What kind of recreation can a priest do?

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I am the one who posted this and found this other thread in my search for this statement, as I was told in the other thread I should prove this ;))))))
 
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For a start, my local priests don’t really earn any money. They live at the church grounds and get made dinner by the local nuns or anyone else willing to volunteer. Everything is financially supported by donations and the parish etc. I’m not sure, but it seems unlikely that they can just go out and buy something randomly. Their purchases and holidays usually seem like planned transactions.

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Diocesan priests get a salary and while it is not a big salary it is certainly enough to live off of and to invest, save or spend. Priests buy their own cars (some are pretty fancy), they go on vacations, some own houses, many play golf (an expense if they join a club) or have other costly hobbies. They go out to dinner with friends, to the movies or plays (big bucks there) or concerts. They buy their own computers, iPads, cellphones, TVs for their rooms, some even buy their own furniture. They are not in the poor house, at least in my part of the woods. Our priests have a gourmet chef that was trained at a prestigious culinary school and they have housekeepers. I know one priest who owned rental apartments and had extra income from it. Priests can earn their own money in other ways as long as it doesn’t interfere with their parish work. However, religious priests area a different story since everything is held in common and they take a vow of poverty.
 
Yes, there are two kinds of priests, diocesan priests and those in religious orders.
 
Somebody mind explaining the approved difference?

These diocesan priests are sounding like the “reverends” in those TV shows you see from the US; The Simpsons, 7th Heaven etc, where the ‘priest’ is a typical family married man living just like anyone else (not sure what religion that is).

Where I come from, a priest is typically of the ‘religious order’, ie taking a vow of poverty. This is just me, of course, but I feel a slight bit disgruntled over some of the examples in here. A priest owning a second holiday home (any home to be fact) sounds bizarre. The entire premise of being a priest is to give up the ordinary life for Christs sake (forgot the exact passage reference). In any sense, it’s not necessarily supposed to be easy, even if that means priests experience a very difficult time socially. That’s why it’s such a special calling, and it gives you the exclusive right to be able to handle the physical body of Christ and relieve sin.

But then again, with the modern world taking over it’s sometimes hard to see whether there will be nearly as many religious priests in the future, which might become a worrying concern. The simple mention of the idea that I’ve thought about being a priest before to my Catholic friends brings them in disbelief, which is actually quite sad tbh.
 
Domiy, in a nutshell,

There are 2 types of priest- secular & regular.

A secular priest is what most of us (especially here in the US) deal with. These men are attached to a Diocese and do not make “vows”. The make ‘promises’ of obedience to the local Ordinary and his successors and to live celebate lives. They make no promise of poverty. While most of their “living expensies” are covered by the parish, food, shelter, etc, they are responsible for buying their own “personal stuff”(clothes, cars, anything beyond “basic” furnishings for their home, etc. They usually live alone, or maybe with one or 2 other priests, who may or may not be involved in parish work. Each of these men prays, eats, recreates when and how he chooses.

A regular priest, one who belongs to an order, such as the Jesuits, Dominicans, etc, makes ‘vows’ of poverty, chastity & obedieince. He renounces all personal ownership of material things, obeys his superior in all things, prays, works & plays with the men of his community according to the “house schedule”. These men may or may not work outside of their comunity, but they are required to always make every effort to follow the rules of their community. For an “order priest” it is more about fraternity. Search some of Br. JREducations’s posts about the Fraciscan’s. He is a Superior, and is a plethora of information! 😃
 
ah how about the recreational activities of martial arts an marksmanship ( firearms ) or fencing learning to use a sword,

how about advancing ones own education, after the seminary ? can one pursue a teaching degree, or other degrees , psychology, whatever ?

Or perhaps pursue more in the field of science ?

Granted there is not the time for full blown education classes but it could be done slowly with the time that is available.
 
ah how about the recreational activities of martial arts an marksmanship ( firearms ) or fencing learning to use a sword,

how about advancing ones own education, after the seminary ? can one pursue a teaching degree, or other degrees , psychology, whatever ?

