Coming soon: married priest who will make history (ex-Baptist minister to become Catholic priest)

Deacons Bench ^ | August 26, 2008 | Deacon Greg Kandra

[NYer]

Now for something completely non-political -- and really, quite inspiring. America is about to get another married priest, but one unlike any other.

From the Louisville Courier-Journal:

David Harris never considered his conversion to Catholicism six years ago to be a rejection of the Baptist faith that nourished him from childhood in Eastern Kentucky.

But as a married man, Harris did think the switch meant he would leave one thing behind -- his status as an ordained minister.

He was wrong.

Early next month, he'll make history as the first married, former Baptist minister to become a Roman Catholic priest in the United States.

He'll also be only the second married man from any former denomination to become a priest in the Archdiocese of Louisville.

Harris, 53, is scheduled to be ordained Sept. 6 at the Cathedral of the Assumption.

He is the only priest being ordained in the archdiocese this year.

His ordination is allowed under a seldom-used exception to the church's requirement that priests be celibate.
Exception to the rule

The exception, which requires case-by-case permission from the Vatican, allows ordination of married converts who had been ordained Protestant ministers.

While about 100 former ministers from Episcopal and other American Protestant denominations have taken that path, Harris is the first former Baptist known to do so, according to researchers and others familiar with the process.

"All I could do is say, 'Church, would you consider this?' " said Harris, now a deacon at St Aloysius Church in Pewee Valley, where he will become associate pastor upon his ordination. "If the church had said no, I would have gone on and enjoyed my faith and done something else."

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, who supported Harris' application to the Vatican, said he's looking forward to the ordination.

"I think the world of him," he said.

Elayne Roose, a spiritual director who has advised Harris, said "we'll all benefit" from his ordination.

She said he blends spirituality with practical experience.

"He understands what it's like to be married, to have children, to have that life, besides being a very spiritual person," she said.
The spiritual journey

Harris, who knew few Catholics in his native Middlesboro, traces his spiritual journey to his upbringing by "good Christian parents."

"I loved the mountains and nature, (which conveyed) a sense of closeness to God," said Harris, whose church office is decorated with pictures of sunflowers -- and a real one from his garden -- alongside icons and liturgical books.

He said he was baptized by immersion around age 10 at his church, beneath a painting of John the Baptist and Jesus at the Jordan River.

Harris later earned an engineering degree from the University of Kentucky, where he met his wife, Pam.

They now have two adult sons.

Harris worked as a design engineer in Lexington, but he said that as he volunteered in his local Baptist church, he felt a call to the ministry.

He earned a master's of divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville in 1987 while pastor of a church in eastern Jefferson County.

Harris said when his second son was born, he "really had to think about spending more time with the family." He returned to engineering in 1992, going to work for the Louisville Regional Airport Authority.

That was when a friend gave him a thrift-store copy of a spiritual classic by the Catholic mystic St. John of the Cross, "Dark Night of the Soul."

Harris said he was captivated by its vision of a deep contemplative prayer life and began reading more of Catholic spirituality, including works by 20th-century Kentucky author-monk Thomas Merton.

He went on retreats at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Nelson County, where Merton had lived.

Harris then began attending the Church of the Epiphany in eastern Jefferson County and was confirmed as a Catholic in 2002.

"I love the Baptist faith," he said. "I was not moving away from it or toward something. It's just all part of my journey."

Visit the link for the rest, and more pictures. And let's keep this remarkable man in our prayers. H/T to Crossing 84th Street.

Photo: by Pam Spaulding, The Courier-Journal

[NYer]

Deacon David Harris carries the Bible (should read Book of the Gospels) down the aisle as a service begins. His ordination required Vatican permission.

[annalex]

Also see Married, ex-Baptist minister to become Catholic priest.

[NYer]

Wish you would have pinged me to this. Apologies for the duplicate.

[webrover]

He does not consider is conversion a rejection of his Baptist faith.

