Historic: First married Maronite Catholic in U.S. to become a priest—UPDATED

The Deacon's Bench ^ | February 26, 2014 | Deacon Greg Kandra

[NYer]

REMINDER - The following news story is from Catholic News Agency. It offers more insight into how the Maronite Church approaches this topic.

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Vatican City, Oct 7, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Speaking to the 11th General Synod Fathers, gathered for their eighth meeting this morning at the Vatican, Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, who is Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon--a Catholic rite which allows for married priests--addressed the issue, which has been brought up by many, particularly in light of the U.S. sex abuse scandal, of commonly permitting married priests in the Roman rite. The Cardinal defended the practice of the celibate priesthood and discussed the beauty of the tradition, calling it the "most precious jewel in the treasury of the Catholic Church."

While pointing out that "the Maronite Church admits married priests" and that "half of our diocesan priests are married", the Cardinal Patriarch said that "it must be recognized that if admitting married men resolves one problem, it creates others just as serious."

"A married priest", he said, "has the duty to look after his wife and family, ensuring his children receive a good education and overseeing their entry into society. ... Another difficulty facing a married priest arises if he does not enjoy a good relationship with his parishioners; his bishop cannot transfer him because of the difficulty of transferring his whole family.

He noted that "married priests have perpetuated the faith among people whose difficult lives they shared, and without them this faith would no longer exist."

"On the other hand," he said, "celibacy is the most precious jewel in the treasury of the Catholic Church,"

Lamenting a culture which is all but outright opposed to purity, the Cardinal asked: "How can [celibacy] be conserved in an atmosphere laden with eroticism? Newspapers, Internet, billboards, shows, everything appears shameless and constantly offends the virtue of chastity."

Suggesting that their are no easy solutions to the problem of priest shortages in the Church--an oft brought up point during the Synod--he noted that, "Of course a priest, once ordained, can no longer get married. Sending priests to countries where they are lacking, taking them from a country that has many, is not the ideal solution if one bears in mind the question of tradition, customs and mentality. The problem remains."

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This morning, I had a lengthy discussion with our pastor who is a celibate Maronite priest. He is Lebanese, as is the deacon who was ordained today. This is cultural for them. The view, here in the west, is quite different. This is a one time ordination of a married deacon in the US.

[NYer]

Ping!

[Tax-chick]

"How can [celibacy] be conserved in an atmosphere laden with eroticism?

How can marital chastity and unity be conserved, either?

Best wishes to the gentleman and the Maronite Catholic Church!

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

There is NOTHING wrong with married priests.

1) There is NOTHING in the Bible mandating a celibate priesthood. In fact priests were married men in the Bible.

2) The first 40 popes at least were married men.

3) The overwhelming majority of priests and bishops were married men until well into the 12th century at least.

4) Mandatory clerical celibacy was introduced by the Church in the Middle Ages, largely to combat rampat corruption in the Church, such as nepotism, and the tranfer of Church property.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The Church has one foot on the dock and one in the boat where the issue of priestly celibacy is concerned.

We cannot continue to bring in married priests from the Anglican Church and all of these Eastern Rites, and at the same time continue to defend celibacy throughout the remainder of the priesthood.

Young men being recruited for the Seminary will just shake their heads and laugh.

Logical non-sequiturs are damaging to the Church’s credibility.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

precisely.

[NYer]

We cannot continue to bring in married priests from the Anglican Church and all of these Eastern Rites ...

Correction, the priests brought in from the Eastern Rites are ALL celibate.

Young men being recruited for the Seminary will just shake their heads and laugh.

Why? Our bishop has an agreement with the Maronite Lebanese Missionaries by which they solicit volunteers from their community to serve for a 10 year term in the US. While here, however, their commitment to their community continues. My pastor arrived about 5 years ago, along with 3 others. This past summer, all were recalled to Lebanon to attend a General Chapter at which time, two of those priests were re-assigned to new positions within the monastery. The monastery, however, sent two new missionaries to replace them.

Note as well that even in Lebanon, married priests act as auxiliaries at the parish level for the very reasons cited above by Cardinal Sfeir. If there is a problem with the "chemistry" between a pastor and parish, he can be reassigned. With a married priest, however, this would entail relocating an entire family.

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for the article and the additional explanatory posts.

[steve86]

In a move that could open the doors for more wedded priests in some Catholic churches across the USA

I sure hope that doesn't happen.

[NYer]

I sure hope that doesn't happen.

Ditto. Realistically, I don't see this happening. Married priests have served the Eastern Churches for centuries but marriage in the East is still approached as a lifetime commitment. Cardinal Sfeir pointed out that with a married priest, priority must go towards his first vow - i.e. marriage. Here in the West, however, more than 50% of marriages end in divorce. This poses a conundrum: what happens when a married priest addresses the sanctity of marriage with his congregation and announces shortly thereafter that he and his wife are separating. I brought this up today with my pastor. His response was to point out the scandal of clerical abuse.

