Time For Married Priests!

[The_9th_Doctor]

After careful consideration of the issue I have come to the conclusion that the church has to allow priests to marry.

The church only implemented the celebacy rule because it didn’t want to lose land and money to priest’s offspring who didn’t become priests and who they couldn’t control.

When is the church going to wake up and see that in order to survive it has to modernise and allow priests to marry???

 

[patrick457]

After careful consideration of the issue I have come to the conclusion that the church has to allow priests to marry.

The church only implemented the celebacy rule because it didn’t want to lose land and money to priest’s offspring who didn’t become priests and who they couldn’t control.

When is the church going to wake up and see that in order to survive it has to modernise and allow priests to marry???

But why does the Church have to ‘modernize’? We’ve already seen disastrous results with people who said and attempted to do the same thing.

The Roman Catholic Church’s practice of clerical celibacy is both theological and practical. Theologically, the Church desires to imitate the life of Jesus with regard to chastity and the sacrifice of married life for the “sake of the Kingdom” (Luke 18:28-30, Matthew 19:27-30; Mark 10:20-21), and to follow the example of Jesus Christ in being “married” to the Church, viewed by Catholicism and many Christian traditions as the “Bride of Christ”.
Also of import are the teachings of St. Paul that chastity is the superior state of life, and his desire expressed in I Corinthians 7:7-8, “I would that all men were even as myself [celibate] — but every one has his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that. But I say to the unmarried and the widows. It is good for them if they so continue, even as I.”
Practically speaking, the reasons for celibacy are given by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 7:7-8;32-35:
“But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of this world how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your profit, not to cast a snare upon you, but for that which is decent and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord without impediment.”

Unless of course you’re saying that Jesus and Saint Paul got it wrong and we should have married clergy.

 

[CAM228]

The priest is married, he is married to the church. I am studying for the priesthood and can not imagine trying to fulfill my responsibilities as a husband and as a priest at the same time.

When men realize that God is the most important thing in life and seek to do his will, then the vocations crisis will begin to go away. I have heard that the Diocese of Lincoln Nebraska had to build a new seminary to handle all their priestly vocations. I was told that they had their abundance of vocations because of their orthodox bishop who does not water down the faith.

I have also read wher the parishes in Africa can’t build seminaries fast enough to handle all of their vocations.

Maybe this shortage is God’s way of saying that he does not like the way our country is heading. Maybe it was a way to get the church’s attention. Sometimes things have to be cleansed before things can be made better. I have heard Father Corapi say that he is pleased with the seminarians that he has seen coming up for ordination. I suspect that God knows what He is doing and things will turn out just as He planned.

Another issue I have as a parishoner is that I do not want to have to support the priest and his family. Our parish is already having trouble paying the bills we do not need any more of a burden.

 

[carol_marie]

The priest is married, he is married to the church. I am studying for the priesthood and can not imagine trying to fulfill my responsibilities as a husband and as a priest at the same time.

When men realize that God is the most important thing in life and seek to do his will, then the vocations crisis will begin to go away. I have heard that the Diocese of Lincoln Nebraska had to build a new seminary to handle all their priestly vocations. I was told that they had their abundance of vocations because of their orthodox bishop who does not water down the faith.

I have also read wher the parishes in Africa can’t build seminaries fast enough to handle all of their vocations.

Maybe this shortage is God’s way of saying that he does not like the way our country is heading. Maybe it was a way to get the church’s attention. Sometimes things have to be cleansed before things can be made better. I have heard Father Corapi say that he is pleased with the seminarians that he has seen coming up for ordination. I suspect that God knows what He is doing and things will turn out just as He planned.

Another issue I have as a parishoner is that I do not want to have to support the priest and his family. Our parish is already having trouble paying the bills we do not need any more of a burden.

I was going to post somthing but I don’t need to. You’ve said it better than I ever could.