"I love the Baptist faith," he said. "I was not moving away from it or toward something. It's just all part of my journey"

It's seems to be all about him. I thought the priesthood was a calling from God. "It's all part of MY journey" sounds way too much like some new age self indulgent pap.

He's probably a nice guy. But he seems to have no particular commitment to the Catholic faith.

[353FMG]

“But he seems to have no particular commitment to the Catholic faith.”

I agree. Seems to me that the bishop also has some explaining to do. I’ve heard of Anglican priests being ordained Catholic priests after conversion and subsequent training but never heard of a Baptist minister becoming a priest. The fact that this minister still loves his Baptist faith tells me that he should have remained a Baptist minister. He is now serving two masters.

[annalex]

It is a first for a baptist minister to become a priest, correct. A dispensation from Rome was required for that. It is not, by far, the first married convert from Protestantism who is ordained priest in the Latin Rite, because in the US there is a pastoral provision allowing Anglican priests to be ordained Latin priests even if they are married.

There is no contradiction for Fr. David to love his former Baptist faith. It is rather typical for converts to Catholicism to see in their conversion a fuller expression of the faith they already had as Protestants.

[annalex]

I wasn’t the original poster.

[Between the Lines]

But he seems to have no particular commitment to the Catholic faith.

His wife and sons and other family members are all still Southern Baptists. I think what you perceive as a lack of commitment is actually his efforts at diplomacy trying not to alienate his family.

But this brings up a bigger question. Since his wife is still Baptist and he is Catholic, that would mean that she does not recognize him as the spiritual head of his own household any longer. And if he is such a poor shepherd in his own home, why would he ever be considered to shepherd a congregation?

[webrover]

Serving two masters sums it up perfectly.

[Between the Lines]

Wish you would have pinged me to this. Apologies for the duplicate.

The very first post in the other thread was a drive by and it distracted the posts. Maybe this one will fare better.

[annalex]

I have been Catholic for 16 years, and my wife remained Baptist prior to this Easter. She never questioned my role as priest of the household, and it never occurred to me that she should somehow be forced into Catholicism. Were I to force her conscience that would have been poor spiritual leadershipp on my part. I explained the faith to her and naturally, she converted in the fullness of time. We both love the Baptist communities she attended and I visited, and wish they all come and join us in the Holy Mother Church.

[webrover]

That could turn out badly.

[webrover]

I didn't get that feeling from his comments. And Baptists are quite different from Anglicans or Reformation Protestants. That's all fine. But there are conflicts in belief between Catholics and Baptists. And he can't accept one without rejecting the other. Any Baptist would be happy to tell about what's incorrect with Catholic belief.

[Jaded]

But not the other way.

[Jaded]

Since his wife is still Baptist and he is Catholic, that would mean that she does not recognize him as the spiritual head of his own household any longer.

How so? If she does not recognize him, isn't that a sin on her part, he is after all, still her husband.

[annalex]

No question that the Baptists are, regrettably, very different doctrinally, but it is possible to love the Baptist faith for its intensity, good works, and the devotion to the Holy Scripture. Both Ann and I share that as we always have. I don’t see how is that “serving two masters”.

[annalex]

Correct.

In fact that is common to all Catholic Rites, as well as the Orthodox priesthood: while a married man may be ordained as a priest even, exceptionally, in Latin Rite, a priest of any Christian Church or rite may not marry after he has been ordained.

[webrover]

Am I talking about you and Ann? Are you the subject of the article? Are you the priest? If you’re not, I honestly don’t quite get your point. I don’t know what this convert who does not reject his former faith, picks as usable from which faith. As a priest, he may not pick and choose.

[annalex]

I am not a priest, but I don’t see why Fr. David should reject that in the Baptist faith which is Catholic. He did not say that he embraces salvation by faith alone, sola scriptura or any other Baptist error. He said he loves the Baptist faith. Nothing is wrong with that.