Wow..... I can only hope this isn’t true

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As has been said, celibacy is a discipline that can be changed.
Pope Francis, is not now, nor has he ever called for a wholesale ban on priestly celibacy. What is being discussed is the possibility of relaxing the celibacy requirement for extreme cases, such as in the Amazon.
Why get yourself is such a tizzy for something that really will have no effect at all on your day-to-day life as a Catholic?
 
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CilladeRoma said:
As has been said, celibacy is a discipline that can be changed.
Pope Francis, is not now, nor has he ever called for a wholesale ban on priestly celibacy. What is being discussed is the possibility of relaxing the celibacy requirement for extreme cases, such as in the Amazon.
Why get yourself is such a tizzy for something that really will have no effect at all on your day-to-day life as a Catholic?
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Why just restrict to just the Amazon? What about the jungles in Southeast Asia, the far reaches in Australia, the jungles and deserts in Africa, the inner cities in throughout the world, ice covered territories, the mountains in Appalachia, the Andes, etc…? Why is there an inconsistency (prejudice) in the universal Church? What would happen if American married men went to the Amazon and got ordained priest there, then sometime later moved back to the US?

You can see the slippery rope paving an open door to diminish/damage the importance of priesthood celibacy. Priesthood celibacy would surely become optional in the Church—rather than a norm as it has been in the life of the Church. It will become a radical change in the Church. It is naive and dishonest to believe otherwise.
 
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No, I don’t see a slippery slope.
Ordination is not something taken lightly by the Church. Allowing married men to be ordained already happens. This is not the “beginning of the end” of priestly celibacy. People need to chill out.

And, I did not restrict it to the Amazon, and I don’t think the Church will either. The idea was discussed at the Synod, it’s a problem elsewhere, this is a possible solution. What is the problem?
 
C.Ray said:
Ok, but it’s perfectly alright for some priests to have married and then be ordained, to have the one spouse thing dispensed with in some circumstances.
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I dond’t have any examples for you, but I wasn’t thinking of priests being permitted to marry. I was thinking rather of married men who are ordained as priests.

The former isn’t permitted, either in the East or the West. I get that. But in the west married men are being ordained, though that isn’t “the norm”. I’m thinking of Anglicans coming over from CofE or perhaps from Continuing Anglicans, guys like Gavin Ashendon or Dwight Longenecker.

If the church can permit those married men to be ordained, why can’t it ordain other married men who do not have orders in the Anglican or some other tradition where a married clergy is normal?
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CilladeRoma said:
People need to chill out.
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Sacred Tradition, along with the Gospels, is a inseparable part of the Church. Vatican 2 re-affirms it. Discipline is a part of the Sacred Tradition. Just because it can be changed, it does not follow that it should be changed. As for priestly celibacy rule in the Church, it has been with the Roman Church for almost 2,000 years, and it has served the Church and the priesthood well.

There have been shortage of priests in the life of Church at various times in the life of the Church—especially since the missionary age after the Reformation. Yet, the Church has found a way to evangelize to millions and millions new souls in the Americas, Asia, Australia, and other parts of the world. The Church always needs more priests. More importantly, the Church needs good, holy, faithful priests.
 
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He was not clear on it. He gave a short response to a question that requires more explanation. The Church does have priests who are married (as in the case if they came from Orthodox Churches, the Angilcan Church, or other places). But married men can not become priests in the Roman Catholic Church as a general rule (This is precisely what the Amazon Synod seeks to change).Once ordained, the Church does not allow them to marry.
 
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There is one in my diocese. He is a convert, who was a Minister
Married with a bunch of kids. He just said my husband’s uncle’s funeral Mass.
 
Randolph said:
This is wrong. Prove it.
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We had a married priest once. He had been an Anglican priest who was married. He later became a catholic priest. I don’t know whether he was married then ordained or ordained (Anglican) then married. But later, he became a catholic priest.
 
Rau said:
We had a married priest once. He had been an Anglican priest who was married. He later became a catholic priest. I don’t know whether he was married then ordained or ordained (Anglican) then married. But later, he became a catholic priest.
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It was a part of the Anglican Ordinariate. But it did not change the Roman Church rule on Priestly celibacy.
 
CilladeRoma said:
There is one in my diocese. He is a convert, who was a Minister
Married with a bunch of kids. He just said my husband’s uncle’s funeral Mass.
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The Church does allow previously married priests/ministers to become priests in the Church—given the denominations/churches where they were from are in full communion with the Church. But not for married people to be first ordained priests in the Roman Church. This is precisely what the Amazon Synod seeks to change.

If you have a chance to ask this priest, I would bet that he was not ordained directly in the Roman Church as a married man. That is to say he was already ordained priest/minister from some other church.
 
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No Protestant denomination is “in Communion with the Church”. The priest I am talking about was a Presbyterian.
He took some classes at the Catholic seminary and was ordained.

This is not a huge deal. Not the norm, and it will never be the norm, but not the end if the world.
 
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Randolph said:
It was a part of the Anglican Ordinariate.
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Yes there are married Catholic priests within the Anglican Ordinariate, but you neither need to be
Anglican nor part of the Anglican Ordinariate to become a married Catholic priest. This rule was changed by Pope Benedict in the late 2000’s as I remember. Below is an example of Pentecostal minister who became a married Catholic priest.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...pentecostal-preacher-to-catholic-priest-61696
 
So many people in this thread seem to have little trouble with moving away from the historical discipline and practice of the church in this area. Where would the line in the sand be for those who think opening the door ( or at least opening the door further) for eliminating the celibacy requirement be? What church discipline or teaching being changed would finally cross the line for you?
 
CilladeRoma said:
No Protestant denomination is “in Communion with the Church”. The priest I am talking about was a Presbyterian.
He took some classes at the Catholic seminary and was ordained.
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Many Protestant ministers have become Catholic and priests. A denomination of the Anglican Church has recently become in full communion with the Catholic Church. You should read about the Anglican Ordinariate. The Church in the past have made special agreements with denominations/churches or Protestant pastors regarding the priesthood. But it never changed the rule for the Church. If the men are already Catholic and are already married, they can not become priests in the Roman Church.

I wish you well, and I am checking out.
 
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The Church, in her wisdom, is who I will follow. Disciplines are ment to be changed to suit the needs of the times. That is why they are disciplines not Dogmas.

This is not the end of the world, Catholicism, or the celibate priesthood as the norm for the Roman rite. People need to relax.

I have no “line ine the sand”, as I trust Church.
 
ConcernedConvert said:
So many people in this thread seem to have little trouble with moving away from the historical discipline and practice of the church in this area. Where would the line in the sand be for those who think opening the door ( or at least opening the door further) for eliminating the celibacy requirement be? What church discipline or teaching being changed would finally cross the line for you?
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Speaking for myself, I genuinely want people who live in certain difficult to reach areas, to have access to the Sacraments and the Mass which is the “source and summit” of all Catholic life. I can’t understand how Catholics who are privileged with this wonderful gift of God could be so ticked off by people longing for the Sacraments but unable to get them. It seems to be the antithesis. Like having access to medicine but caring so little for others that you’d do everything possible to denounce and block any opportunity that could mean they could also have the wonderful gift we have.
 
I know all about the Ordinariate, as we have a parish in my diocese. Ironically, their priest is a celibate.🤷
 
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