Posted on 09/10/2017 6:34:51 PM PDT by marshmallow
Except that it’s not, and it’s not.
Let me explain:
In the early Church, insofar as married clerics in major orders (diaconate, priesthood) existed, the presumption was that if married, they lived in strict continence — excluding all sexual relations. The difficulty in this is obvious, and so early councils and patristic writers touched on the issue from time to time.
As we reached the early Middle Ages, the difficult tension resolved in two directions — strict celibacy in the West, and the concession for married clergy to not live in strict continence in the East.
Some modern commentators (namely, Dr. Ed Peters) suggest that since the notion of married priests and deacons has re-emerged in the West, the discipline of strict continence SHOULD be upheld.
As well as this, you need to address the other issues at hand:
- would parishes be willing to PAY for a married priest and his family — salary and benefits sufficient to support ALL of them WITHOUT the presumption that his wife would need to work? (That could fly in Ireland or elsewhere in Europe if the government is providing/supplementing the salary, but that won’t fly in these United States, where some parishes are unable to afford a single celibate priest, and married permanent deacons are often in unpaid positions)
- would parishes be willing to have a priest with divided loyalties? He DOES need to give appropriate attention to his wife and kids and there will be times it is the parish that gets short shrift.
They’re doing well... but what you’re not hearing is that it is only a handful of dioceses who are the cause of it: Arlington, Charlotte, Lincoln, Madison to name a few of the powerhouses. FSSP is bursting at the seams also.
The takeaway is this: Orthodoxy and tradition are attractive to young men. Unfortunately, to many bishops this is anathema.
My brother’s Irish expat in-laws say that the thing that really destroyed Ireland was joining the E.U. What was left of traditional culture and values went right out the window after that.
If it weren’t for the Poles moving to Ireland they wouldn’t have any priests at all.
I saw on another thread, that there’s a gay Anglican Priest who is going to be a participant on Britain’s version of “Dancing With the Stars.”
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