What an absolutely astute observation! Author Roy Schoeman, a Jewish convert, has written one of the most fascinating books on this very topic. Please take a minute to read his
an then pick up a copy of his book. You won't be able to put it down.
Posted on 05/24/2005 5:05:40 PM PDT by NYer
Dear NYer:
I subscribe to the Register. How do you get their articles to post? Their Web site does not appear to have these type articles.
Regards
Franky
Manual dexterity ;-D. I began my 'career' as a bi-lingual secretary - English typing at 120 wpm - on a manual typewriter. It's a lot faster on a keyboard.
"There are even a FEW married priests in the Catholic Church today - in some Eastern Catholic rites, and in a few cases of Protestant ministers who converted."
Considering that there are several thousand such priests, he must have an interesting definition of "few"!
For later.
Do you have a source for these statistics?
"Do you have a source for these statistics?"
Yes, simple mathematics.
A lot of people aren't so good at "simple" mathematics.
I don't know which is more impressive --- your typing skills or this commentary. :)
Wow!
Nothing beats the time tested winning formula. Agenda for the opposite is to be treated with high suspicion.
What an absolutely astute observation! Author Roy Schoeman, a Jewish convert, has written one of the most fascinating books on this very topic. Please take a minute to read his
an then pick up a copy of his book. You won't be able to put it down.
I stray from the reservation a bit on this one.
Celibacy for priests is a practice and a tradition within the latin rite church. From what I've read, it isn't as much a practice or a tradition within the eastern rite churches, except in the U.S. and Canada.
I think there is plenty of room within the larger church for both perspectives. I think that as a practical matter it is necessary for the western church to continue with it's traditions and practices, and for the eastern church to continue with it's. I do not agree with eastern catholic priests in the U.S. and Canada needing to amend their practices to conform with the latin norm.
"A lot of people aren't so good at "simple" mathematics."
OK, let's take as an example the largest Eastern Catholic Church - the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
There are now over 3,500 parishes in the UGCC, each one with at least one priest. Their tradition is to have a married parish clergy, while the celibates are mainly monks. However, about 15% of their parish clergy are also celibate. This means that 85% of the priests are married men, therefore, the number of married priests in the UGCC is approximately:
3,500 x 85% = 2,975.
In other Eastern Catholic Churches, the proportion of married priests ranges from about 45% to 80%. There are roughly 10,000 priests in the Eastern Churches, and therefore, taking a conservative estimate of 45%, there will be a minimum of:
10,000 x 45% = 4,500
married priests in the East.
Obviously this is the Eastern tradition and so it is to be expected. In the West married priests only exist as an exception to the norm and these as a result of convert married clergy being ordained to the priesthood. These are mainly confined to the Anglophile provinces such as the US and UK and probably number no more than 800 worldwide (last figures released in UK were that 500 had taken advantage of the "Roman option").
Thus it is safe to say conservatively that there are 4,500 + 800 married priests in the Catholic Church, i.e. 5,300.
While it is a very small per centage of the approx. 400,000 Catholic priests, nevertheless I would hardly describe 5,300 as just a "few". A "few" would tend to imply a number that one could count on the fingers of two hands.
However, that is not to say that the discipline of the Latin rite should change. Ordaining celibate and homosexual men only will remain the norm in the West long after we have all gone to our reward.
Bingo! It's funny how many of the so-called "controversial" issues regarding the church really just involve people saying, "We're just upright apes, after all ... we gotta scr*w!"
Notice how in 100 years, these topics have become "controversial". It's all just a part of trying to destroy the church.
1 Tim 4:3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
"1 Tim 4:3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth."
How is this in any way relevant? The Church has never forbidden anyone to marry as long as they have been free to marry.
Neither does the above passage have any relevance to fasting which was encouraged by Jesus Christ - I suppose He was unscriptural as well, was He?
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