Again, as the Patriarch said in 2005, while allowing for a married priesthood solves one problem, it creates new ones. Hence, celibacy is preferred. I don't know the particulars surrounding today's ordination of a married deacon but note that it was approved by Pope Francis and had been in the works for more than a year. It is a unique event that does not detract from the celibate priesthood nor has the rule been abandoned for the Maronite Church.

[11th Commandment]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/925813/posts Old FREEPER POST

[rwa265]

Here is an update on Fr. Akiki -

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/with-pope-s-blessing-married-man-is-ordained-catholic-priest/article_3df4bb22-020a-5639-86ba-4f56ce04a1e3.html

As an aside, Mayor Slay is a member of St. Raymond’s. My wife worked for his Dad at the Cedars Banquet Hall for many years.

[NYer]

Thank you, rwa, for posting the updated link that definitely provides more in-depth reporting on this topic and views from both sides. For example:

But Anthony Dragani, associate professor of religious studies at Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pa., says many Eastern churches would rather sidestep the debate revolving around married Roman Catholic priests.

“We’d rather just stay out of it,” Dragani said. “The Roman Catholics can do their thing, and we want to be able to just maintain our own traditions.”

Those words parallel the ones expressed by my pastor. Nearly half our parishioners are Roman Catholic and I have yet to speak with any of them for their reaction. No doubt, as westerners, raised in the Latin Church, they have never been exposed to married priests. It should be interesting to get their take. I expect it will be supportive, following along the lines of "admitting married men will solve the priest shortage". Of course, that harkens back to an argument I made above and is addressed in this article:

Dragani of Mount Aloysius College, for example, points out that flexibility is demanded of priests in the Roman Catholic Church, where they are often moved around like chess pieces so they can care for different parishes. Supporting married Catholic priests is also more expensive.

Here in the West, it is the Latin Churches that have the largest congregations (= financially solvent). They could support the costs associated with a married priest and his family. Our Maronite parish is quite small with less than 100 families. We can barely cover the expenses of a celibate priest, since we hold only one mass on Sunday. An attempt was made to add a Saturday Vigil mass but only 5 to 10 people showed up each week. That proved financially disastrous insofar as heating and electricity expenses.

Following his ordination, the priest processes around the church, carrying the Blessed Sacrament, elevated above his head, a reminder that he is God's servant.

The article is worth reading. With pope's blessing, married man is ordained Catholic priest in St. Louis

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

Thanks so much for responding. It seems the main reason for keeping mandatory clerical celibacy in place is economic, interesting....considering that was indeed the main reason it was implemented by the Church in the Middle Ages.

By own guess about the future of this policy is this: Nothing will happen overnight with the wave a wand in the Vatican. It took the Church many centuries to implement and enforce the current policy of mandatory clerical celibacy. It will take time to undo it, and if the above article is any indication, it will be a gradual process which will occur by osmosis, not by decree.

[Mrs. Don-o]

The mentality of the times is making it harder and harder to people understand and value any form of chastity, whether we're talking about celibacy in under the vows of Holy Orders or sexual union under the vows of Matrimony.

(Just the other day a professional athlete was headlined as leading an "Alternative Lifestyle" because, in his early 20's, get this, he's got a wife and a child!)

I'm not sure where there's a logical non-sequitur, though, in the Western Church. At this point, we have (in the U.S.) more married deacons (15,000) than we have priests in Religious orders (14,000) --- I'm talking about Jesuits, Franciscans and so forth --- so that's a substantial number of married men who have been ordained, right there.

If a married man discerns a calling to Holy Orders in the Western Rite, that's his obvious choice, the Diaconate.

And if married clergy from Anglicanism become Catholic and become ordained RC priests, that's great; I never ran into anyone whose nose was out of joint about this.

Are you running into people who are truly irked because of Rev. and Mrs. Priestly and Family?

[Ransomed]

And if married clergy from Anglicanism become Catholic and become ordained RC priests, that’s great; I never ran into anyone whose nose was out of joint about this.

I have only heard praise for the discipline of celibacy from the married priests themselves. You would think there would be a few who would be like, ‘look at all them suckers’ but all I recall seeing from them is support for the discipline.

Freegards

[Tax-chick]

When the topic arises, I hear comments about how people wouldn’t be willing to contribute to the support of a priest and his family, especially if the priest was “irresponsible” and had a large family.

While there’s nothing wrong theologically with the ordination of married men, I think that, culturally, there are overwhelming contraindications.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

“While there’s nothing wrong theologically with the ordination of married men” ——PRECISELY MY POINTS!!!!!

With respects to the latter part of your statement, look no further than the Orthodox priesthood.

[Tax-chick]

The majority of the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic are not in our culture. I think it is more instructive to look at the experience of American Protestant ministers.