 

[Damascus]

Keep in mind it is in the Latin Rite this is a discipline. Someone may have already pointed this out here, but I will attempt to mention it anyway. I wish more people knew the basics here.

 

[Genesis315]

After careful consideration of the issue I have come to the conclusion that the church has to allow priests to marry.

The church only implemented the celebacy rule because it didn’t want to lose land and money to priest’s offspring who didn’t become priests and who they couldn’t control.

When is the church going to wake up and see that in order to survive it has to modernise and allow priests to marry???

Given what you’ve said, I doubt you have spent much time considering this issue, nor do I think it was careful. I think I’ll let the Bishop of Rome make this decision and whatever decision is chosen, I will accept as the most well considered. Right now, it’s celibacy.

 

[patrick457]

The priest is married, he is married to the church. I am studying for the priesthood and can not imagine trying to fulfill my responsibilities as a husband and as a priest at the same time.

When men realize that God is the most important thing in life and seek to do his will, then the vocations crisis will begin to go away. I have heard that the Diocese of Lincoln Nebraska had to build a new seminary to handle all their priestly vocations. I was told that they had their abundance of vocations because of their orthodox bishop who does not water down the faith.

I have also read wher the parishes in Africa can’t build seminaries fast enough to handle all of their vocations.

Maybe this shortage is God’s way of saying that he does not like the way our country is heading. Maybe it was a way to get the church’s attention. Sometimes things have to be cleansed before things can be made better. I have heard Father Corapi say that he is pleased with the seminarians that he has seen coming up for ordination. I suspect that God knows what He is doing and things will turn out just as He planned.

Another issue I have as a parishoner is that I do not want to have to support the priest and his family. Our parish is already having trouble paying the bills we do not need any more of a burden.

Well put CAM228.

(Please correct me if my reasoning is a bit wrong,)
The Priest is married to the Church, Just as Our Lord is married to the Church, since the Priest is in Persona Christi.

And Christ’s Union to the Church isn’t metaphorical or something; it is, in a sense, a real union. ‘The Bride of the Lamb’, does the Revelation call the Church in this passage:

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure” – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

(Revelation 19: 6-9)

 

[estesbob]

After careful consideration of the issue I have come to the conclusion that the church has to allow priests to marry.

The church only implemented the celebacy rule because it didn’t want to lose land and money to priest’s offspring who didn’t become priests and who they couldn’t control.

When is the church going to wake up and see that in order to survive it has to modernise and allow priests to marry???

\

I must not have been too careful a consideration if you actully believe celibacy had anything to do with inheritance.

 

[Brendan]

I think you got something backwards. The Church has NEVER allowed priests to marry. But it has (and does) allow married men to be ordained into the priesthood.

That is common place in the Eastern Catholic Church, but the Latin Church has always preferred single men, as did St. Paul.

And one other point, the Anglicans, Orthodox and Lutherans all allow married men in their clergy.

Yet they too suffer from a vocations crisis.

But the most orthodox Catholic diocese, such as Lincoln, NE, have no such shortage.

It seems that moderism is the detriment to the priesthood, not celibacy.

 

[rcwhiteh]

I think it’s important to remember that the requirement of celibacy is not doctrinal in nature but a customary practice of the Roman Rite. It is not (to my knowledge) infallibly declared that only unmarried men may be ordained; it is a discipline imposed upon the priesthood.

Roman Catholics who are staunch supporters of a celibate clergy would do well to remember that the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church does, indeed, ordain married men and has done so since its inception. Candidates for elevation to the episcopacy must be celibate, and a priest who becomes a widower may not remarry without being laicized.

All that being said, I do not agree with the OPs call for the Roman Church to begin ordaining married men - I do not believe that it would improve anything.

It’s very easy to sit in one’s easy chair and say “Well, it’s OBVIOUS that the reason that we’re having such a shortfall of priests is because of the celibacy requirement.” As attractive a premise as that may be, it does not stand up to the numbers of devout young men who flock to seminaries in dioceses where the undiluted, unexpurgated, uncastrated faith of the Roman Church is faithfully taught.

