Should a married Catholic Man be able to become a priest?

nayorleck114

I was in the middle of replying to a previous post and it said it was closed, so I open a new one.

Although the Catholic Church is frequently referred to as the "Roman Catholic Church" this is a misnomer as it encompasses not only the (Latin/Roman) branch (i.e. the Western Church) but also twenty-two Eastern Churches. Thus the Catholic church under the pope has many Married priests on Various Rites. In Ireland we have the Roman rite, so priest don't marry, But in romania you could have the Greek-Catholic Rite, under rome, same faith, but with many married priests, (married men who were ordained to priesthood). Priests will never be extinct, but maybe the faith will die in Ireland. I know a friend who wanted to have a family but also wanted to be a Catholic Priest, he is now both in the US, be is a married eastern Rite priest, the same priest in every aspect as and Irish Catholic priest.

However... I know lots of Orthodox celibate priest, (orthodox not in unity with Catholic Rome) and they believe that celibacy is a tradition in cristianity. Only non married priests can become bishops in the orthodox church.

So married priests is not the answer to vocations, but married men should be considered as potential priests in the church.

97i9y3941

yes,i think if they where allowed to marry in the first place we mightnt had as much of abuse scandals,look at casey and cleary,two men who had powerful force in ireland in their heyday,and how shocked people where that them 2 bowseys where having kids themselfs...

bongo2

In the UK quite a few Anglican priests have converted to become Catholc priests because of the Anglican Church's view on different matters. A lot of these men are married and have children. It doesn't seem to cause any problems with the parishoners.

philologos

They have done already. Clergy who have converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism after the women priests controversy in the Church of England were received to the Church of Rome with their marriages intact. It was seen to be doubly bad for the Church to dissolve a perfectly valid marriage before God. So it seems as if there is a diachotomy between church stances on marriage. Particularly when we consider the Latin rites of the Church and the Western rites of the Church.

While it is true that Paul the Apostle personally preferred being celibate to being married, it is also true that Peter the Apostle to the circumcised was married from the New Testament writings. We also see that in both Judaism and in Christianity priests are told to be "married only once" in both the books of 1 Timothy and Titus. Nowhere in Christian tradition from the first century was it the case that priests were not to be married. In Judaism priests were to be married to a virgin, but other than that there were no other restrictions.

My take, is clearly that ministers of God have the choice to be married. Some may prefer not to be, some may prefer it. However a choice should be there.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Jakkass wrote: »

They have done already. Clergy who have converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism after the women priests controversy in the Church of England were received to the Church of Rome with their marriages intact. It was seen to be doubly bad for the Church to dissolve a perfectly valid marriage before God. So it seems as if there is a diachotomy between church stances on marriage. Particularly when we consider the Latin rites of the Church and the Western rites of the Church.

I dunno, could this be just getting "one up on the Prods"? I mean by that logic why couldn't a married non anglican guy become a priest and have his perfect marriage remain intact?

philologos

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I dunno, could this be just getting "one up on the Prods"? I mean by that logic why couldn't a married non anglican guy become a priest and have his perfect marriage remain intact?

Yes, that's what I am curious about too. Why do former Anglican ministers get preferential treatment in the Catholic Church if they join? They serve as priests in the Catholic Church, and they still have their marriage intact.

ScumLord

It should really be an option. I can understand the reasoning behind celibacy but it is a tough calling. I would have thought monks where the celibate ones allowing priests to be members of the community.

Slav

Jakkass wrote: »

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I dunno, could this be just getting "one up on the Prods"? I mean by that logic why couldn't a married non anglican guy become a priest and have his perfect marriage remain intact?

Yes, that's what I am curious about too. Why do former Anglican ministers get preferential treatment in the Catholic Church if they join? They serve as priests in the Catholic Church, and they still have their marriage intact.

Priests coming from Anglicanism are not ordained in RCC as their priesthood is currently considered as valid in Roman Catholicism. So it's not a matter of preferential treatment; it's only a matter of recognition of apostolic succession and received gifts.

Slav

nayorleck114 wrote: »

However... I know lots of Orthodox celibate priest, (orthodox not in unity with Catholic Rome) and they believe that celibacy is a tradition in cristianity.

I'm yet to see an Orthodox priest who would advocate the idea of celibacy. Or who would hold an opinion that the gifts of marriage and the gifts of priesthood and mutually exclusive.

In fact in Orthodoxy (at least in the Churches I know) if you are not married already you normally just have to marry before you are ordained; or alternatively you take the veil. If a priest is not married than it's not because he considers it to be more appropriate for a priest; it's because he's a monk or widowed.

getz

there is not any reason why the catholic priest should not be allowed to marry if he wanted to and stay in the church,i can not see anything in the early christian teachings that say says, priests can not marry, in fact for the first thousand years they could marry,may of the early popes had children.