Or perhaps pursue more in the field of science ?

Granted there is not the time for full blown education classes but it could be done slowly with the time that is available.
There was a priest here at my parish assignment that was a marine and he loved M1 garrands and shooting. certainly had a lot of guns, If I am ever ordained I will still love an awesome stereo system and I would love to drive my bus through country roads and I would love to ride a grand prix dressage horse. The point is that it doesn’t matter as long as it is moral and it is second to your priestly duties. If your priesthood comes way first than it don’t matter. Order priests i have no idea what is allowed.
 
I just posted about this again in the other post :

I found the text of the Fourth Lateran Council 1215.
The thing about hunting is under chapter 15 “clerical gluttony and drunkenness”

papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum12-2.htm
I never questioned whether or not this was made a discipline in the past, what I questioned was whether or not it is still in effect today. As this is not a matter of faith and morals but is rather simply a matter of discipline it is a changeable rule and I find it highly likely that it is no longer required of the clergy to abstain from hunting, especially as the rules of the Church have been rewritten multiple times since the Fourth Lateran Council. I’m not trying to pick a fight, just pointing out that this is not neccessarily current discipline. 🙂
 
I know what you mean 🙂 Not taking it as all as picking a fight.

This is what I added in the other thread “ar war with squirrels”:

*"OK, and now this is also important, after that paragraph there is a little number [4], and if you scroll down to the end you will see that this means that the part on hunting was omitted in some other document(s), it seems they were later documents. But I have no idea whether that means they don’t “count” anynmore. And I do have trust in the pries who mailed me, especially as I have been told he knows a lot about these kinds of issues.

Kathrin"*
 
Jumping in here to add that I would think many of these recreational activities would be “comped” for a priest - either someone in a group such as a golfing foursome, would pay his green fee, or someone would let him use their plane, etc. I mean, I sure would! I don’t know many priests who don’t come from a wealthy family who could afford to rent a plane at $150 + an hour…let alone OWN one…

I would think they get taken hunting, fishing, etc. by parishioners, don’t you think?

:yup:
 
If I ever do become a priest (something I’ve been discerning for a while), it’d be a “religious one”, which is why it’s such a big decision. If I could live like the others mentioned so far in this thread, I’d have decided for it a while ago, but for me it’s about helping people by being completely unattached to the world and capitalism.

I look at a lot of my local priests, all religious, and they’re quite the characters. Whatever they need they are given by church members via voluntary charity. What’s actually quite funny is that they’re all just a tad on the tubby side, guess that’s what happens when you don’t have kids or a spouse to please and the majority of your work is based on non-physical intervention 😛 Guess they can’t get enough of all those homemade cakes the local women make for them as a thanks.
 
In the Diocese of Calgary, they used to have an annual hockey game between the Calgary Flames Alumni and a group of hockey-playing priests called the Fearless Fathers.
 
I know of one who has huge outdoor railroad that he built. It’s quite impressive. There are videos on you tube.
 
My dad told me a story of a priest who went to the gym to box. Once, after sparing the guy her was sparing with saw him come out of the locker room and felt really bad. “Oh Father, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard!”. Father just laughed it off and said, “Nonesense!”. 😃
 
I feel called to the priesthood. I believe it’s the Will of God. But being a person who loves God’s creation of nature, what kind of recreation can a priest do. I won’t let this get in the way of God, but I’m just wondering. Thanks and God bless.

PRAY FOR ME PLEASE
 
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St_Hilary:
You can do any ogod of recreation within normal limits.

Just because you are going for the priesthood, does not alter your recreation.

I wouldl not get too excited because this is a long process befor being accepted; application; talking with the vocation director; taking psychological exams; meeting with the rector of the seminaery.

In His Divine Mercy
 
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