I agree wholeheartedly with the posters who argue that the orthodox Catholic faith results in vigorous and plentiful vocations; I would respectfully suggest, however, that more Eastern-Rite priests should be granted faculties in the Roman Rite and encouraged to share the load in Roman parishes and dioceses that are underserved.

It might result in a number of Roman faithful switching to the Eastern church, true; but those same youth may find a true vocation in the Eastern church and become priests (even married priests!), thus adding to the pool of available clergy.

Opinions?

 

[Psalm45_9]

The church only implemented the celebacy rule because it didn’t want to lose land and money to priest’s offspring who didn’t become priests and who they couldn’t control.

This is wrong, the church implemented manditory celibacy because priests were required to practice abstinence and they kept poping out kids, which is against their office. Once a married man is ordained to the priesthood, he ceases to be a husband. Here is a nice article all about the history of celibacy and it is written by a married Roman Catholic priest. If the Latin Rite is to implement married priests, then it will also reimpliment the manditory discipline of its married priests abstaining from sex.

crisismagazine.com/october2006/ryland.htm

 

[water]

When is the church going to wake up and see that in order to survive it has to modernise and allow priests to marry???

What do you mean by modernizing?

As Catholics, we follow Bible and Sacred Traditions. We don’t change its way just because of something called “modern”.

What does a married priest do when He gets home?

• he hangs around with his wife and kids and thinks about how to please them.

What does an un-married priest do when he gets home?

• he hangs around with Jesus and his entire community which is his family and think about how to please God and save souls.

It is time for us to wake up and pray more for vocations.

 

[Kevin42]

I certainly hope married priests will not become the norm. While this is not a good way to look at it, I can just see the Church being given even more scandals to deal with. I already see priests divorcing or being discovered using contraceptives or something. Not very optimistic, but I think this could cause many more problems than it would end.

 

[TimOliv]

I think that if a Diocese wished to ordain married men, it would pretty much leave us where we are today, actually. Let’s take a look here…

The Church allows Permanent Deacons. Permanent Deacons can fill many functions in a parish. So why then, wouldn’t we ordain more permanent deacons, assign each a parish, and thus alleviate the problems imposed upon priests who are assigned multiple parishes? It would make sense, right?

There are a few considerations one must keep in mind. In order to become a Permanent Deacon (in general) one must be at least 35 and their marriage must be stable. If they are single, they must remain celibate. I have never seen a Diocese just freely ordain Permanent Deacons. Generally, there is quite a lengthy application process. And I can understand why. Can you imagine what would happen if a Deacon ended up getting divorced? There would be all kinds of hell breaking loose. This is not to say that it doesn’t happen, but with the divorce rate at its present high, the church wants a pretty good indicator that the man wearing that stole is in it for the long haul.

Your idea is to ordain married men to the priesthood (I assume at least, since the church will NEVER allow priests to marry, such runs contrary to the doctrines of both the Catholic and Orthodox Church), and you think this will alleviate the problems. However, this means we now need to bump up the age for priests since we don’t want 19 year olds running out and getting hitched in the Seminary just so they don’t have to remain celibate for the rest of their lives. We also need to work out a new pay scale for diocesan priests to ensure that a church can support their families.

Within the application process, we need to extensively evaluate the applicant and his wife to ensure both will be able to endure the busy lifestyle ahead. Now, we need a way for a married man to support his family while he is in Seminary. What will the requirement to enter the seminary be? Will one have to be 35, in a stable relationship and have a Bachelors Degree?

The reason I am posing all of these questions is simple. The people who jump and shout that they would have entered the seminary were it not for celibacy were most likely not going to complete it even if they did. Even if the rules were restructured, how many would be eligible to enter the seminary? How can we prepare a woman for a life of taking second place to the Church?

