are several married Catholic Priests in America (and likely around the world) and it doesn’t really bother me. I understand that this is celibacy is vow that Roman Catholicism has chosen to require for our clergy and I think it reasonable. Further, I understand that certain other churches do have valid sacraments and that if a person receiving their sacraments becomes Catholic, it is reasonable to allow those persons to continue both vocations as a Catholic instead of telling them to box one of them up and pretend like they were never graced with it.

That said I have an aunt from Alaska, she is a good Catholic woman, but she finds this challenging, ill advised, and perhaps a bit insulting. She sees it as depriving those who are born Catholic of the same opportunity of those who grow up Orthodox or whatnot then convert. I’ve heard her mention it twice lately because apparently there are 2 married/ordained men up in Alaska who are studying at a seminary after converting.

I want to help her understand, but I want to make sure I understand first.

My assumptions on this are as follows (no I haven’t looked this up, please correct my where I’m wrong):

1. I assume the Church is only allowing this for converts who are validly married and ordained already. They wouldn’t allow an married Anglican to convert then go to Seminary, or a Anglican pastor to convert then take a spouse.
2. Since the church doesn’t not recognize all churches/denominations as having valid sacraments, they likely only allow married men who received a valid sacrament of Holy Orders to be Catholic as both. A married Baptist or Methodist pastor who converted would be a married layman…though perhaps they could look into becoming a deacon if so called.
3. It also seems quite likely these priests would have to go through a sort of normalization in becoming Catholic priests. After all I’m sure all the other groups don’t have the same ways of preforming sacraments, the same required prayers (like liturgy of the hours), and clerical lifestyles - all of which they would have to learn far past the level of your general RCIA class.
4. I doubt they would allow a Catholic who converted to Greek Orthodoxy, got married and ordained, and wanted to convert back to do so, unless there were honest and compelling reasons for such a path. (due to the fact that such a path elicits strong suspicion of an intent to circumvent obedience to current Catholic practices.)

My Questions:

1. Are the above statements accurate? Where am I off?
2. Which churches have valid Marriage and Holy Orders. (I think most all have valid Marriage, even if they don’t see it as a sacrament. But for Holy Orders…would that be Catholic, Greek Orthodox, the different rites (Coptic, Byzantine, Melkite, etc…), and maybe Anglicans and Lutherans?)
3. Anyone have experience explaining this? I’m usually fairly good at catechizing once I know the info myself, but advice never hurts.

 

[cazayoux]

Howdy !

My parish priest is married.
He was in the Episcopal Church. He, two of his fellow priests, and about 40 families converted to Catholicism.

I do not believe his ordination ‘carried over’.
The conversion alone for this group was much longer than the typical RCIA program. I think the total process leading up to this congregation approaching the bishop of the Dallas Diocese and converting was around 3 years. ← not 100% sure of this timeline.

I do not think he was considered a priest upon conversion.
He had to apply to the Vatican for a special dispensation for the vow of celibacy.
I think he was ordained by the bishop after this.

I know it took a long time for his dispensation to get signed.
I’ve heard him say that he never actually thought he would be a priest in the Catholic Church.

Point being, I don’t think any Anglican (or other) priest that converts to the Catholic Church is considered validly ordained. This person (married or not) is considered on a person-by-person basis.

Once holy orders are received, matrimony cannot be.
A married person can become a deacon (or a priest in the Easter Church), but a deacon cannot get married.

My priest is the first to say that he doesn’t think priests should be married.
The difficulties are huge. Remember what St. Paul said about this.

Let your aunt know that even those married Catholic priests are not standing in line chanting for this to become widespread.

michel

 

[Smber2c]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I was under the impression that some other Churches line of Apistolic succession is intact (namely Anglicans, Episcopals, and maybe Lutherans) and that their Laying Of Hands then still bestowed the graces that ours does. I may be wrong of course. I guess that’s part of what I’m hoping to find out.

“The conversion alone for this group was much longer than the typical RCIA program. I think the total process leading up to this congregation approaching the bishop of the Dallas Diocese and converting was around 3 years.” This all makes great sense to me.

Your next part: “I do not think he was considered a priest upon conversion.” may make sense to me. I wonder with ordination…okay say the Arch-bishop of Caterbury had just split from the church then he had an ordination…seems they would still be priests…just excommunicated for recieving this sacrament from a heretical bishop.

Anyway, I’ll have to read some more. Hopefully some others can offer additional help.

 

[puzzleannie]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I was under the impression that some other Churches line of Apistolic succession is intact (namely Anglicans, Episcopals, and maybe Lutherans) and that their Laying Of Hands then still bestowed the graces that ours does. I may be wrong of course. I guess that’s part of what I’m hoping to find out.

"

no, this is not correct, only in the Catholic and Orthodox Church is the line of apostolic succession intact, therefore, no other Christian denominations have valid orders.

the case of a married non-Catholic clergyman who converts and wishes to continue in ministry, even to ordination as a priest, is decided on a case-by-case basis, with his bishop, and the dispensation must come from Rome. the best resource for both a clergyman who is converting (and his family) and to understand this issue is the Coming Home Network established by Marcus Grodi. It is not a given that a Protestant clergyman who converts will automatically become a priest. The vocations are different, and his call to the priesthood must be discerned as it would for any other man, and the needs of his family are his first priority.

The case of Orthodox priests becoming Catholic is a special one, both simpler (since he is already validly ordained) and more complex (which rite and so forth).

 

[chris_molter]

check out www.pastoralprovision.org for the official stuff