PK2008

I thought the sacrifices of chastity, poverty etc were supposed to bring priests closer to god.

I actually am not that religious but a as far as I know becoming a priest is about complete devotion to God and the flock and therefore romantic relationships and family pose a conflict to that duty.

That may be idealistic but then religion is based on idealism so its consistant

postcynical

PK2008 wrote: »

I thought the sacrifices of chastity, poverty etc were supposed to bring priests closer to god.

I was surprised to learn recently that diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty.

The more I learn about the church, the more I suspect that (Roman) Catholics will adopt the Orthodox model. Probably in another few generations.

I'm ambivalent about the status quo. I'm grateful we have so many good priests and am not at all worried about the falling numbers in the seminaries, as many of my fellow Catholics are. It will either lead to greater participation from the laity (a good thing, and undoing a bad tradition of our church) and/or reduced availability of the sacraments. With falling numbers of practicing Catholics, and no social pressure on "nominal" Catholics to be seen to attend Catholic ceremonies, there should be enough priests to go around. Perhaps the role of the priest and the deeper meaning of the sacraments will be brought into focus for us ordinary folk too.

PK2008

I dont think that catholic priests will ever be allowed to marry and to be honest I dont think they should. They have been called by God himself to devote their entirety to him and his work. Earthly pleasures such as sex must be foregone in order to reach that level of spiritual enlightenment (or at least to aspire to it).

Like I said Im not religious but I respesct the catholic church for sticking to its tenants and not deviating in order to become popular. Its devoted itself to an ideal and I believe it will stick to it, whether its earthly representatives diminish or flourish in number is secondary to its spritual ideals.

Changing an ideal in order to ensure its survival is the first step in destroying it

Michael G

The thinking behind not letting priests marry is that they could not commit themselves fully both to their wives and children and also to God and their congregations. That makes practical sense. But it is a matter of Church discilpline, not of doctrine; so it could be changed without contradicting any previous teaching.

I do not think that a married man could function as well as a priest as a single man. However I do worry about two generations of priests who have been trained in the years since Vatican II to adopt a kind of sexless personality and to use a eunuch-like intonation at Mass. A non-religious friend of mine who buried a relative last week told me that the priest "sounded like a nun". Priests are men and should look and sound like men. Perhaps the Orthodox rule of having married priests and celibate monks and bishops makes practical sense.

PDN

Michael G wrote: »

Priests are men and should look and sound like men. Perhaps the Orthodox rule of having married priests and celibate monks and bishops makes practical sense.

And with big beards too!

BennyLava

Do not priests in the African branch of the (Roman) Catholic Church have the right to marry?
Don't they have a dispensation to do so to aid in converting non-Christians?

I've come across at least one in Donegal that came back to Ireland with his wife, and is serving the sacraments

Michael G

BennyLava wrote: »

Do not priests in the African branch of the (Roman) Catholic Church have the right to marry?
Don't they have a dispensation to do so to aid in converting non-Christians?

I've come across at least one in Donegal that came back to Ireland with his wife, and is serving the sacraments

I would like to hear more about him and his background before I could comment, but married clergy from the Anglican Church who came back (I chose those words deliberately) to the "Roman" Catholic Church have been ordained priests.

danbar63

The Catholic church professes to be based on the apostles. Now most of the apostles were married. In the gospel we meet Peter's mother in law........http://maltesemarriedcatholicpriest.bravehost.com

Seoid

Surely ALL Christians, not just priests are called to complete devotion to God?

In the early church there were no restrictions on priests marrying (According to 1 Timothy 3 church leaders should have 1 wife - "If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?")
My understanding was that priests were forbidden to marry because they were becoming too secular and roles of the clergy (priests, abbott, bishop etc) were being inherited, along with the wealth they included. Now, society is different so most people don't expect to follow their parent's profession.

(I could be wrong but) in my opinion, the call to celebacy is not the same as the call to the priesthood.
(I also think women should be ordained but that's a separate issue)

homer911

In my experience in the Protestant tradition, when you get a married minister, you tend to get two for the price of one - a ministers wife often plays a very full role in the life of the church and connects with female members in a way that a man never could - in that sense they certainly dont distract from the minister's work!

Edit: That could equally be role reversed - apologies to all women...

h2s

One interesting development happening at the moment is that married men can become permanent deacons.

I understand that the Dublin diocese is about to hold interviews to select candidates and the Kildare diocese has already chosen seven men to commence studies.