You propose an overnight solution, but one that would require countless hours of restructuring and applicant screening. So really, if we screen the priest candidates twice as much as the candidates for the Diaconate, how many will we actually gain? How many men and their wives will put up with it? And did I mention that if these men are embarking on the road to priesthood (at least 6 years of full time study) how are they supporting their families?

Somehow you got it in your head that following Christ is easy, and moreover, that you get to make the calls for all of us. But I will tell you two things that you obviously never considered. Myself and the other seminarians, as well as all the priests and brothers would have it no other way, we don’t need you speaking for us. And secondly, the church is not, and never will be a democracy. And the day its leaders treat the priesthood like a college Sociology project (as you are doing right now) would be the day that the church teaches error. (Hint: That means it will never happen)

 

[mark_a]

And one other point, the Anglicans, Orthodox and Lutherans all allow married men in their clergy.

Yet they too suffer from a vocations crisis.

How about the Eastern Catholics?

Can the Roman Church “steal” priests from Eastern Catholic Churches?

 

[Psalm45_9]

I will be talking about celibacy this week at RCIA, most people who are against it don’t understand the history of it. Most don’t know that when the Latin Rite had married priests they were required to practice abstinence because of their office, the priest ceased to be a husband. The priests kept having kids, so the bishops first declared that a priest could not live in the same house as his wife. When that didn’t work, the Latin Rite tossed out married priests all together, for the magesterium felt that the temptation fo consumate their former marriages were too tempting. Read the article in the link I posted, it gives great insight into this subject.

 

[ccfbob]

The church only implemented the celebacy rule because it didn’t want to lose land and money to priest’s offspring who didn’t become priests and who they couldn’t control.

When is the church going to wake up and see that in order to survive it has to modernise and allow priests to marry???

This seems to be a stereotype response to our Church’s practice. I do not know if it falls under the title of a “black legend”, but it may be a straw man argument. Please help a neophyte here. Is my thinking correct?

Also, codos to many of the great replys. And a GRACIOUS Thank You to all the FATHERS out there who labor in the Vinyard!

Let us all take a moment to also pray for more Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life!

God’s Love to all!
Bob

 

[Brendan]

How about the Eastern Catholics?

Can the Roman Church “steal” priests from Eastern Catholic Churches?

I don’t understand what you mean by ‘steal’ Eastern priests?

If you are talking about priest who are bi-ritual, that they have the consent of both the Eastern bishop and the Latin bishop to celebrate the corresponding rite, yes, we already have those. I have met several ( interestinly enought, all three were Latin priests who have Eastern faculties so that they might cover for regular Eastern pastors who might be either ill or out of town)

If a cleric wishes to completely switch rites, for example, a Latin priest becoming exclusively Eastern, or vice versa, that requires the consent of both local bishops AND the consent of the Holy See.

 

[connecian]

As an RCIA coordinator for children, I work full time and take close to 20 hours a week setting up plans and working with catechist on lesson plans, as well as planning liturgies, meetings and interviews.

My understanding, if a priest was married, when would he have time for his family? Between calls at night to hospitals, people calling for counceling? My priest makes himself available to his parishoners even in the evening.

One would suffer, the church or the family. It is unfair for a preist to have a wife and family as that will take away from the church, and vise versa.

IMHO, our priest are family, invite them to dinner and activites. Our priest has friends, and goes on vacations,and is hearlty missed. He knows his parishioners well, and we have a large church base community.

He asks about children, extended family, and lives. He loves us and we love him.

 

[prv]

How about the Eastern Catholics?

Can the Roman Church “steal” priests from Eastern Catholic Churches?

Not stealing, just using all available clergy for the salvation of souls. That being said, I don’t agree that the Church needs to “modernize” anything. If people want to make the claim that the Latin church needs a married priesthood, the idea of “modernization” is not what you want to support your claim. Take a look at all of the other groups out there that have, ahem, “modernized” their form of Christianity.